Sales of artificial sweeteners continue to rise and are now an estimated $1.5-billion-a-year market.  A New York Times article by Kenneth Chang talks about whether they are safe or not.   “Based on conventional food safety considerations, the scientific community feels that these have been very adequately tested for any potential toxicities,” said Dr. Gary Williams, a professor of pathology at New York Medical College who has been involved in safety reviews of artificial sweeteners, some financed by the manufacturers. Part of Dr. Williams’s confidence about safety is that the artificial sweeteners are much more intensely sweet than sugar, so people consume very little of them. Most of the white stuff in the packets is filler, not sweetener.  To set the record straight, the F.D.A. labels today’s sweeteners “generally recognized as safe.”