|  | Public Health Safety | Food Safety

Hazards of Saccharin

Saccharin is a popular artificial sweetener that has been used in hundreds of processed foods and diet soft drinks. Saccharin has been suspected of various dangerous side effects, from weight gain to bladder cancer in mice.

  1. Bladder Cancer

    • Studies conducted in the 1970s on rats showed development of bladder cancer and renal problems, according to Wellsphere.com. Urinary bladder studies have also been conducted on humans and have shown that saccharin is detrimental and carcinogenic, according to M.D. Reuber.

    Weight Gain

    • Studies conducted on rats showed that rats consuming diets high in saccharin gained more weight than rats that did not. According to Science Daily, the rat studies showed that consumption of foods sweetened with the calorie-lacking saccharin leads to greater weight gain. Rat studies have matched human studies which show that obesity and metabolic problems are connected to consumption of artificial sweeteners.

    Carcinogenic

    • Saccharin has been targeted as a suspected human carcinogen, affecting developmental and reproductive tissues by EPA standards. Foods containing saccharin were labeled with a warning label for 20 years, until removed in the '90s, according to Wellsphere.com. In a study by the Department of Pediatrics in New Jersey conducted on six human mothers and infants, saccharin was found in the mother and fetal tissues. Due to insufficient tests showing the carcinogenic nature of saccharin in animals, there have yet to be any tests to show significant risk of saccharin in humans.

Food Safety - Related Articles