Developer of Xylitol continues his investigations

Coming up with healthy artificial sweetener did not make Professor Kauko Mäkinen rich, but he is proud to see Xylitol products all over the world

Kauko Mäkinen

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By Arno Seiro
     
      We are sitting at a historic table in the Institute of Dentistry at the University of Turku.
      This is the room in which a decision was made more than 40 years ago, to start studying the effects of the naturally-occuring sugar alcohol Xylitol on dental caries prevention.
      The decision brought worldwide fame to the Finnish invention.
     
”I do not always understand myself what has happened”, notes professor Kauko Mäkinen, sitting in the same place as at the end of 1969, when he was accompanied by the late Arje Scheinin, his colleague at the university, and by three representatives of the Finnish foodstuffs firm Suomen Sokeri, a company that developed Xylitol.
      In 1989 the company became the Cultor Group, and since 1999 has been part of the large Danish conglomerate Danisco.
     
The decision to test Xylitol, for example for the prevention of dental caries, was made during that meeting back in late 1969.
      Today, Xylitol is used for caries prevention in almost all countries in the world.
     
In the spring of 1970, Professor Kauko Mäkinen and Arje Scheinin initiated practice tests on the influence of Xylitol.
      ”It was easy to recruit young dentistry students to participate in tests. They were promised a really good party after the testing period”, Mäkinen reports.
      Mäkinen smiles to think of the punches served at the final party.
      ”One of the punch bowls had been sweetened with Xylitol, which gave the students a truly horrific hangover. Later on, I learnt that when consumed in large quantities, mixing Xylitol and ethanol is not a very smart way to go”, Mäkinen notes.
     
Another rather more important observation had been made already earlier: ”the layer of bacteria coating the teeth of those students who had eaten food sweetened by Xylitol was only half of that of those who had eaten regular sugar”, Mäkinen recalls.
      The scientific tests were continued in Turku for a few years. They were characterised by a vigorous working pace and much enthusiasm.
      ”However, for the sake of decency, we did sleep at nights”, Mäkinen adds.
      All possible foodstuffs containing sugar that were given to the test group were sweetened instead with Xylitol.
      Even a local hot-dog stand was persuaded to participate in the project.
      ”It is certainly the only hot-dog stand in the world that has sold mustard and ketchup which were sweetened with Xylitol”, Mäkinen continues.
     
In 1975, the Finnish company Hellas (later called Leaf), a part of the Huhtamäki Group, became the first company in the world to introduce Xylitol chewing gum.
      The product was launched simultaneously in Finland and the United States.
      The next step was to drum into people’s minds the risk of the infamous "acid attack" on teeth, and the fact that Xylitol can ward it off.
     
Today, xylitol is being used in one form or another in about 200 countries.
      One might think that Mäkinen would have made a fortune by the invention over the past decades.
      However, this has not happened, which has made even Mäkinen’s children question their father’s business skills.
      ”I can’t drill, I can’t fill, and I certainly can’t bill”, Mäkinen rhymes.
      Mäkinen does not know how to drill or fill teeth, as he is a biochemist - not the dentist that many people believe him to be.
      The last part of the rhyme describes Mäkinen’s relationship with his job, however. He is not able to send large invoices.
      ”Neither have I ever bought any shares. I have always thought that it is safer to remain an independent academic researcher”, Mäkinen notes.
     
His career as a researcher took Mäkinen to the United States, where he worked for some 20 years. Since 2001, Mäkinen has been retired - at least "almost retired".
     
”I am studying erythritol with professor Eino Honkala in Estonia”, Mäkinen reports.
      Erythritol is another sugar substitute, which according to Prof. Mäkinen, ”appears to be even more effective than Xylitol in caries prevention”.
      Even though Mäkinen continues to give part of his time to science, he has also some free time which he uses for collecting antiques and following sports on television.
      ”I watch everything else, but not American baseball; to me, that is more or less the same as men chewing and spitting tobacco. I just wish they were chewing Xylitol gum at least”, Mäkinen says.
     
     
Kauko Mäkinen is a 72-year-old Finnish professor of dentistry. He received his M.Sc. degree in biochemistry from the University of Turku in 1964, and in 1969 he took a Ph.D. from the University of Helsinki.
     
In 1970, Kauko Mäkinen and Arje Scheinin began to study the effects of Xylitol on dental caries prevention at the University of Turku. These studies are known worldwide as the ”Turku Sugar Studies”.
     
Mäkinen served as a visiting scientist in Maryland, and as a visiting professor in Texas and Michigan.
     
Professor Mäkinen retired from the University of Turku in 2001.
     
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 12.4.2010


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Xylitol is gone, but the memory lingers on (2.10.2007)

Links:
  Professor Kauko K. Mäkinen: History, Safety, and Dental Properties of Xylitol
  University of Turku, Institute of Dentistry: Xylitol and other polyol studies
  Xylitol (Wikipedia)
  Erythritol (Wikipedia)

ARNO SEIRO / Helsingin Sanomat