Saccharin ‘cancer risk’

Press, 7 November 1978, Page 8

Saccharin ‘cancer risk’

NZPA-Reuter Washington The United States National Academy of Sciences said yesterday that the artificial sweetener, saccharin, was clearly a po- , e n t i a 1 cancer-causing agent, particularly among the young. In a new study ordered by the United States- Congress, the academy said the young were more at risk because they were apt to consume saccharin heavily and over long

periods in low-calorie soft drinks. The report called saccharin a “low-potency carcinogen (cancer-causing agent) in comparison with other carcinogens.” But it said, “even low risks, applied to a large number of exposed persons, may lead to public health concerns.” Earlier studies that showed huge doses of saccharin caused cancer in rats prompted the Food and Drug Administration

to propose that it be banned. The proposal aroused a public outcry, and Con- ; gress last year ordered the i academy study. t The soft-drink industry' , objected to any ban, arguing that the doses given ' the rats had been so great that the studies were meaningless. The latest study admitf ted that it was not posi sible from the earlier 1 studies on rats to deteri mine just how powerful a

carcinogen saccharin was in humans.

However, it noted that in those studies it had also been found that saccharin not only caused cancer in the rats, but promoted other carcinogens.

The studies also found that saccharin caused cancer in the male offspring of females exposed to the sweetener before pregnancy.