# DID Saccharin cause CANCER in Humans? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 26, 2002, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-saccharin-cause-cancer-in-humans/100262 "2002-03-26T22:35:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lorinada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5e925/32.png) [@lorinada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorinada)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-saccharin-cause-cancer-in-humans/100262/21 "2002-03-30T15:00:17Z")
Well, thank you, but not all of us are worried about weight control. Just ask me and Redhawke.the.bard. But, even so, to the OP and the last two posts, I think y’all are assuming that everyone who is overweight is thus so because of the sugar they eat. I would venture a guess that it may have more to do with fats and processed foods. Redhawke, are you speaking from experience when you describe baking successfully with Splenda? I have not tried it because I remember about ten years ago a “new” sweetener had come out that was supposed to be compatible with baking, and it tasted more bitter than saccharin. I would be anxious to try it, unless the “other carbohydrates” in it are gram for gram replacing the sugar. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-saccharin-cause-cancer-in-humans/100262/22 "2002-03-30T16:41:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Badtz Maru \* > \*\*Saccharine is still used as a sweetener in many bargain soft drinks and other products. \*\* Even after the US Gov’t warning was rescinded, my Tab soda can still reads… USE OF THIS PRODUCT MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH. THIS PRODUCT CONTAINS SACCHARIN WHICH HAS BEEN DETERMINED TO CAUSE CANCER IN LABRATORY ANIMALS. There are only 3 reasons I can guess as to why the warning is still there almost 2 years later. 1. The bottling Co. (Coca-Cola) has old cans packaging they want to use up. 2. The Feds still require a warning 3. The warning is voluntarilly left there as a corporate CYA to lessen the impact of future legal action. By the way, saccharin has an advantage over Nutra Sweet…it has a long shelf life, which is why it is used in both bargain brands and fountain syrup. If you buy a soft drink with nutra-sweet and make sure you check that expiration date. ---
**Author:** ![kpm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c57346/32.png) [@kpm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kpm)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-saccharin-cause-cancer-in-humans/100262/23 "2002-03-30T19:41:14Z")
I am also diabetic. I was diagnosed a few months ago. Prior to 1994 the advice to diabetics was to avoid sugar at all costs. That is no longer the case. The main issue is carbohydrates which are converted by your body to glucose. But it is important to limit the amount of sugar so nutrasweet and the other substitutes are very helpful for that. I have been drinking diet drinks for only a few months now and I almost cannot remember what real Coke or Pepsi tastes like. I think for me now that I am used to diet drinks it isn’t a big deal. ---
**Author:** ![SandWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8491ac/32.png) [@SandWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandWriter)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2002, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-saccharin-cause-cancer-in-humans/100262/24 "2002-04-01T17:32:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lorinada \* > \*\*I would be anxious to try it, unless the “other carbohydrates” in it are gram for gram replacing the sugar. \*\* Hey Lorinda, The below is copied from the above referenced website, the section on Diabetics. > [@](#): > > The Convenience of Sugar without the Carbohydrates. > SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener can lower carbohydrates and calories in recipes. For example, a cup of SPLENDA® Granular has 96 calories and 24 carbohydrates, compared to the 770 calories and 192 carbs found in a cup of sugar. Since SPLENDA® Granular measures and pours like sugar, you can use it like sugar in your favorite recipes. For your favorite beverages, SPLENDA® Packets are the perfect size to take with you anywhere you go. According to the manfactureres website, you can use it for baking and it has less carbs than sugar. Enjoy, -Sandwriter ---
**Author:** ![pittsuz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4491bb/32.png) [@pittsuz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pittsuz)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2003, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-saccharin-cause-cancer-in-humans/100262/25 "2003-08-23T22:04:34Z")
Since my dad, my husband and my nephew are all organic chemists, this debate has raised hackles throughout our family (OK, so we’re dysfunctional AND boring…). However, dear old dad always got the last word because he held the patent on the process still used today to produce saccharin. His comments, in absolutely no logical order: 1. As a man who found mathematics to be a fun game, he read the original studies regarding saccharin and cancer. Then, he calculated how much saccharin would need to be force- fed to a human in order to produce the same results as in the rats. Answer: Over 2 boxcar loads!! Perhaps someone in the government eventually did the same thing and then took saccharin off the carcinogen list. 2. If you think that saccharin tastes lousy now, you should have had some before the “new” process was developed in the 1930’s. It had a bitter and metallic aftertaste that was quite nasty. I know, he made me taste it! 3. Since right after the news stories appeared, saccharined soft drinks were on sale for one cent per can, my dad filled one side of our two car garage with them, and our family, as well as all guests, were served nothing else for YEARS. It is now safe to come over…we drank it all…and nobody we know ever got cancer. My own contribution? Taste is a very individual, specific sense… so, to each, his/her own. ---
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-saccharin-cause-cancer-in-humans/100262/26 "2003-08-24T01:28:02Z")
**Prior to 1994 the advice to diabetics was to avoid sugar at all costs?** Uh… I grew up with diabetes. Medical science has been well-aware of sugars that occur in breads and fruits and vegetables so forth for generations. Splenda has a funny taste, to me, especially in coffee and baked goods. Actually, I’ve never found an artificial sweeter I could stand in coffee and baked goods. Sugar substitutes to help people lose weight. Here’s how: they help reduce the total number of calories a person eats. If Bob really really wants a cold soda at lunch and just after work, changing to diet soda will help him lose weight. ---
**Author:** ![Shrinking\_Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Shrinking\_Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shrinking_Violet)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-saccharin-cause-cancer-in-humans/100262/27 "2003-08-24T10:56:29Z")
Sugar substitutes can help people (esp. diabetics, of which I am one) to eat more healthily without piling on the calories … some fruits are just too tart to eat unsweetened (rhubarb, gooseberries for example). Also artificially sweetened yoghurt is far more palatable than unsweetened, IMHO. There must be other healthy foods to which this also applies. Julie (big fan of NutraSweet and looking forward to trying Splenda) ---
**Author:** ![jsleek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8dc957/32.png) [@jsleek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsleek)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-saccharin-cause-cancer-in-humans/100262/28 "2003-08-24T23:04:21Z")
I switched from drinking lots of sugar soda to drinking lots of diet soda and dropped 30 lbs. Years ago I smiled at those who worried the government would take away diet soda. I have since joined their side. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2003, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-saccharin-cause-cancer-in-humans/100262/29 "2003-08-25T02:26:56Z")
Artificial sweetners vs. this one or that one is a debate that comes up periodically. The studies showing that any one specific substance causes cancer and especially in the case of sweetners use massive doses of the product to ‘prove’ their case. Just ordinary table salt would be toxic at that kind of dosage. I’ll take Nutra Sweet, Sweet & Low is mostly saccharin and has an artificial taste. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2003, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-saccharin-cause-cancer-in-humans/100262/30 "2003-08-25T02:37:04Z")
Massive amounts of any substance is used to test for cancer in animals since humans ingest the substance over one’s lifetime. Scientists cannot wait that long on animal testing. There is a federal law that requires that any substance shown to cause cancer in test animals is banned from human consumption. That is why saccharin was banned. It was “unbanned” due to popular demand, which required a special law to allow it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-saccharin-cause-cancer-in-humans/100262.md?page=1)