THE European Food Safety Authority (EFSA for its acronym in English) published a report this Friday which concludes that saccharin is safe for human consumption and, therefore, decided to increase the admissible daily intake (ADI) of 5 to 9 mg/kg of body weight per day, thus modifying the limit established in 1995.
The previous ADI was established based on the increased incidence of bladder tumors observed in rat studies. However, they claim that “there is now scientific consensus that these tumors are specific to male rats and do not affect humans.”
Furthermore, to make this decision, EFSA experts examined all available data and concluded that “it is unlikely” that its consumption is associated with cancer risk in humans. Furthermore, they point out that current consumption is lower than the recently updated recommended daily intake, which means that there is no health risk.
This re-evaluation is part of wider work to review the safety of all food additives that use in food was authorized before January 20, 2009, as required by EU Regulation.
What is saccharin?
In their report, they recall that saccharins (E 954) are authorized as food additives in the European Union. This product was used for sweetening food and drinks for over 100 years, and became popular as a sugar substitute in the 1960s and 1970s.
THE saccharin salts are used because they dissolve better in waterwhich makes it easier to add to foods and drinks and can make them sweeter. And that is why they emphasize that “as with all food additives, saccharin and its salts must appear on product labels, enable consumers to make informed decisions.
