[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 155 (Friday, December 15, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2237]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E2237]]
INTRODUCTION OF H.R. 5668, SWEETEST ACT--SACCHARIN WARNING ELIMINATION 
       VIA ENVIRONMENTAL TESTING EMPLOYING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

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                          HON. JOE KNOLLENBERG

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, December 15, 2000

  Mr. KNOLLENBERG. Mr. Speaker, today I submit legislation that would 
eliminate needless bureaucratic regulations in the labeling of the 
sweetener saccharin. I've called it the ``SWEETEST Act'' which stands 
for Saccharin Warning Elimination via Environmental Testing Employing 
Science and Technology.
  Saccharin was first discovered in 1879 and it has been safely 
employed as a no-calorie sweetener for over one hundred years now. 
Concerns over saccharin's safety were first raised twenty years ago 
after a flawed study that administered huge quantities of the 
artificial sweetener to laboratory rats produced bladder tumors in 
rats. New and better scientific research has decisively shown that the 
earlier rat studies are not at all applicable to humans.
  Earlier this year, the National Toxicology Program (NTP) removed 
saccharin from its 9th Report on Carcinogens. In doing so NTP joined 
numerous other world health agencies in recognizing the safety of 
saccharin.
  NTP's action negated the need for the current warning label mandated 
by the Saccharin Study and Labeling Act of 1977 (SSLA) on all products 
containing saccharin. The Food and Drug Administration recognized that 
the mandated warning label is inappropriate and agreed to support its 
repeal.
  This legislation removes Section 403, paragraph (o) of the Federal 
Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 343) and Section 4, paragraph 
(c) of the Saccharin Study and Labeling Act (P.L. 95-203). Those 
requirements formed the basis for the unnecessary warning statements 
found on common packets of sweeteners used every day in thousands of 
households and restaurants across the nation.
  Given saccharin's favorable synergistic properties in combination 
with other sweeteners and its low cost, many food, beverage, and health 
care manufacturers are very interested in developing new products 
utilizing this sweetener.

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