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The World Health Organization (WHO) artificial sweetener panel has classified aspartame as “Possibly Carcinogenic to Humans”. However, another panel that at one time evaluated levels that can be safely consumed said there was no need to reduce the predetermined acceptable daily intake (ADI) for the sweetener.
According to the second committee’s analysis, two aspartame tablets in coffee and tea are not likely to be harmful.
It’s the aspartame hidden in products like diet soda and ice cream that health experts really worry about.
The current ADI of 0-40 mg/kg body weight is very high. Dr Francesco Branca, Director of WHO’s Department of Nutrition and Food Safety, said: “One can of diet soft drink contains around 200 to 300 mg of aspartame. This means that an adult weighing 70 kg can consume 9 to 14 cans of Soda is safe. However, we always recommend that people limit their consumption of sweeteners altogether.”
The analysis by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer found that a product was “possibly carcinogenic to humans” — a designation generally used for things when there is limited, but not convincing, evidence of cancer in humans or convincing evidence of cancer in trials. But not both. It is the third highest of the four levels in which the IARC classifies carcinogens.
This analysis was based on three prospective cohort studies from Europe and the United States that hypothesized that the consumption of artificially sweetened beverages as an alternative to aspartame was associated with the incidence of cancer. All three studies showed a positive association between the consumption of these beverages and the risk of liver cancer. However, with evidence being a chance association, biases and confounders in the study and evidence concluded by the panel cannot be ruled out.
Three experimental animal studies also showed an increased incidence of tumors in mice and rats.
The panel also said there was “limited evidence” from mechanistic studies showing that aspartame has similar properties to cancer-causing agents, such as inducing oxidative stress, chronic inflammation and alterations in cell death mechanisms.
The recommendations were made by a working group of 25 independent experts from 12 different countries with no conflicts of interest.
The second evaluation of the World Health Organization and the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) stated that “there was no convincing evidence from animal or human trial data that aspartame has adverse effects after ingestion”. The committee said there was no reason to change the acceptable daily intake (ADI) from 0-40 mg/kg body weight.
The committee said that an increase in some types of cancer, such as liver, breast and types of leukemia, was observed in some cohort studies. However, a consistent association between aspartame consumption and a specific type of cancer cannot be proven. All studies had limitations in how they estimated exposure to aspartame or aspartame-containing beverages. Reverse causation, chance, bias, or confounding due to socioeconomic or lifestyle factors, or consumption of other food components, cannot be ruled out.”
The JECFA Committee consisted of 13 members and 13 experts from 15 countries with no conflicts of interest.
Explaining that both committees’ recommendations go hand in hand, Dr Marie Shubur-Berigan, Acting Chair of the IARC Monographs Programme, said: “Risk identification looks at specific characteristics and whether something can cause cancer; it doesn’t look at cancer risk at the level of specific exposure.
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