sweetener, artificial, substance used as a low-calorie sugar
substitute. Saccharin, cyclamates, and aspartame have been the
most commonly used artificial sweeteners. Saccharin, a coal-tar
derivative three hundred times as sweet as sugar, was discovered
in 1879. Cyclamates were approved for consumer use in 1951; they
are 30 times sweet as sugar and, unlike saccharin. have no
bitter aftertaste at high concentration. They were banned in
1969 because of suspected carcinogenic properties. Aspartame, an
amino-acid compound that is about 160 times as sweet as sugar,
was discovered in 1965 and is a widely used low-calorie
sweetener. It cannot be used in cooking because it is destroyed
on boiling in water. People who are sensitive to the amino acid
phenylalanine should not use aspartame. Neotame, an aspartame
analog, is 30 to 60 times sweeter than aspartame, more stable at
high temperatures, and far less likely to pose a risk to people
sensitive to phenylalanine. Sucralose, which is manufactured by
adding chlorine to