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T
HE BANNING
of the artificial
sweetener cyclamate in the
United States has suddeoly
changed the eating and drinking
habits of 3 out of 4 Americans!
Each year an estimated
150
mil–
lioo Americaos have consumed
about
20
million pounds of cycla–
mates, most of it in low-calorie
carbonated soft drinks.
Secretary of Health , Education
and Welfare Robert H. Finch listed
172
brands of products which have
contaioed cyclamates and estitnated
Are
the~ Reall~
Safe?
The "cyclamate scare" has caused millions to become
con–
cerned. Millions are-
for
the first time - suspicious of the
safety of foods. ls there cause for
concern?
Just how safe are
the chemicals added to our food?
by
William F. Dankenbring
yearly sales of cyclamate-containing
products to be about one billion dollars !
But millions are gravely concerned.
Many wonder, in view of the cyclamate
scare, how maoy
other
supposedly
"safe" additives in our food are harm–
ful to human health, could cause cancer.
lt
is a chilling thought!
Why
Cydamates Banned
Unknowo to most, a battle raged
regarding the safety of cyclamates for
years befare they were finally banned.
This artificial sweeteoer made its first
appearance around 1950. With increas–
ing frequency in the last decade, scien–
tists have discovered evidence that cycla–
mates "cause diarrhea in children who
driok much artificially sweetened pop
and punch, that they block the action of
certain antibiotics and that they are po–
tentially dangerous to diabetics taking
oral anti-diabetes drugs"
(Science Nexus,
Dec. 7, 1968, p. 571).
Now, after two decades of research,
scicntists found that massive doses of
cydamates - 50 times the limit recom–
mended for human consumption -
would produce cancer in rats when
given throughout their lifetime.
Originally, cydamates were used for
inhibiting corrosion in steam boilers,
but jn 1937 a graduate student
at
the
University of Chicago happened to
taste the chemical cyclohexylamine ( the
parent compound of cyclaroates) and
found
it
was almost sickeningly sweet.
From that accidental discovery the cycla–
mate industry quickly boomed to a
bil–
lion-dollar industry in the United States.
Scientists found that cydamates break
clown in the body, forming chemicals
such as cydohexylamine (CHA). (See
the Federal Department of Agriculture
in
Science,
Sept. 12, 1969, Vol. 165,
p.
1139, 1969.) In massive doses, this
chemical causes bladder cancer in rats.
Cyclamates injected into incubating eggs
cause grotesque deformities in many of
the chicks and kill others in the shcll.
Many human beings convert only
1%
of the cyclamate they take into their
bodies to CHA, but other people
change as much as 40% to CHA. It is
possible such high doses cause cancer or
other diseases.
CHA is labeled "Poisonous
!"
in the