Talcum powder

Recent news indicated that talcum powder causes cancer but after further research it was deemed safe. This is mindful of what happened in the 60's. For years the only artificial sweetener was saccharin but it had a bitter aftertaste. To combat that calcium cyclamate was used in conjunction with saccharin and tended to offset the unfavorable aftertaste. I managed a plant in Omaha where we produced cyclamate and when the FDA fed large amounts to rats and the rats got cancer it was banned. Fortunately about that time aspertame came along but not until our products had suffered market share. Later cyclamate was found not to be harmful. Turns out they fed rats the amount that a 150 pound person would use in 800 cups of coffee per day. The harm done by studies like this is difficult to measure but my guess is that sales of talcum powder suffered.