Saccharin is an artificial sweetener with a bitter or metallic aftertaste but has no calorie. It is 300-400 times sweeter than sucrose. Saccharin is generally used to sweeten products like drinks, candies and baked goods. It is also used in cosmetics as well as in medicines.

Researchers identified that saccharin causes cancer in the urinary bladder of rats. This resulted in the banning of saccharin as food additive by the Canadian government in 1977. Since then, many researches have been conducted and it has been proved that though it is carcinogenic to rats, saccharin has no harmful effect on humans. Thus, Canada lifted the ban on saccharin in 2014.

Though it has been concluded that saccharin poses no cancer risk to people, some health groups still maintain that children and pregnant women should avoid it due to its allergic reactions. However, there is no evidence to back this up.