BY ALDONA BIRD
Recently I picked up a wheelbarrow full of glass bottles from an old dump on my family’s property, which pre-dated our history with the land.
I wanted to clean the old dump up a little and upcycle the bottles. It also felt a little like a treasure hunt, as I found some interestingly shaped bottles and some with mosses growing inside them making tiny beautiful terrarium scenes.
Treasures aside, mostly I picked up old glass soda bottles — lots of 7-Up and Sunkist and a few others mixed in. I noticed a large warning right across the front of their labels. The warning said that some of the ingredients were shown to cause cancer in lab rats.
These bottles are probably from the 80s. While I only drink a few soft drinks per year, I was pretty sure I hadn’t seen any such warning labels on more recently made bottles.
I assumed the labels referenced an artificial sweeter — I’d heard they are not healthy. But I wondered if they do indeed cause cancer why the warnings are no longer printed on labels. Did manufacturers change the ingredients, or did labeling laws change?
A bit of research led me to the answer. The old soda labels referenced saccharin, an artificial sweetener discovered in 1879 at Johns Hopkins University. It is a crystalline powder 300 times, or more, sweeter than sugar.
In the late 1970s, the FDA proposed banning saccharin (used in sweetening drinks, canned goods, and as packaged sugar substitute Sweet ‘N Low) because of a study from Canada linking higher rates of bladder cancer in lab rats. Congress stepped in with a law that did not ban saccharine, but required a warning label.
In 2001, saccharin was determined to be safe for humans by the FDA, and so foods sweetened with it no longer need warnings. From what I could find, there is quite a bit of mixed data on whether or not it could cause cancer in humans. Some studies seemed to have shown it to be a totally safe ingredient, while others seem to show a strong causation.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest, an independent, science-based consumer advocacy organization, rates saccharin as an ingredient to avoid, due to studies that show a link between consumption and bladder cancer.
I took a quick look at a couple studies mentioned, but have not formed an opinion on which is right. However, while reading about saccharin, I learned about other reasons to avoid artificial sweeteners.
The claims that artificial sweeteners are healthy alternatives to sugar because they don’t contain calories and don’t spike blood sugar levels seem to be theoretical.
From a research paper abstract I learned that artificial sweeteners may cause glucose intolerance and other health issues due to changes they create in gut microbes. Glucose intolerance can lead to diabetes.
I also came across scientific journal articles suggesting that regular consumption of artificial sweeteners correlates strongly with weight gain. Theories as to why include that they change our taste buds such that we become addicted to highly sweet foods and less sweet things don’t taste good, or that they increase general appetite, or that people eat more calories elsewhere since they feel they are consuming fewer in sweets and drinks.
There are other claims of negative health impacts from artificial sweeteners, albeit more research is needed for certainty. Learning about saccharin, and other artificial sweeteners, I was frustrated that there is a lack of safety information about such ubiquitous ingredients in common foods.
ALDONA BIRD is a journalist, previously writing for The Dominion Post. She uses experience gained working on organic farms in Europe to help her explore possibilities of local productivity and sustainable living in Preston County. Email columns@dominionpost.com.
