My mother and grandmother, when I was a child, were both fairly diet conscious, and I recall them using Sweet'N Low - the saccharin-based artificial sweetener - in their coffee whenever we went out to eat. When nobody was looking, I would sneak one of the pink packets out of its little square plastic dispenser, rip it open, lick my finger, poke the powder, and have a taste. It was disgusting, of course. Irresistibly disgusting. A thick, fake, heavy sweetness that gave way to a wallop of chemical taint. I would drink half a glass of water just to get the flavour out of my mouth, and then, when we went out again, I'd do the same thing.

LRB 8 March 2007 | PDF Download