A Visual Essay
Synthetic Sweetness
How Chemistry Changed the Taste of America
Every day, 600 million Americans sweeten their coffee, their tea, their soda. Pink packets, blue packets, yellow packets, green. Zero calories, no sugar, still sweet.
For 145 years, we\u2019ve tried to keep the sweetness and lose the calories. Every major artificial sweetener—saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame-K—was discovered by accident, when a chemist tasted something they shouldn\u2019t have.
This is the story of how we engineered our way around sugar\u2019s consequences— and whether we succeeded.
Chapter 1
The Evolutionary Trap
Deep Time
Our craving for sweetness is older than humanity itself. Primates evolved to seek sugary fruits—ripeness signals nutrition, energy, survival. The sweet taste receptor on the human tongue connects directly to the brain\u2019s pleasure centers, releasing dopamine with the same efficiency as addictive drugs.
For millions of years, this worked. Sweetness was rare. Fruit appeared seasonally. Honey was guarded by stinging defenders. The calories we craved were hard to obtain.
Then we learned to cultivate. Sugar cane, first domesticated around 8000 BCE in New Guinea, was humanity\u2019s first attempt to hack our own reward system. We found a plant that produced sweetness on demand and spent the next 10,000 years figuring out how to grow more of it.
The trap was set. We didn\u2019t evolve to handle unlimited access to our deepest craving.
Chapter 2
From Jungle to Commodity
8000 BCE – 1500 CE
For thousands of years, sugar cane was chewed for pleasure but couldn\u2019t travel. The breakthrough came around 500 CE in India: crystallization. By boiling cane juice and letting it cool slowly, the sweet essence could be captured in solid form. Traders called it \u201Csharkara\u201D—Sanskrit for gravel or grit. The word became \u201Csugar.\u201D
Suddenly, sweetness could be stored. It could be shipped. It could be sold.
The Arabs encountered this marvel during Islamic expansion and became its greatest promoters. By the time Crusaders reached the Middle East in 1099, they discovered \u201Ca most precious product...very useful and healthy.\u201D They brought it home.
In medieval Europe, sugar was exotic medicine, sold by apothecaries in tiny quantities. In 1319, a pound of sugar in London cost 2 shillings—equivalent to roughly $100 today. Only kings and bishops tasted it regularly.
The Accidental Pattern
Every major artificial sweetener was discovered the same way
1878
Saccharin Discovered
Constantine Fahlberg notices sweet taste on his fingers after working in Ira Remsen’s lab at Johns Hopkins.
1937
Cyclamate Discovered
Michael Sveda puts a cigarette on his lab bench, tastes it on his fingers when he picks it up.
1965
Aspartame Discovered
James Schlatter licks his finger while picking up papers, discovers the sweet compound.
1967
Acesulfame-K Discovered
Karl Clauss at Hoechst AG licks his fingers to pick up paper, notices intense sweetness.
1976
Sucralose Discovered
Shashikant Phadnis mishears ‘test’ as ‘taste,’ discovers sucralose by accident.
God looks after damn fools, children and chemists.
Chapter 5
The First Accident
1878–1879
In June 1878, in a cramped laboratory at Johns Hopkins University, a Russian-born chemist named Constantine Fahlberg was working on coal tar derivatives. The research was mundane—oxidizing toluene compounds for his supervisor, Professor Ira Remsen.
That evening, Fahlberg sat down to dinner without washing his hands. When he picked up a piece of bread, he noticed something strange: it tasted sweet. Intensely sweet. He licked his fingers. Sweet. He tasted his napkin where he\u2019d wiped his hands. Sweet.
He rushed back to the laboratory and tasted every beaker and flask until he found the source: a white crystalline compound produced by his afternoon\u2019s work. He named it \u201Csaccharin\u201D from the Latin saccharum—sugar.
Saccharin was 300 times sweeter than sugar. It had no calories. It didn\u2019t rot teeth. It passed through the body unchanged.
Constantine Fahlberg
Discoverer of Saccharin
- Born December 22, 1850, Tambov, Russia
- Discovered saccharin’s sweet taste June 1878
- Patented without crediting Remsen
- Built saccharin factory in Magdeburg, Germany (1886)
- Died August 15, 1910
Ira Remsen
The Uncredited Co-Discoverer
- First Professor of Chemistry, Johns Hopkins (1876-1913)
- President of Johns Hopkins University (1901-1913)
- Published saccharin discovery with Fahlberg (February 1879)
“Fahlberg is a scoundrel. It nauseates me to hear my name mentioned in the same breath with him.”
Anybody who says saccharin is injurious to health is an idiot.
