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The origin story of many of the most famous artificial sweeteners tends to start with a lab experiment gone awry.
诸多出名的人造甜味剂的故事往往从室内实验背离正道开始。
This pattern was set in 1879 when a chemist called Constantin Fahlberg was working with coal tar derivatives at Johns Hopkins University in the hope of discovering a new food preservative.
1879年，一位名叫康斯坦丁·法尔伯格的化学家在约翰·霍普金斯大学研究煤焦油衍生物，希望找到一种新型食品防腐剂。
The legend goes that one day, after finishing a series of experiments, Fahlberg licked his finger and was amazed to discover how sweet it tasted.
传言有一天，法尔伯格完成一系列实验后舔了舔手指，惊讶地发现手指味道非常甜。
He started to work in secret to perfect the product, which he named saccharin.
他开始秘密工作，完善产品，并将其命名为糖精。
When he finally launched it at the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893, Fahlberg marketed saccharin as a “perfectly harmless spice”, 500 times sweeter than “the best sugar”.
最终，他在1893年的芝加哥世界博览会上推出了糖精，他当时将其推销为一种“完全无害的调味品”，是“上好的糖”的甜度的500倍。
The word “spice” cleverly hid the industrial origins of saccharin and the fact that it was made from coal tar: a sticky dark liquid that is a byproduct of burning coal.
“调味品”这个词巧妙地隐藏了糖精的工业起源，以及它是由煤焦油制成的事实：煤焦油是一种粘稠的深色液体，是燃烧煤炭的副产品。
Saccharin had a mixed reputation from the beginning.
从一开始，糖精的名声就褒贬不一。
In the early 20th century, it was a byword for cheap and sickening fakery, as opposed to the all-natural properties of sugar, which was not yet seen as a problematic food.
20世纪初，糖精是廉价作呕的假货代名词，糖精与糖(糖尚未被视为问题食品)的全天然属性相反。
In 1908, Harvey Wiley, who was then the head of the US Food and Drug Administration, sought to have saccharin eliminated from the food supply as an impure additive.
1908年，时任美国食品和药物管理局局长的哈维·威利试图将糖精作为一种不纯的添加剂从食品供应中消除。
But President Theodore Roosevelt, who used saccharin after his doctor prescribed him a sugar-free diet, personally intervened to prevent it being banned.
西奥多·罗斯福总统在医生给他开了无糖饮食处方后使用了糖精，他亲自干预，阻止了糖精被禁止。
In 1977, the FDA once again attempted (and again, failed) to ban saccharin after studies showed that high doses caused bladder cancer in rats.
1977年，研究表明高剂量糖精会导致老鼠患膀胱癌，食品和药物管理局随后再次尝试(又一次失败)禁止糖精。
Saccharin set the pattern for a story that would be repeated several times during the course of the 20th century.
糖精设定了一个故事模式，在20世纪的历程中重演了数次。
A brilliant scientist discovers a new miracle substance many times sweeter than sugar.
一位杰出的科学家发现了一种比糖的甜度高数倍的神奇新物质。
The substance is introduced into the food supply, setting the food industry off on another frantic search for the next miracle sweetener.
这种物质被引入食品供应，让食品行业再次疯狂寻找下一种奇迹甜味剂。
After saccharin, cyclamate was the next wonder-sweetener.
继糖精之后，甜蜜素成为了下一个神奇的甜味剂。
It was discovered in the 1930s, became a household staple in the 1950s, and then in 1969 was banned, similarly owing to evidence linking it to bladder cancer in rats.
20世纪30年代发现了甜蜜素，20世纪50年代甜蜜素成为了家庭的主要调味品，随后在1969年被禁止，同样是因为有证据表明这种物质与老鼠患膀胱癌有关。
