text: The Romans were early users of non-sugar sweeteners. They delivered water in lead-lined aqueducts, fermented grapes in lead-lined vats and added sugar-of-lead (lead acetate) to wine to further sweeten it. No adverse effects were attributed to the lead. Such everyday affliction as insanity, anemia, and an average lifespan in this group of 24 years were most probably caused by the gods or God. We don't seem to have changed much in two millennia. Artificial sweeteners (including sugar-of-lead) taste horrible to a subset of todays population. That should also indicate something about the safety of the "sweeteners".