Sugar Substitute
Fun Fact
Ever wondered where those pink and blue packets of sweetener on restaurant tables came from? They were invented on accident!
In 1879, Johns Hopkins researcher Constantine Fahlberg was trying to find a new use for coal tar. One day, he noticed that his wife’s biscuits tasted much sweeter than they usually did. The secret ingredient was the chemical: saccharin, which we now know as sugar substitute.
It turns out it had been on his hands when he picked up a snack after leaving the lab. What a coincidence!
It has been more than a century since this “sweet” yet ‘artificial’ discovery. But the jury is still out there about the safety of using these artificial sweeteners. As with any product, controversies always pop up and so the battle rages on.
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- Natasha Matta