Roosevelt personally used saccharin on his doctor\u2019s orders. When Harvey Wiley, the father of the FDA, tried to ban it, the president shut him down.
The Regulatory Pendulum
A pattern of approval, concern, investigation, and (usually) reaffirmation
1958
Food Additives Amendment
Requires premarket approval; Delaney Clause bans any carcinogenic substance.
1969
Cyclamate GRAS Removed
FDA removes cyclamate from GRAS list after rat bladder tumor studies.
1970
Cyclamate Banned
Total cyclamate ban takes effect in August. Remains banned in US today.
1977
Saccharin Near-Ban
FDA announces intent to ban; Congress passes moratorium requiring warning labels instead.
1981
Aspartame Approved
FDA Commissioner Hayes overrules PBOI, approves aspartame for dry foods.
1998
Sucralose Approved
FDA approves sucralose; Splenda launches the following year.
2008
Stevia GRAS
FDA issues GRAS notices for high-purity steviol glycosides.
2023
WHO Guideline
WHO recommends against NSS for weight control; IARC classifies aspartame as ‘possibly carcinogenic.’
The Color Language of Sweetness
Each packet color became synonymous with its sweetener
Saccharin
Sweet’N Low
300x sweeter than sugar
Aspartame
Equal
200x sweeter than sugar
Sucralose
Splenda
600x sweeter than sugar
Stevia
Truvia
200-300x sweeter than sugar
Peak and Decline
US Per Capita Sweetener Consumption
Pounds per year (all caloric sweeteners)
Source: USDA Economic Research Service
In 1999, American per capita sweetener consumption peaked at 153.6 pounds per year. By 2023, it had declined to 123.5 pounds—a 19.6% drop. High-fructose corn syrup, once hailed as sugar\u2019s cheap replacement, fell 40% from its 2000 peak.
Yet even at the reduced level, Americans consume far more sweetness than any previous generation. We\u2019ve stepped back from the cliff\u2019s edge, but we haven\u2019t left the mountain.
The Unsettled Science
In May 2023, the World Health Organization issued a guideline that stunned the sweetener industry: \u201CWHO suggests that non-sugar sweeteners not be used as a means of achieving weight control.\u201D
Two months later, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified aspartame as \u201Cpossibly carcinogenic to humans\u201D (Group 2B)—the same category as aloe vera and pickled vegetables.
But the same day, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives reaffirmed aspartame\u2019s acceptable daily intake at 40 mg/kg body weight— unchanged since the 1980s.
The message was contradictory. \u201CPossibly carcinogenic\u201D but also \u201Csafe at current levels\u201D? The science is genuinely unsettled. The regulatory pendulum keeps swinging.
The evidence does not support the WHO recommendation to avoid non-sugar sweeteners for weight management.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are artificial sweeteners safe?
Current regulatory consensus says yes, at levels within established ADIs (Acceptable Daily Intakes). However, the WHO’s 2023 guideline recommends against using them for weight control, and scientific debate continues.
How was saccharin discovered?
In June 1878, chemist Constantine Fahlberg noticed a sweet taste on his fingers at dinner after working in Ira Remsen’s laboratory at Johns Hopkins. He traced it to a compound he’d synthesized—saccharin, 300 times sweeter than sugar.
Why is cyclamate banned in the US but legal in Europe?
The US banned cyclamate in 1969 based on a rat study showing bladder tumors. The mechanism causing those tumors doesn’t apply to humans. Most other countries have re-evaluated the evidence and approved cyclamate.
Is stevia really ‘natural’?
Stevia comes from a plant, but commercial products are highly processed extracts involving water extraction, chemical precipitation, and crystallization. ‘Natural’ describes origin, not production method.
When did US sweetener consumption peak?
US per capita sweetener consumption peaked in 1999 at 153.6 pounds per year. By 2023, it had declined 19.6% to 123.5 pounds—still historically unprecedented, but down from the peak.
What did the WHO say about artificial sweeteners in 2023?
In May 2023, the WHO recommended against using non-sugar sweeteners for weight control, citing lack of long-term benefit evidence. This was a conditional recommendation based on systematic review.
How many Diet Cokes would I need to drink to exceed the ADI for aspartame?
For a 70kg adult, roughly 14 cans per day to exceed the JECFA ADI of 40 mg/kg. The FDA’s ADI is slightly higher at 50 mg/kg.
What is the most potent sweetener?
Advantame, approved by the FDA in 2014, is 20,000 times sweeter than sugar—the most potent high-intensity sweetener approved for use.
After 145 years, we still don\u2019t have consensus on whether artificial sweeteners help us, harm us, or simply provide sweetness without clear consequence.
The quest for sweetness without sugar continues.