with sugar prices soaring, unscrupulous businessmen have stepped in, offering a cheap sweetener with an effect so potent it has been called magic sugar. A pack of magic sugar, which sells for P30, is enough to sweeten a gallon of cold drinks, according to reports. With refined sugar being retailed at P45 a kilo, sodium cyclamate is easy to sell to ambulant vendors whose margin of profit on cold drinks is miniscule. The sweetener is reportedly sold under the Gold Bell brand, manufactured in Indonesia and smuggled into the Philippines. The only problem with sodium cyclamate, is that health experts have found it to be carcinogenic
In a Washington Post article, dated May 17, 1989, (author Malcolm Gladwell) writes that use of sodium cyclamate (SC) was found by researchers to "damage chromosones of cells growing in laboratories, high blood pressure, and testicular atrophy in rats..." Article (web) "Introduction to Organic Laboratory Techniques" (author Donald L. Pavia, and others), states that "in the 1970's a metabolite of SC, cyclohexylamine, posed some potentially serious health risks, including cancer", and was withdrawn for use in the United States therefore. Also "Cameo" chemicals research site stated that in England SC caused pregnant woman to vastly increase Down's Syndrome babies, and reiterated the cancer risk and high blood pressure information. Also causes diarrhea, irritation to mucous membranes, and is considered a poison in "high" doses.
It has been banned in the country for the past four decades. The fact that the product has found its way back into the local market raises concern about the enforcement of food safety standards in this country.
Police have started cracking down on ambulant vendors using magic sugar in Manila. Law enforcers are also verifying reports that the use of magic sugar has become rampant in Batangas, the Bicol Region, Bulacan, Cebu, Isabela, Nueva Ecija, Sorsogon and Zamboanga City.
The crackdown must be complemented by inspections conducted by food safety agencies to determine if the banned substance is being used for other food products now in the market. It wasn’t too long ago that health authorities found dairy and pet food products containing toxic levels of melamine, which has been shown to cause kidney failure. Hopefully the Philippine Health authorities show similar zeal in ferreting out food products that might be contaminated with sodium cyclamate.
Similarly, Customs authorities must tighten their watch on substances declared as food additives. The Bureau of Customs can improve its coordination with health authorities in clearing such shipments for release. It's a vicious circle sometime the customs personnel themselves or their relatives could end up suffering from illnesses caused by magic sugar. Businessmen who brought in the banned substance must also be apprehended and penalized. Public safety cannot be compromised in the name of profit.
Histopathologic evaluation of urinary bladders from rats following continuous dietary intake of saccharin, sodium saccharin, and calcium cyclamate for a maximum period of two years: Preliminary report
