Cyclamate, discovery

In 1969, a chronic toxicity study on a cyclamate saccharin (10 1) blend indicated bladder cancer problems in rats. Cyclamate was soon banned by the FDA, but saccharin remained an approved sweetener. In 1977, the FDA proposed a ban on saccharin because of the discovery of bladder tumors in some male rats fed with high doses of saccharin. Because no other nonnutritive sweetener was available at that time, the proposed ban faced strong opposition. 

Some of the most important advancements of science are the results of accidental discoveries—for example, penicillin, Teflon, and the sugar substitutes cyclamate and aspartame. Another important chance discovery occurred in 1964, when a group of scientists using platinum electrodes to apply an electric field to a colony of E. coli bacteria noticed that the bacteria failed to divide but continued to grow, forming long, fibrous cells. Further study revealed that cell division was inhibited by small concentrations of c/s-Pt(NH3)2Cl2 and... 

Packard, V. S. Processed Foods and the Consumer Additives, Labeling, Standards, and Nutrition (University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 1976, p. 332). (Discovery of cyclamate)... 

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