Benefits of Saccharin

Saccharin has been used to sweeten foods and beverages without calories or carbohydrates for over a century. Its use was considerable during the sugar shortages of the two world wars, particularly in Europe.

In the United States, its daily use by several generations of Americans has made saccharin an integral part of the American lifestyle. It is particularly important to those whose diets require a restriction of caloric or carbohydrate intake, such as persons with diabetes. Most health practitioners favor the use of a non-caloric sweetener like saccharin in weight reduction and for people with diabetes.

According to opinion research, people use saccharin to stay in better overall health, control weight or maintain an attractive physical appearance. Research also has shown that health professionals believe saccharin is especially beneficial to persons with diabetes and the obese, and helps reduce dental cavities.

Throughout the 1970s, saccharin was the only low-calorie sweetener available in the United States. Saccharin continues to be important for a wide range of low-calorie and sugar-free food and beverage applications. It is used in the U.S. in such products as soft drinks, tabletop sweeteners, baked goods, jams, chewing gum, canned fruit, candy, dessert toppings and salad dressings. One of its most popular uses is in Sweet 'N Low®, a tabletop sweetener. Saccharin also is used in cosmetic products, vitamins and pharmaceuticals.
The current availability of saccharin and three other low-calorie sweeteners, aspartame, acesulfame potassium, and sucralose, allows manufacturers to utilize a "multiple sweetener approach" -- using the most appropriate sweetener, or combination of sweeteners, for a given product.

No low-calorie sweetener is perfect for all uses. However, a variety of sweeteners enables the development of a much wider range of new, good-tasting, low-calorie products to meet consumer demand. Also, a variety of low-calorie sweeteners provides products with increased stability, improved taste, lower production costs and more choices for the consumer.