Artificial Sweeteners Paper

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Artificial Sweeteners

Aadil Malik

Dr. Thelman

Honors ChemistryOctober 1st, 2010


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Malik, 4

Sweetness is not an easy property to work with, and that is why it is so hard for chemists

to find other molecules that are sweet but have no calories. It took many tries to find alternatives.

At first, chemists didnt know which part of the molecule made it sweet. And then, if they did

find the molecule, they had to find an alternative that had the same taste but no calories.

The answer to the difficult question chemists had (what makes sugar sweet?) took a while

to figure out. The answer is the Oxygen and Hydrogen combinations which stick out from the

side of the molecules. The reason it took so long to figure out was because it didnt depend on

the amount of these groups, but the arrangement. There are only specific ways to arrange these

pairs in order for a sweet taste. Chemists used these groups to create sweeteners that are not

sugar.

The first attempt ever to find an alternative was over 2000 years ago, by the Greeks and

Romans. They discovered that boiling grape juice produced syrup that was extremely sweet.

However, they didnt know that it contained lead acetate trihydrate, Pb(CH3CO2)23H2O

which is toxic. Some people at the time also tried to use beryllium, unaware

that it was poisonous.

Aside from sugar of lead, the first

substitute, saccharin (fig.1), was prepared in

1879 at John Hopkins University in

Baltimore, MD, by Ira Remsen and

Constantin Fahlberg. After testing it on

diabetics, it seemed safe. However, many

thought different. Sugar was considered pure and organic, and therefore

many European countries didnt approve of the idea. President Roosevelt

Fig. 1


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Malik, 5

decided to end controversies by issuing a review board to examine

saccharin. The board concluded that 0.3g was an ideal and healthy amount

of consummation.

Sodium cyclamate (fig. 2) is another artificial sweetener. In 1957, a research team in

England reported a lab test that

they did on mice, in which they

exposed the mice to cyclamate.

The mice developed bladder

cancer. The test was not impressive

at the time to the FDA, however, when done again with the same result the production of

cyclamate as an artificial sweetener was banned. Similar tests were done with saccharin, and the

results were the same. Saccharin too was banned in Canada in 1977.

Later, these tests were deemed as unconvincing. More observers decided to test it on

humans, and it was proven safe. Today, saccharin is used all over the world as a well-known

sugar substitute.

Another successful artificial sweetener is aspartame (C14H18N2O5). The aspartame

molecule consists of two amino acids which are nutritional, and

caloric. This low-calorie sweetener, commercially known as Equal

(fig. 4), is most commonly used at a small quantity. Some people, who

have a genetic disorder called phenylketonuria (PNK), are at risk when consuming aspartame. A

more recent sweetener is sucralose (C12H19Cl3O), which is found in

Fig. 2

Fig. 4

Fig. 5


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Malik, 6

Splenda (fig. 5). Sucralose is considered as the safest and most modern artificial sweetener,

disregarding its theoretical relationship with thymus glands.

In essence, artificial sweeteners arent as unhealthy as the rumors make them seem. The

chances of getting cancer or any other terminal disease from artificial sweeteners are extremely

small to none.

Saccharin, aspartame, and sucralose are in market today. Cyclamate was banned in the

U.S. due to the fact that it was proven to be a co-carcinogen (a substance revving another cancer-

starting substance).

The question comes down to this: are artificial sweeteners good or bad? They are

chemicals. When a person who is ignorant to the field of chemistry thinks about eating

chemicals, he thinks it is unhealthy. Though, that only stereotypes artificial sweeteners.

Everything we eat is a chemical. The problem is which chemical you are consuming.

Artificial sweeteners are neither good nor bad. They arent good, because the reason you

are using them is because you are either diabetic or obese; and they arent bad, because they have

no calories. That is why there are so many controversies.

Artificial sweeteners purpose is right in the core definition to act as an alternative for

table sugar. If an obese person uses it excessively, he will suffer minor side effects. If an obese

person doesnt use it at all, he will remain the same.

The tests and experiments on lab rats that were done to approve the small amount of

sugar substitutes in market today were only necessary to get rid of the fears created by society.

Americans love sugar, and the only reason chemists found alternatives to sucrose was to satisfy

addictions.


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