The Precursor to Them All: An Informative History of Saccharin

Saccharin is one of the "Big 6" artificial sweeteners. It was once the most widely demanded sweetener on the market but has since endured a decline. Here is an informative history.

Saccharin was discovered in 1878 in a laboratory at Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore. A chemist named Ira Remsen was commissioned by H.W. Perot, an importer, after he and the U.S. government questioned the purity of a batch of sugar sent into Baltimore.

Remsen sat down to dinner one evening after work and bit into a roll. He immediately remarked at its exceptionally sweet taste and determined that the sugar and compounds he was testing were the cause of it. The next day he went into work and began mixing sugar with each different possible compound the solution could be. Finally, he found the taste to come from a mixture of phosphorus chloride and ammonia, producing benzoic sulfinide. He had discovered Saccharin.

The chemist who commissioned Remsen to the test then filed for patents in the U.S. and Germany, where Remsen was from. Remsen put up little fight, saying he preferred recognition in the scientific community over monetary gains.

The first questions to Saccharin's nutritional value came in 1882 but were quickly dismissed. The next criticism came in 1908 when Department of Agriculture's Head Chemist, Harvey Washington Wiley took his case against it directly to President Theodore Roosevelt. Teddy Roosevelt quickly struck down the warnings of his appointed chemist, claiming he used Saccharin everyday to no adverse health affects.

In 1912 Saccharin was legally banned from being an ingredient in processed foods. This is also around the time when it became immensely popular among dieters, a craze which continues virtually unblemished over 100 years later.

Saccharin had it's greatest rise during the sugar shortage of World War II. During this time it became necessary to substitute it in for sugar as so much sugar was devoted to the war effort. It retained its popularity even after the war, and became used in many more products than before. However, as always, there were critics of Saccharin who realized early the potential health risk.

1968-1975 were highly important years for Saccharin. The government was becoming savvy to tests showing the link between the sweetener and certain cancers. Also during this time, Sweet'n'Low was produced by the Cumberland Packing Corporation. They and their peers, including Monsanto and Sherwin-Williams chemical company, vowed to fight any legislation against their products.

Despite much backlash, Saccharin was banned in 1977. Government officials couldn't hold onto the ban though, as fierce debate sparked questions like, "How much is too much?" and "Isn't too much of anything bad for you?" It was determined more research was needed, and with that Saccharin was back on the market.

One of the biggest repercussions of Saccharin's creation is the market for non-nutritive sweeteners it created. Aspartame, Sucralose, and Neotame are all by-products of Saccharin's incredible success.



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