by Susan Klatz Beal

Created on: July 11, 2009   Last Updated: October 05, 2010

Artificial sweeteners have existed for somewhere around 40 years. No matter what type of artificial sweetener may have been introduced at any given time, there have been questions surrounding the safety of the product. Thankfully, due to the careful research of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (or CSPI,) consumers can find out a lot about the various artificial sweeteners and use that information to determine whether or not they deem them safe to use.

*Cyclamate

Cyclamate was the first artificial sweetener to appear on the scene, and although it was banned sometime around 1970, almost every other artificial sweetener that has been introduced since then has faced some type of controversy over its safety, and the degree to which any sweetener can be safely used.

*Acesulfame-K

Acesulfame-K is an artificial sweetener that is made by the giant German chemical company, Hoechst, and that is widely used around the world. It is 200 times sweeter than sugar. In July of 1998, the FDA allowed Acesulfame-K to be used as a sweetener in soft drinks. It was formerly only used in chewing gum and in baked goods.

Two studies involving rats suggested that Acesulfame-K could potentially cause cancer. Consequently, in 1996, the CSPI (Center for Science in the Public Interest,) urged the FDA to require further and better tests before allowing it to be added to diet soft drinks. Acetoacetamide, a chemical that results from the breakdown of Acesulfamine-K was shown to affect the thyroid glands of dogs, rabbits and rats when consumed in large doses.

*Aspartame -

Aspartame is the chemical name for the product that is more commonly known as Equal or NutraSweet. It is essentially a chemical combination of two amino acids and methanol. It is widely used in diet foods, including soft drinks, drink mixes, gelatin desserts, and in low calorie frozen desserts.

Initially, Aspartame was thought to be the perfect, safe artificial sweetener that would revolutionize the world of diet foods. There were, however, concerns that it could cause neurological problems such as hallucinations or diziness, or that it could potentially cause cancer. The earliest study involving Aspartame was undertaken in the 1970's and the study suggested that Aspartame could cause brain tumors in rats. Aspartame has been shown to be unsafe for children.

*Neotame -

Artificial sweetener made by the NutraSweet Company. It is 40 times sweeter than Aspartame, 8,000 times sweeter than table sugar. It is chemically

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