Sweets for my sweet, aspartame for my archenemy.
That horrible abdominal pain you’ve been experiencing is probably terminal and may (I said may Splenda®. Please don’t sue me) have been caused by ingredients found in artificial sweeteners. But since there hasn’t been any substantive scientific proof on humans (the same can’t be said for laboratory rats in the 70s), let’s trace the history of a few artificial sweeteners currently laced in our foods and beverages.
The first substitute for sucrose, saccharin, was discovered by accident in 1879 by Russian chemist Constantin Fahlberg while working in Ira Remsen’s laboratory at Johns Hopkins University. Falhberg discovered the sweet-tasting effect of benzoic sulfimide (300 to 500 times as sweet as sugar) when the compound spilled onto his hands. Renamed saccharin and commercially available from the 1880s, the calorie-free sweetener’s popularity soared during World War I due to sugar shortages. While the saccharin version of Sweet’N Low may be ubiquitous on every diner counter in America, the substance has been banned in Canada due to its reported link to bladder cancer in laboratory rats.
Aspartame, which is derived from aspartic acid and phenylalanine, was discovered by James Schlatter in 1965 while working on an anti-ulcer drug for the G.D. Searle & Company. Like Fahlberg, Schlatter noticed the sweet-tasting aspect of the substance and it was first sold under the brand name NutraSweet. Approximately 200 times sweeter than sugar, aspartame has been extensively tested and deemed safe to be included in all foods by most governmental regulatory bodies.
Other common artificial sweeteners include Sucralose, Stevia and Cyclamate.
