Chronic toxicity study of cyclamate: saccharin (10: 1) in rats

Chronic rat feeding studies were conducted on a 10: 1 cyclamate/saccharin (C/S) mixture to supplement previous investigations which had established the safety of the individual components. The test mixture was fed at dietary levels designed to furnish 500, 1120, and 2500 mg/kg body weight to groups of 35 male and 45 female rats. The protocol included observations of physical condition, growth response, food efficiency, blood, urine, and postmortem pathology. Reproduction and lactation performance was examined through 2 litters. Teratology was also investigated. Since conversion to cyclohexylamine (CHA) was found to occur in many of the rats, particularly in the higher dosage groups, it was included as an added insult in the diets of about half the animals during the last quarter of the 2-year test period. The only positive finding in these studies which proved to have crucial significance was the occurrence of papillary carcinomas in the bladders of 12 of the 70 rats fed the maximum dietary level of the mixture (equivalent to about 2500 mg/kg body weight) for periods ranging from 78 to 105 weeks (except for one earlier death). This finding was the principal reason for the removal of cyclamates from the "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS) group of non-nutritive sweeteners by the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. In the opinion of the authors, the sequelae following this precipitate ban on cyclamates, prompted by a verbal report of the preliminary findings, warrant placing the study on record for the information of toxicologists and regulatory agencies throughout the world.