Sodium cyclamate is harmful? Food supplement E-952

It is difficult to imagine modern food without appropriate additives. A special popularity was acquired by various sweeteners. For a long time the most common of these was the chemical substance of sodium cyclamate (another name is e952, an additive). To date, the facts that speak about its harm have already been reliably confirmed.

Properties of a dangerous sweetener

Sodium cyclamate belongs to the group of cyclamic acids. Each of these compounds will look like a white crystalline powder. It absolutely does not smell anything, its main property is a pronounced sweet taste. By its effect on taste buds, it can be sweeter than sugar 50 times. If you mix it with other sweeteners, then the sweetness of food can increase many times. Exceeding the concentration of the additive is easy to follow - in the mouth there will be a distinctly noticeable aftertaste with a metallic taste.

This substance dissolves very quickly in water (and not so quickly - in alcohol compounds). It is also characteristic that in fatty substances E-952 will not dissolve.

Food additives E: varieties and classifications

On each product label in the store there is a continuous sequence of letters and figures that are not clear to the common man. To understand this chemical nonsense does not want any of the buyers: many products are placed in the basket without careful study. Especially since the food additives used in the modern food industry are about two thousand. Each of them has its own code and designation. Those that were produced at European enterprises carry the letter E. Frequently used food additives E (the table below will reflect their classification) approached the border of three hundred names.

Nutritional supplements E, Table 1

Prohibited and authorized lists

Each E-product is a priori considered technologically justified in use and tested for safety in human nutrition. For this reason, the buyer trusts the manufacturer, without going into details of the harm or benefit of such an additive. But food supplements E are the above-water part of a huge iceberg. As for their true impact on human health, discussions are still taking place. Sodium cyclamate also causes a lot of controversy.

Similar disagreements related to the resolution and use of such substances take place not only in our country, but also in European countries and the United States. In Russia, to date, there are three lists:

1. Allowed additives.

2. Prohibited additives.

3. Substances that are not expressly permitted, but not prohibited.

Dangerous food additives

In our country, food supplements are expressly banned, as reflected in the following table.

Prohibited food supplements E, table 2

The current state of the food industry does not allow completely to do without food additives. Another thing is that their use is often unjustifiably exaggerated. Such chemical additives in food can increase the risk of very serious diseases, but this will only be clear after tens of years after their application. But completely deny the benefits of eating such a food can not: with the help of additives, many of the products are enriched with vitamins and trace elements, which are useful for humans. What kind of danger or harm is E952 (additive)?

History of the use of sodium cyclamate

Originally this chemical was used in pharmacology: Abbott Laboratories wanted to use this sweet discovery in order to mask the bitterness of some antibiotics. But already closer to 1958, sodium cyclamate was found to be safe and for consumption in food. And in the mid-sixties it was already proved that cyclamate is a carcinogenic catalyst (although not an obvious cause of cancer). That is why disputes about the harm or benefit of this chemical are still being conducted.

But, despite such statements, the additive (sodium cyclamate) is allowed as a sweetener, the harm and benefit of which is being studied to this day, in more than 50 countries. For example, it is allowed in Ukraine. And in Russia this drug was, on the contrary, excluded from the list of food additives approved for use in 2010.

E-952. Is the additive harmful or beneficial?

What does this sweetener contain? Harm or benefit are hidden in his formula? The popular sweetener was previously sold in the form of tablets, which were prescribed to diabetics as an alternative to sugar consumption.

For the preparation of food is characterized by the use of a mixture that will consist of ten parts of an additive and one part of saccharin. Due to the stability of this sweetener when heated, it can be used in both confectionery baking and in beverages soluble in hot water.

Cyclamate has found wide distribution for the preparation of ice cream, desserts, fruit or vegetable products with reduced caloric content, as well as in the preparation of low-alcohol beverages. It is found in canned fruit, jam, jelly, marmalade, biscuits and chewing gum.

An additive is also used in pharmacology: it is used to make mixtures used for the production of vitamin-mineral complexes and cough suppressants (including lollipops). There is also its use in the cosmetic industry - sodium cyclamate is a component of lip glosses and lipsticks.

Conditionally safe additive

During use, E-952 is not fully digested by most people and animals - it will be excreted in the urine. A daily dose of 10 mg / kg of total body weight is considered safe.

There are certain categories of people in whom this food supplement is processed into teratogenic metabolites. That is why sodium cyclamate harm can bring with its consumption by pregnant women.

Despite the fact that food supplement E-952 is recognized by the World Health Organization as conditionally safe, it is necessary to treat it with care, while observing this daily rate. If possible, it is necessary to abandon the products containing it, which will have a great impact on human health.