Lack of enhancement of chemical mutagenesis by saccharin in the Salmonella assay.

A purified batch of the artificial sweetener saccharin (S-1022) was assayed for mutagenicity and comutagenicity by the Ames Salmonella assay system. Saccharin was not mutagenic and failed to enhance the mutagenic activity induced by a wide variety of known mutagens. These results do not argue against the tumor-promotor-like activity of saccharin but only indicate that the Ames Salmonella assay is not capable of detecting saccharin as a promoter of mutagenesis.