| Food products and drinks containing saccharin, an artificial
sweetener, no longer have to carry a federal health warning, a move
welcomed by manufacturers anbd trade groups.
But one consumer group remains skeptical.
Manufacturers expect that supplies getting to stores in February will
begin omitting the two-line cancer warning that the artificial sweetener
was found to cause cancer in laboratory animals and "may be
hazardous" to humans. The label had been required since 1977.
Products containing saccharin include some soft drinks, baked goods,
jams, chewing gum, canned fruit, candy, dessert toppings, salad dressings
and tabletop sweeteners, including the brand Sweet 'N Low. (Aspartame,
another widely used artificial sweeteners, is found in top-selling soft
drinks, such as Diet Coke.)
Additional studies reviewed last year by a group under the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services found no cancer association in
humans. The bladder cancer found in male lab rats taking high doses of
saccharin was considered unique to the rat.
In late December, Congress voided the health warning requirement as
part of a huge health spending bill, and President Clinton signed the bill
into law.
"This is good news for us" and could boost saccharin sales,
said Jim McKenna, executive vice president of PMC Specialties Group. PMC,
with about 200 employees, is a major U.S. producer of saccharin. McKenna
said he expected that a number of food producers were not using saccharin
because of the health warning requirement.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which in the 1970s tried
to ban the use of saccharin in food, has not contested the recent studies
showing that saccharin did not increase cancer in humans, said FDA
official Dr. George Pauli. The FDA is neutral on whether consumers should
use the sweetener, he said.
A major proponent of getting saccharin off the list of suspected human
carcinogens is the Calorie Control Council, the low-calorie food
industry's trade association.
Lyn Nabors, the council's spokeswoman, said she has worked on the issue
since 1980. "Extensive new evidence ... has demonstrated saccharin's
safety. The case against saccharin rested on controversial high-dose rat
experiments in which the animals were fed the human equivalent of hundreds
of cans of diet soft drinks per day for a lifetime."
However, one consumer health group still criticizes saccharin.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest, which has warned of the
high fat content in fast-food hamburgers and the butter on movie-theater
popcorn, suggested that the lab animal studies may indicate that saccharin
may cause cancer in multiple animal organs -- not just the rat's bladder.
"My advice to consumers is to play it safe and continue to avoid
saccharin," said Michael Jacobson, the center's director.
Web sites about saccharin and sugar-related health issues:
http://www.saccharin.org
http://www.diabetes.org
http://www.cspinet.org |