Total Eclipse for Cyclamates

Soon after the Food and Drug Administration barred the use of the artificial sweetener cyclamate last fall, it modified its proscription. Although the chemical had been found to cause bladder cancer in mice and rats, the FDA decided that a limited amount could still be added to food and drugs for persons suffering from diabetes, hypertension or obesity. Last week, however, the federal agency closed even this narrow loophole. Acting on the recommendations of its medical advisory group on cyclamates, the FDA issued a total ban on the additive, forbidding its use in all foods, soft drinks and drugs--even those prescribed by doctors.

After exhaustive tests on animals, the advisory group determined the maximum allowable human intake of cyclamates to be 168 mg. a day, or about 1/180 of an ounce. But the researchers, in their report to the FDA, noted that the level of use of cyclamates by young diabetics, for example, would be "difficult to control." Even if the intake of the additive were limited to the safe daily amount, they added, there was the danger that it might have a cumulative effect on some consumers. For those on diets, the risk of using cyclamates would thus outweigh the benefits. The allowable amount of cyclamates would permit a dieter to sweeten the equivalent of only one serving of canned fruit or vegetables a day.

The FDA's decision came as a blow to the 46 firms that have applied for permission to use cyclamates in their products under the modified restrictions laid down last year. None of the applications have been approved, and now all will be rejected. But the additive news was not uniformly gloomy. Even before its announcement on cyclamates, the FDA had given a completely clean bill of health to saccharin, a widely used artificial sweetener that came under suspicion last year. The agency also virtually cleared monosodium glutamate (MSG), a popular flavor enhancer that, when used in excessive quantities, causes some people to suffer the tingling and numbness of "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome." Although MSG causes brain damage in mice when injected in large doses, researchers have found no evidence of harmful effects when the chemical is used as a food additive. Taking no chances, the FDA banned the addition of MSG to baby foods, but concluded that the additive poses no dangers to older children and adults.

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