In recent years some common artificial sweeteners have come under scrutiny over how safe they are.These claims range from causing cancer to birth defects. Often times the groups that claim these artificial sweeteners are unsafe use unverified research, this information can be convincing until further research is done. Contrary to this belief artificial sweeteners have been found to be safe when consumed in normal amounts.
An understanding of several scientific terms must be established before one can effectively investigate these claims. First, LD50. This is the concentration of any substance that must be consumed by a group of individuals that would kill off half of the group. The LD50 of many artificial sweeteners ranges from 5-15g/kg(body weight)/day. This equals approximately 27,000 diet sodas a day to reach this level. The second scientific term is accepted daily intake (ADI).This is how much of a substance that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has found to be safe with no ill side effects. According to the University of Alabama at …show more content…
The first time this fear surfaced was in the 1970’s when a study on lab rats showed a link between bladder cancer and increased doses of saccharin. After this was discovered, any foods containing saccharin were required to carry a warning label but were not banned. However, this did not last long because according to the National Cancer Institute, “mechanistic studies (studies that examine how a substance works in the body) have shown that these results apply only to rats” ("Artificial”). This means that the chemical process that causes saccharin to breakdown and mutate bladder cells into cancerous cells is only present in rats and not humans. Even after the warning labels were removed from saccharin and it was deemed safe and non-carcinogenic, the public still had worries about it and switched to another artificial sweetener:
An understanding of several scientific terms must be established before one can effectively investigate these claims. First, LD50. This is the concentration of any substance that must be consumed by a group of individuals that would kill off half of the group. The LD50 of many artificial sweeteners ranges from 5-15g/kg(body weight)/day. This equals approximately 27,000 diet sodas a day to reach this level. The second scientific term is accepted daily intake (ADI).This is how much of a substance that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has found to be safe with no ill side effects. According to the University of Alabama at …show more content…
The first time this fear surfaced was in the 1970’s when a study on lab rats showed a link between bladder cancer and increased doses of saccharin. After this was discovered, any foods containing saccharin were required to carry a warning label but were not banned. However, this did not last long because according to the National Cancer Institute, “mechanistic studies (studies that examine how a substance works in the body) have shown that these results apply only to rats” ("Artificial”). This means that the chemical process that causes saccharin to breakdown and mutate bladder cells into cancerous cells is only present in rats and not humans. Even after the warning labels were removed from saccharin and it was deemed safe and non-carcinogenic, the public still had worries about it and switched to another artificial sweetener: