Sweeteners and Health

When it became clear that consuming large amounts of sugar was associated with various health issues, such as dental caries, diabetes, and obesity, science provided a solution in the form of nonsugar and noncaloric sweeteners. Saccharin, discovered accidentally in 1879, was the first noncaloric sweetener. The German chemist Constantin Fahlberg happened to taste material being synthesized as a new food preservative and discovered its intense sweetness. He named the compound “saccharin” (saccharum, Latin for sugar) and developed a process for manufacturing the compound in bulk.