Artificial Sweeteners: The Real Skinny?

We already know that if you want to use a sweetener for whatever purpose, refined sugar is not what you should be using by choice. A far more viable option to refined sugar, either white or brown, is the unrefined natural cane sugar commonly sold in Mexico and the Caribbean and is sometimes available through health stores in the USA and Canada. Read on and learn whether you should be trusting any of the artificial sweeteners available.

A brief history of Artificial Sweeteners. Would you believe that the first artificial sweetener was put out to the public in 1903 and was actually discovered in 1879? Between 1903 and 2002 several artificial sweeteners were introduced to the North American public, each with its own unique promise of low calories and guilt-free consumption. What were they and when were they "invented and released" to the public? And just how safe are each of them to use?

Saccharin, discovered in 1879 by Constantine Fahlberg, a chemistry research assistant at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland. It was used in industrial applications. In 1903 entrepreneur John F. Queeny and newly formed Monsanto began selling saccharin to food and beverage companies including Coca Cola. Also known as: acid saccharin, sodium saccharin and calcium saccharin. The major enticements to saccharin were it was a cheap, no calorie sweetener, unique in that it could not be metabolized by the human body and was excreted in the urine. Teddy Roosevelt stated "Anybody who says saccharin is injurious to health is an idiot." It became especially popular during WW II with the sugar shortage. In 1977 Canadian research demonstrated that high doses of saccharin caused cancer in rats and it was immediately banned in Canada but reintroduced later. The US FDE deemed more study was required and allowed it to remain on the market with the frightening warning label "Use of this product may be hazardous to your health. This product contains saccharin which has been determined to cause cancer in laboratory animals." New legislation in 2001 removed this warning label. Saccharin belongs to a class of compounds known as sulfonamides. Persons who are allergic to sulfa drugs can react to saccharin with skin eruptions, breathing difficulties, headaches and diarrhea. Saccharin is presently sold in the US as Sweet 'n Low and Sugar Twin, and in Canada as Sweet 'n Low. Saccharin can be considered relatively safe if you are not in any way allergic to sulfa drugs.

Cyclamate. It was discovered in 1937 by Michael Sveda, a graduate student at the University of Illinois, and the patent was purchased by DuPont, later sold to Abbott Laboratories, making its debut in 1950 and was promoted as a no-calorie, diabetic-friendly sweetener. It was combined with saccharin in the original Sweet 'n Low formula. It is also known as calcium cyclamate and sodium cyclamate. Research during the 1960's showed evidence of bladder cancer and testicular abnormalities in laboratory rats and the US FDA banned it in 1969. Later research showed that cyclamate also caused DNA damage in the digestive organs of mice and rats. In 1978 Health and Welfare Canada declared a general agreement that cyclamates were no carcinogenic, based on more sophisticated lab testing that was available in previous years. It is presently being sold in Canada under the brand name "Sugar Twin".

Aspartame. Discovered accidentally in 1965 by James Schlatter, an employee of the pharmaceutical company G. D. Searle, while working on new drug formulations. Safety studies by both the G. D. Searle (the