Saccharin and its salts

Animal and lab studies only

• Concern

  Heart and blood vessel health⁶

  In animal studies, saccharin made heart artery plaques worse in mice fed a fatty diet.

• Concern

  Liver inflammation in mice⁸

  In mice, six months of saccharin in drinking water came with more liver inflammation and gut changes.

Study type not stated

• Open question

  Sweeteners and public health³

  Saccharin has stirred debate over its effect on public health, though it is used in diets for diabetes.

How it’s made and used

• How the body handles it¹

  In people, saccharin leaves the body slowly and does not seem to settle into body fat.

• Sweetener intake in teens²

  Italian teenagers who ate sugar-free foods took in saccharin, but none went over the daily limit.

• Sweeteners in drinks⁴

  Sodium saccharin was found in takju, a Korean alcoholic drink, but not in other drinks tested.

• Bitter aftertaste⁵

  Saccharin and acesulfame K switch on bitter taste sensors on the tongue, which is why they leave a bitter aftertaste.

• Bitter aftertaste of sweeteners⁷

  Some cooling compounds block the bitter taste receptors that give saccharin its unpleasant aftertaste.

The signal at the top counts the findings in people and in animal and lab studies. A concern in studies of people outranks animal and lab studies, and “No concerns” needs at least one finding in people. When most findings in people point one way, the page leans that way (“Mostly”), and every finding is still shown. Findings whose study type is not stated are shown but not counted. This page is a reference, not medical advice. It describes what regulators and published research say. Talk to a doctor or dietitian about your own diet.

Expert panels that weigh all the research. Shown for context: the signal at the top does not count them. IARC rates whether something can cause cancer at all, not how likely it is at the amounts in food.

• UN and WHO food additive experts (JECFA), 1993

  Acceptable daily intake: up to 5 mg per kg of body weight.

• WHO cancer agency (IARC), 1998

  Not enough evidence to say whether it causes cancer in people (Group 3).