Sweet Medicine: Reading Artificial Sweeteners as Pharmaceuticals in American Life

This paper uncovers a counterintuitive archive of diet sweetener in order to engage recent literature on twentieth-century post-war pharmacology and food studies. Although not typically viewed as such, saccharin and cyclamates were among the most popular pharmaceuticals purchased by Americans between 1950 and 1975. These products were consumed by millions of Americans who hoped—as they were instructed to do so by pharmaceutical marketing, physicians, magazine editors, and food companies—that their use would lead to more healthful bodies and more attractive selves. What do we learn if we explore the introduction and initial popularity of artificial sweeteners as a hidden chapter in the history of pharmaceuticals rather than exclusively the history of dieting?

This paper draws on archival records documenting the early relationship between Abbott Pharmaceuticals and the California Canners and Growers Association, along with women’s cookbooks and magazine recipes. Artificial sweeteners became popular just as the pharmaceutical industry changed its business practices. Companies underwent vertical integration and they replaced their previous protocol of supplying chemicals only to pharmacists with a new one of manufacturing and marketing branded drugs. Sold directly to food and beverage companies, saccharin and cyclamates were classified as neither food nor drugs, thereby effectively evading regulation. 

Considering artificial sweetener in the context of pharmaceuticals also reveals much about their cultural function in post-war America. Consumers were urged to “self diagnose” their appetites as unbalanced between desire and healthful caloric intake. Diet sweet was offered as the “cure” for this malady. Saccharin and cyclamates helped teach millions how to “prevent” overweight and attach dieting to mood elevation and meaningful activity. This perspective helps us draw parallels between, on the one hand, minor tranquilizer use and, on the other, the rise of artificial sweetener as people sought to achieve “health and happiness” in post-war America.