December 19, 1998
Web posted at: 8:34 p.m. EST (0134 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Seventeen years after the artificial sweetener saccharin was classified as possibly causing cancer, a government advisory panel has recommended removing that designation, The New York Times reported Saturday.

The executive committee of the National Toxicology Program voted 6-3 to remove saccharin from the list of suspected carcinogens, the Times reported. The recommendation will now go on to the director of the toxicology agency, who will make a final recommendation to Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala this summer.

Despite the designation as a possible carcinogen, the Food and Drug Administration has allowed saccharin to remain on the market, where it accounts for about one-third of artificial sweetener sales in the United States. However, products containing saccharin must carry a label warning consumers that its use could be hazardous to their health.

In September 1996, the Calorie Control Council, a trade group of the diet-food industry, petitioned the toxicology program to have saccharin reclassified, according to the Times.

Subsequently, two government scientific panels that looked at the possible link between saccharin and cancer supported removal, saying that any link to cancer is weak. However, a third scientific panel, made up of non-government experts, voted 4-3 against taking saccharin off the list, the Times said.

Taking saccharin off the carcinogen list would open the door to removing the health warnings, although that would not happen automatically, according to the Times report.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer health group, criticized the decision, saying government regulators are being unduly influenced by the diet-food industry.