Saccharin

 Risk Factor: C
 Class: ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS

Contents of this page:

Fetal Risk Summary
Breast Feeding Summary
References
Questions and Answers

Fetal Risk Summary

Saccharin is a nonnutritive sweetening agent discovered accidentally in 1879 and used in the United States since 1901 (1). The agent is approximately 300 times sweeter than sucrose (1,2). Saccharin, a derivative of naphthalene, is absorbed slowly after oral ingestion and is rapidly and completely excreted, as the unmetabolized compound, by the kidneys (1). Although a large amount of medical research has been generated concerning saccharin, very little of this information pertains to its use by pregnant women or to its effect on the fetus (1,2).

In pregnant rhesus monkeys administered IV saccharin, fetal accumulation of the sweetener occurred after rapid, but limited, transfer across the placenta (3). Saccharin appeared to be uniformly distributed to all fetal tissues except the central nervous system. Fetal levels were still present 5 hours after the end of the infusion and 2 hours after maternal concentrations were undetectable. A study, published in 1986, documented that saccharin also crosses the placenta to the human fetus (4). Six diabetic women, consuming 25100 mg/day of saccharin by history, were delivered at 3642 weeks. Maternal serum saccharin concentrations, measured between 0.5 hour before to 2 hours after delivery, ranged from 20 to 263 ng/mL. Cord blood samples varied from 20 to 160 ng/mL.

Saccharin is not an animal teratogen (3,5,6). No increase in the incidence of spontaneous abortions among women consuming saccharin has been found (7). Concerns for human use focus on the potential carcinogenicity of the agent. In some animal species, particularly after second-generation studies, an increased incidence of bladder tumors was observed (2). However, epidemiologic studies have failed to associate the human use of saccharin with bladder cancer (2). Similarly, no evidence was found in a study of the Danish population that in utero saccharin exposure was associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer during the first 3035 years of life (2,8). However, at least one investigator believes that these studies must be extended much further before they are meaningful, because bladder cancer is usually diagnosed in the elderly (9).

Because of the limited information available on the risk for humans following in utero exposure to saccharin, the use of this sweetener should be avoided during pregnancy. The Calorie Control Council believes the agent can be safely used by pregnant women (10). However, others recommended avoidance of saccharin or, at least, cautious use of it in pregnancy (1,2,9).

Breast Feeding Summary

Saccharin is excreted into human milk (11). In six healthy women, saccharin, 126 mg/12 fluid ounces, contained in two commercially available soft drinks, was given every 6 hours for nine doses. After single or multiple doses, median peak concentrations of saccharin occurred at 0.75 hour in plasma and at 2.0 hours in milk. Milk concentrations ranged from <2001056 ng/mL after one dose to 1765 ng/mL after nine doses. The ratios of the concentration-time curves for milk and plasma averaged 0.542 on day 1 and 0.715 on day 3, indicating that accumulation in the milk occurred with time (11). The amounts of saccharin a nursing infant could consume from milk were predicted to be much less than the usual intakes of children less than 2 years old (11).

References

1. London RS. Saccharin and aspartame: Are they safe to consume during pregnancy? J Reprod Med 1988;33:1721.
2. Council on Scientific Affairs, American Medical Association. Saccharin:review of safety issues. JAMA 1985;254:26224.
3. Pitkin RM, Reynolds WA, Filer LJ Jr, Kling TG. Placental transmission and fetal distribution of saccharin. Am J Obstet Gynecol 1971;111:2806.
4. Cohen-Addad N, Chatterjee M, Bekersky I, Blumenthal HP. In utero exposure to saccharin: a threat? Cancer Lett 1986;32:1514.
5. Fritz H, Hess R. Prenatal development in the rat following administration of cyclamate, saccharin and sucrose. Experientia 1968;24:11401.
6. Shepard TH. Catalog of Teratogenic Agents. 6th ed. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989:5667.
7. Kline J, Stein ZA, Susser M, Warburton D. Spontaneous abortion and the use of sugar substitutes. Am J Obstet Gynecol 1978;130:70811.
8. Jensen OM, Kamby C. Intra-uterine exposure to saccharin and risk of bladder cancer in man. Int J Cancer 1982;15:5079.
9. London RS. Letter to the editors. J Reprod Med 1988;33(8):102.
10. Nabors LO. Letter to the editors. J Reprod Med 1988;33(8):102.
11. Collins Egan P, Marx CM, Heyl PS, Popick A, Bekersky I. Saccharin excretion in mature human milk (abstract). Drug Intell Clin Pharm 1984;18:511.
    
