Did you know Russian chemist Constantin Fahlberg accidentally invented the first artificial sweetener saccharin while working on coal tar derivatives?
The first artificial sweetener to be invented was saccharin. Russian chemist Constantin Fahlberg is credited with this invention, which was actually pretty accidental. In the late 1870s,
Fahlberg was working with another chemist, Ira Remsen. Together, they were studying substances derived from coal tar. One evening, Fahlberg returned home and sat down for dinner. As he bit into a roll, he found it sweet. He asked his wife about this, but she claimed that her rolls were perfectly normal. Fahlberg then tasted his fingers. They were sweet. He rushed back to his lab and began checking up all that he had done that day. He found that he had accidentally invented a substance that was as sweet as sugar, but had no fattening effects like sugar. He named this substance 'saccharin'
Fahlberg shared the news of the invention with Remsen, but he filed a patent claiming that he was the sole inventor of saccharin. Saccharin caught on commercially and Fahlberg grew rich. This upset Remsen who was a part of the discovery.
Picture Credit : Google
