Sodium saccharin is the salt of saccharin and is an artificial sweetener. It has been used for more than 100 years as a low-calorie sweetener and sugar substitute in food and beverages under European Food Additive Number E954. It is 300 to 500 times sweeter than sugar. Sodium saccharin is used in toothpaste, mouthwash, diet soft drinks, syrups, baked goods, ice cream, and other sweetened foods and beverages. The best-known use of sodium saccharin is, of course, for food. But it is also used in chemistry and agriculture, as an aid in the production of herbicides and pesticides. It is also used as part of the solution for coating metals such as gold and nickel.

Saccharin is divided into two types: water-insoluble saccharin and water-soluble saccharin. Commercial saccharin on the market is mainly its soluble salts, commonly sodium saccharin, but also to a lesser extent calcium saccharin and potassium saccharin.

The purpose of this article is to discuss toothpaste sweeteners. 

How does toothpaste taste sweet?

For obvious reasons, modern commercially available toothpastes do not contain sugar-based sweeteners. The link between sugar and the development of tooth decay is well established. Yet, the ingredients in toothpaste, while beneficial to dental health, make it difficult to taste pleasant without a little help. As a result, toothpaste manufacturers continue to sweeten and flavor their products to make them easier to use on a daily basis.

Manufacturers use a variety of non-nutritive sweeteners to make the toothpaste more palatable.

Toothpaste ingredients depend on the type of toothpaste and the manufacturer. Wetting agents and flavoring agents are common additives. There is a wide variety of artificial sweeteners, but sodium saccharin is less expensive to produce and is commonly added to lip balms, mouthwashes, and toothpastes. It is one of five artificial sweeteners approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. You may recall that there were concerns about the safety of saccharin, but a re-examination of earlier studies linking it to cancer in rats found that it did not translate to cancer risk in humans. According to the U.S. International Trade Commission, food-grade saccharin must meet the standards established by the FDA in the Food Chemicals Codex and the U.S. Pharmacopeia.