    

Questions and Answers

saccharin..?, Is saccharin more acidic than pthalimide?Give reasons..

pka of pthalimide is 8.3 wheras for saccharin is 1.6 therefore undoubtedly saccharin is more acidic (lesser the pka value more will be the acidity)
Reason: In saccharin the presence of the two electronegative oxygens present in sulphur makes the sulphur more positive which leads to stabilise the N- (after the removal of H+) by resonance

Diet Soda- Why Does it All Taste Like Saccharin?, Why does Diet Soda sweetened with Aspartame or Splenda still have that saccharin "after taste"?

Thats why its best to stay away from the fake stuff it is telling your taste buds that is not good for you.
Splenda was first designed to be a rat poison and the man who invented it discovered it was sweet so he decided to market as a sugar.
If you want a soda that tastes good try one made with cane sugar and not high fructose corn syrup
Jones Soda company sell soda in really cool flavors and they use cane sugar.

Is baking with Saccharin possible?, Saccharin is cheap, inexpensive and I really enjoy the taste. I've been looking around the internet and I own the Sweet 'n Low cookbook, I haven't found much evidence to suggest that baking with Saccharin isn't possible, but I haven't found anything to suggest it is. Is there any recipes or websites (besides sweetnlow.com) that someone could tell me about, and is it possible to bake with Saccharin?

it is possible but remember that saccharin is artificial, you could do better using a sugar derivitive like Splenda or the like, you get less calories and still have the flavour

Why do some antacids contain sodium saccharin?, I can understand it, if the tablet was edible but if it's meant to swallowed, I don't see the point.
Any help?

The main reason is that saccharin adds to the sweetness of the tablet that is crushed in the mouth , and this can be taken by diabetics and even the obese. Saccharin is very sweet but does not increase the blood glucose.
Considering the amount of antacids that some swallow if sugar is added to sweeten diabetics and obese people will be badly affected.

pickle recipe calls for 1 tsp saccharin how do i convert that?, it is recipe from 1940s. is 1 tsp "saccharin" the same as 1 tsp sweet-n-low, or what is the sugar equivalent? I know they used saccharin because of sugar rationing

natural sugar is about 3 times less sweet than the synthetic stuff. meaning 1 tsp sweet n low =1 Tblsp natural sugar , there's 3 tsp in 1 tablespoon

Is saccharin worse for your liver than sugar is to your body?, I'm thinking diet colas and suchlike.

Try this site.....

http://www.something-fishy.org/dangers/s...

Is Sodium Saccharin the same type of saccharin that was found to cause cancer?,

I believe that is the 1 and same form of saccharin that has been found 2 cause cancer in labratory rats.

Timothy

:o)

Did you know that Diet Coke has Saccharin?, I am 8 months pregnant and just found out that fountain style Diet Coke contains both Aspartame & Saccharin. I had no idea because there arent any labels on the fountain style diet coke drinks. Were you aware of this?

They have to add something to make it sweet if they dont use sugar.

Why is saccharin calorie free?, Does the fact that saccharin have no calories have to do with its molecular structure in any way? Any help would be much appreciated.

Will only be calorie free if your body does not process it. Any carbohydrate has calories if your body digests it into parts that can be used.

If I drink green tea sweetened with saccharin, will I get cancer from the saccharin?, Will the tea still be healthy, or will I get cancer? Will the tea still protect me from getting cancer?

unless you're a lab rat drinking the saccharin sweetened green tea i don't think you have to worry about it since it is only know to cause cancer in RATS and not humans...