Cyclamate

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Cyclamate

Cyclamate (chemical formula C₆ H₁₃ NO₃ S) is an artificially-made sweetener with approximately 30 times the sweetness of ordinary table sugar. It does not add any calories, in contrast to a sweetener like sugar, which has made it attractive to those who are striving to lose weight.

While still available in some countries, the sale of cyclamate and its use as a sweetener in processed foods has been banned since 1970, due to concerns of a link between ingestion of cyclamate and the development of cancer.

Cyclamate was synthesized in 1937. Abbott Laboratories acquired the rights to the compound and began to market cyclamate as a sweetener in 1950. At that time, cyclamate was typically formulated as a 10-1 mixture with saccharin, marketed under the brand name Sucaryl^®. (Since saccharin is about 10 times as sweet as cyclamate, each compound contributed roughly half the mixture’s sweetening power.) The mixture was attractive because the two compounds together were sweeter and better-tasting than either alone.

Another reason for combining saccharin with cyclamate is that the sweet taste of cyclamate develops slowly, although it lingers attractively on the tongue. On the other hand, saccharin has a bitter aftertaste that is much less noticeable in the mixture than when saccharin is used alone. Indeed, cyclamate is better than sugar at masking bitter flavors.

Cyclamate is extremely stable. It can be used in cooking or baking and in foods of any level of acidic or basic character. Scientists have found no detectable change in Sucaryl tablets stored for seven years or more.

Regulatory controversy

Despite the aforementioned advantages, cycla-mate was ultimately banned in the United States. Cyclamate’s regulatory problems began in 1969, when animal studies established that the long-term consumption of high levels of cyclamate (higher than usual doses of the test compound is a normal part of such studies) was linked to the development of bladder cancer. This led the Food and Drug Administration to ban use of cyclamate—but not of saccharin, the mixture’s other ingredient. The issue was far from settled, however. In 1973, Abbott Laboratories petitioned to be allowed to continue to include cyclamate in foods. This request was accompanied by a number of additional studies supporting the compound’s safety. The petition was rejected in 1980.