There is quite a large number of accidental discoveries pertaining to food. Most of them are actually understandable – such as moldy cheeses, fermenting fruit and the like, others are not as straightforward – such as the microwave oven; or artificial sweetener – specifically, saccharin. First, let’s address the need for an artificial sweetener – why would we want to use something instead of sugar, which is natural and abundant?
Well, the sole fact of it being natural isn’t a testament to its health benefits. Numerous studies show that humanity has developed a sweet tooth and it’s not making us any healthier. This is a bane we have to live with – we like our food sweet, but we don’t want to pay the toll excessive sugar consumption takes on our bodies. What makes saccharin different from sugar is that, while having a somewhat similar taste, it goes through the human digestive system without being absorbed.
Interestingly, this is not how artificial sweeteners became first popular. Saccharin first became popular as a sugar substitute when it’s real counterpart became not so abundant after all – during World War I. It was only later when it became commercialized as a calorie-free sugar substitute – the fitness trend secured saccharin’s commercial success. Diabetics can also enjoy sweet foods and drinks with saccharin without worrying about sugar levels.
So let’s get to the discovery part. The man responsible for our sweet soft drinks and toothpaste is one Constantin Fahlberg, a chemist working on coal tar derivatives in Ira Remsen's laboratory at the Johns Hopkins University. Here’s an excerpt from his 1886 interview with Scientific America:
"I had worked a long time on the compound radicals and substitution products of coal tar… One evening I was so interested in my laboratory that I forgot about my supper till quite late, and then rushed off for a meal without stopping to wash my hands. I sat down, broke a piece of bread, and put it to my lips. It tasted unspeakably sweet… I rinsed my mouth with water, and dried my moustache with my napkin, when, to my surprise the napkin tasted sweeter than the bread… It flashed on me that I was the cause of the singular universal sweetness,…I had discovered some coal tar substance which out-sugared sugar. I dropped my dinner, and ran back to the laboratory."
Mr. Fahlberg was lucky that the substance wasn’t poisonous – or any other chemical in his lab, as after this miraculous discovery he decided to take a taste test of all the samples in his lab. Unlike some other accidental inventors, Fahlberg recognized the importance of his find immediately and decided to focus his efforts on making a product out of it. In the interview, he describes his process, starting from going through beakers and lab dishes.
"One of them contained an impure solution of saccharin. On this I worked then for weeks and months till I had determined its chemical composition, its characteristics and reactions, and the best modes of making it, scientifically and commercially."
Unsurprisingly, the scientific community gave the inventor a cold shoulder, initially. It only when the public tasted the new product which the inventor called saccharin was praised and promoted through international press. After being swarmed with requests for samples, Fahlberg launched his own company to produce the patented sweetener in late 19th century.
