In response to a parent petition and testimonies before the Board of Education in June of 2014, MCPS
developed a policy prohibiting from future bids for school food many of the chemicals that RFKM had requested be removed (including MSG, trans fat, Blue 2, Green 3, Red 3, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Aspartame, Acesulfame - Potassium,
Saccharin, Butylated Hydroxyanisol (BHA), Potassium Bromate, Propyl Gallate, Sodium Tripoly Phoshate, and TBHQ).
Behrens and his colleagues Kristina Blank and Wolfgang Meyerhof
developed a way to screen which of the bitter taste receptors that
saccharin and cyclamate were hitting, to figure out why the combination is more palatable than either one alone.
In addition, in several cases, the preference for
saccharin emerged in rats which had originally
developed a strong preference for the cocaine - rewarded lever.