Cyclamate

Skeletal formula of sodium cyclamate.

Cyclamate is an artificial sweetener that is 30-50 times sweeter than sugar, making it the least
potent of the commercially available artificial sweeteners. Its sweetness depends on its
concentration but does not increase linearly with concentration. It was discovered in 1937, at the
University of Illinois by graduate student Michael Sveda. It is less expensive than most other
sweeteners, including sucralose, and is stable under heating.
Some have noted that cyclamate leaves an unpleasant aftertaste, although its aftertaste is
generally less than that of saccharin or acesulfame potassium. It is often used synergistically with
other sweeteners, particularly saccharina mixture of 10 parts cyclamate to 1 part saccharin is
commonly used and masks the off-tastes of both sweeteners.
Whether cyclamate has adverse side effects on humans is controversial. Some studies have
suggested that very high doses of cyclamate may be associated with bladder cancer or testicular
atrophy in some animals, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has banned cyclamate
from food products. However, others argue that cyclamate is safe at normal levels of usage, and
it is approved as a sweetener in more than 55 other countries.
History

As in the case of many other artificial sweeteners, the sweetness of cyclamate was discovered by
accident. Michael Sveda was working in a lab on the synthesis of anti-fever medication. He put
his cigarette down on the lab bench and when he put it back in his mouth he discovered the sweet
taste of cyclamate.
The patent for cyclamate was purchased by DuPont but later sold to Abbott Laboratories which
undertook the necessary studies and submitted a New Drug Application in 1950. Abbott intended
to use cyclamate to mask the bitterness of certain drugs such as antibiotics and pentobarbital. In
the U.S. in 1958, it was designated GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe).
Cyclamate was marketed in tablet form for use by diabetics as an alternative tabletop sweetener,
as well as in a liquid form. One such product was named 'Sucaryl' and is still available in non-US
markets. In the European Union, it is also known under the E number (additive code) E952.

Chemistry

Cyclamate is the sodium or calcium salt of cyclamic acid (cyclohexanesulfamic acid). It is

prepared by the sulfonation of cyclohexylamine, by reacting cyclohexylamine with either
sulfamic acid or sulfur trioxide.
Health effects
Cancer

In 1966, a study reported that some intestinal bacteria could desulfonate cyclamate to produce
cyclohexylamine, a compound suspected to have some chronic toxicity in animals. Further
research resulted in a 1969 study which found the common 10:1 cyclamate:saccharin mixture to
increase the incidence of bladder cancer in rats. The released study showed that eight out of 240
rats fed a mixture of saccharin and cyclamates, at levels of humans ingesting 350 cans of diet
soda per day, developed bladder tumors. Other studies implicated cyclohexylamine in testicular
atrophy in mice (see below).
On October 18, 1969, the Food and Drug Administration citing the Delaney Amendment, banned
the sale of cyclamate in the United States, and the United Kingdom followed suit the next year.
Abbott Laboratories claimed that its own studies were unable to reproduce the 1969 study's
results, and in 1973, Abbott petitioned the FDA to lift the ban on cyclamate. This petition was
eventually denied in 1980, by FDA Commissioner Jere Goyan. Abbott Labs, together with the
Calorie Control Council (a political lobby representing the diet foods industry), filed a second
petition in 1982. Although the FDA has stated that a review of all available evidence does not
implicate cyclamate as a carcinogen in mice or rats, cyclamate remains banned from food
products in the United States. Currently, the petition is not being actively considered.
Cyclamate is approved as a sweetener in more than 55 countries. For example, the brand-name
beverage sweetener Sweet'N Low, which contains only dextrose, saccharin, cream of tartar, and
calcium silicate in the United States, contains cyclamate in Canada (where saccharin is banned
except for diabetic usage). Similarly, SugarTwin(R),[1] the brand-name sweetener containing
cyclamate in Canada, contains saccharin in the United States.[2]
Male reproduction

One reported effect in animal studies (mice and primates) is irreversible testicular atrophy and an
apparent impact on seminal vesicle function. However, possible negative impacts on male
reproductive ability and/or function may lie outside the scope of committees tasked to determine
the safety of a product based only on its expected impact on life expectancy and/or cancer rates.
Since cyclamates appear to affect cells involved in the production of spermatozoa, the question
has been raised as to whether they may also be capable of damaging male reproductive DNA.
There does not yet seem to be any direct evidence either for or against this.
Cyclamate in sweetener brands

Cyclamate may be found in the following sweetener brands:

Assugrin (Switzerland, Brazil)

Sucaryl

SugarTwin (Canada)

In addition, cyclamate has been added to Coca-Cola Zero (in Austria, Greece, Germany, Poland,
Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Mexico).
See also

Aspartame

Food additive

Saccharin

Sucrose

Sugar

Notes
1. SugarTwin, Homepage. Retrieved January 24, 2009.
2. SugarTwin, Ingredients. Retrieved January 24, 2009.
References

Inhorn, S.L., and L.F. Meisner. 1970. Irresponsibility of Cyclamate Ban. Science
167 (924): 1436.

Kellen R.H. April 11, 1977. Cyclamate Sweeteners. Journal of the American
Medical Association. 237 (15): 1558.

Lerner, K. Lee, and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. 2004. The Gale Encyclopedia of
Science. Detroit: Gale. ISBN 0787675547.

Mitchell, Helen (ed.). 2006. Sweeteners and Sugar Alternatives in Food

Technology. Oxford: Blackwell Pub. ISBN 9781405134347.