Saccharin is an artificial sweetener. The basic substance, benzoic sulfilimine, has effectively no food energy and is much sweeter than sucrose, but has a bitter or metallic aftertaste, especially at high concentrations. It is used to sweeten products such as drinks, candies, , medicines, and toothpaste. Saccharin derives its name from the word "saccharine", meaning of, relating to, or resembling sugar. The form used as an artificial sweetener is usually its sodium salt. Saccharin was produced first in 1878 by Constantin Fahlberg, a chemist working on coal tar derivatives in Ira Remsen's laboratory at the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland USA. Although saccharin was commercialized not long after its discovery, it was not until sugar shortages during World War I that its use became widespread. A brown glass bottle with a plastic screw top containing 'Saccharin' tabletsFront label ; .... TABLETS / trademark ' R T & C ( entwined)' / Soluble / SACCHARIN / Half Grain / ROCKE TOMSETT & CO. / PTY LTD / MANUFACTURING CHEMISTS / MELBOURNEfahlberg constantin, remsen ira, john hopkins university, maryland, baltimore, america, nasau, south america, central america, sugar cane, pharmacy, medicines, saccharin, glassware, bottles, moorabbin, bentleigh, cheltenham, elbe, germany