Toxicology of saccharin.

Saccharin, like most of the artificial sweeteners, was discovered quite by accident. The controversy regarding its use as a food additive is reflected by the number of chronic/carcinogenic studies conducted to assess its safety. Two chronic studies were conducted prior to the ban of cyclamates in 1969, at which time 10 additional single-generation studies were initiated using the mouse, rat, and hamster. None of these studies resulted in overt regulatory action. However, subsequent to completion of three two-generation chronic rat feeding studies, saccharin was banned as a food additive in Canada, but a moratorium was placed on its proposed ban in the United States. These events gave rise to a great deal of scientific research into the possible mechanism(s) by which saccharin elicited bladder tumors in rats, and efforts to find epidemiological evidence that saccharin caused cancer in man. At the present time neither effort has produced unequivocal results; however, it seems certain that this latest saccharin controversy may result in changes to the regulations dealing with food additives.