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Saccharin is one of the most disputed sugar substitutes in the United States today. Since 1977, it has been regarded as potentially carcinogenic ("Saccharin", 1999). The sweetness of saccharin compared to sugarcane is utterly amazing. When measured up to sugarcane, saccharin is 550 times as sweet in its pure state. Also, it is estimated to have a sweetening power of 375 times that of sugar ("Saccharin", 2000)! This drug may be amazing, but some people say that it causes a dangerous disease, cancer.
In 1879, while developing new food preservatives a young Johns Hopkins chemistry research assistant accidentally discovered that one of the organic compounds he was testing was intensely sweet. He named it "saccharum", the Greek word for sugar. He further learned that it passed through the body unchanged and was thus a safe artificial sweetener for diabetics (Anderson, 1995). Similar sugar substitutes are used today.
Saccharin, which is also known as ortho-sulpho benzimide, is......

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