Saccharin is the oldest artificial sweetener; it was discovered in 1879 by Ira Remsen and Constantine Fahlberg of Johns Hopkins University.

Usage note: The word saccharin has no final "e". The word saccharine, with a final "e", is much older and is an adjective meaning "sugary". Both words are derived from the Greek word σακχαρον (sakcharon, German ch sound), which means "sugar".

Saccharin is about 300 times as sweet as sucrose, but at high concentrations saccharin has a bitter and sometimes metallic taste. Saccharin sold as an artificial sweetener is usually the sodium salt of saccharin, which has the chemical formula C7H4NNaO3S · 2H2O.

Saccharin was discovered by Ira Remsen and Constantine Fahlberg in 1879 while working with coal tar derivatives. Ira Remsen discovered the sweetness property at dinner after not thoroughly washing his hands. The discovery was jointly published by Remsen and Fahlberg in 1880 (Fahlberg, C.; Remsen, I. Über die Oxydation des Orthotoluolsulfamids. Chem. Ber. 1879, 12, 469-473). Later, Fahlberg went on to patent saccharin and grow wealthy without ever mentioning Remsen, angering Remsen. On the matter, Remsen commented that "Fahlberg is a scoundrel. It nauseates me to hear my name mentioned in the same breath with him."

Saccharin was an important discovery, especially for diabetics. Saccharin is not digested by the body and goes directly through the human digestive system. Therefore, it does not affect blood insulin levels, and has effectively no food calories. Unlike the newer artificial sweetener aspartame, saccharin is stable when heated and stores well.

Although saccharin was commercialized not long after its discovery, it wasn't until sugar rationing during World War I that saccharin use really took off. Its popularity increased during the 1960s and 1970s by dieters since saccharin is a calorie-free sweetener. In the United States saccharin is often found in restaurants in pink packets; the most popular brand is "Sweet 'N Low". A small number of soft drinks are sweetened with saccharin, the most popular being the Coca-Cola Company's cola drink "Tab", introduced in 1963 as a diet soda.

Saccharin is produced in various ways. The original method starts with toluene (Remsen-Fahlberg, 1879), but other methods use phthalic anhydride or phthalic acid (Maumee, 1951) or o-chlorotoluene (Bungard, 1967)

Saccharin and cancer

There have been worries about the safety of saccharin since its introduction. US President Teddy Roosevelt, on the safety of saccharin, said "Anyone who thinks saccharin is dangerous is an idiot". Fear about saccharin increased when a 1960 study showed that high levels of saccharin may cause bladder cancer in lab rats. In 1977, Canada banned saccharin due to animal research. The FDA in the United States considered banning saccharin in 1977, but after a moratorium was placed on the ban to study the safety of saccharin, the ban was withdrawn in 1991. Likewise, in 2000, the United States repealed a law requiring saccharin products to carry health warning labels.

A huge number of studies have been done on saccharin, with some showing a correlation with increased cancer while others showing no correlation. No study has shown health risks of saccharin in humans at normal doses.

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