The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer announced Thursday that the artificial sweetener aspartame, commonly found in Diet Coke and other sugar-free foods, is a possible carcinogen.
However, the WHO’s second group, the Food Additives Expert Panel, did not change the safe daily dose threshold for aspartame. 40 milligrams for an adult weighing about 154 pounds, which is the equivalent of about 14 cans of Diet Coke. . The Food and Drug Administration has slightly higher limit 50 milligrams per day for an adult weighing approximately 132 pounds.
Barry Popkin, professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina’s Gillings School of International Public Health, said of the WHO’s decision, “It’s a light warning to people, but it’s not a ‘don’t eat’ thing.” “If you take it in moderation, you’ll be fine.”
Aspartame is found in over 5,000 foods and beverages and is much sweeter than sugar. In 1974 the FDA approved its use It is used as a tabletop sweetener and as an ingredient in gums, cereals, instant coffee and dairy products. Common foods and drinks that contain aspartame include:
- Tabletop sweeteners such as NutraSweet, Equal and Sugar Twin.
- Beverages and drink mixes such as Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Diet Snapple, Fanta Zero, Sprite Zero, Crystal Lite and Wylers Lite.
- Sugar-free gums such as Trident, Extra, Reglaze, Mentos gum.
- Gelatin-based products such as sugar-free jello or royal gelatin.
- Syrups such as Mrs. Butterworth’s Sugar Free Syrup and Log Cabin’s Sugar Free Syrup.
What Research Shows About Cancer Risk and Aspartame
WHO classified aspartame in a lower risk category than the other two, “carcinogenic to humans” and “probably carcinogenic”. Other substances The “potential carcinogen” category includes aloe vera, pickled vegetables, and nickel.
Previous studies on the association between aspartame and cancer have not provided conclusive evidence that aspartame is the cause of disease, and many studies investigating the association between cancer and artificial sweeteners have been conducted in animals rather than humans. said Popkin.
a 2020 SurveyFor example, mice given aspartame were found to have increased rates of leukemia and lymphoma, but the dose was almost four times the body weight of the mice, which is insufficient to determine human risk. said Popkin. A study in the 1980s, on the other hand, found that aspartame wasn’t the culprit. brain tumor again bladder cancer in rats.
a 2022 survey However, a study of more than 100,000 adults in France found that consumption of large amounts of artificial sweeteners was associated with a slightly increased risk of cancer.
Artificial sweeteners may pose other health risks
The WHO announcement may seem to suggest that aspartame is worse than other artificial sweeteners, but Popkin said it could all be associated with adverse health effects. Stated.
“Frankly, I think all diet sweeteners should be treated equally because it’s such a minor difference,” Popkin says. “But if you’re going to have 10 Diet Cokes or 10 Diet Pepsis a day, you shouldn’t. That’s too much and approaches potential carcinogen levels and needs to be cut back.” I have.”
Past studies have linked artificial sweeteners to a higher likelihood of disease. Heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, obesity.
In May WHO recommends Artificial sweeteners have not been shown to reduce body fat in the long term, so I am against using artificial sweeteners as a weight loss strategy.
“If you’re drinking 32 or 64 ounces of soda a day, you can use these low-calorie artificial sweeteners rather than heavily added sugar,” said Darish Mozaffarian, professor of nutrition at Tufts University. It’s likely better to take it,” he said. “On the one hand, I don’t consider these to be completely 100% safe. I would like to avoid them as much as possible.”
A 2022 French study found that people who consumed aspartame had an increased risk of stroke, and that replacing added sugar with artificial sweeteners did not reduce the risk of heart disease.
of another study Israeli researchers published last year found that artificial sweeteners altered the gut microbiota populations of participants.
“It’s best to have a natural, healthy diet with naturally sweet foods,” Mozaffarian said. “So I view these artificial sweeteners as a bridge away from adding very high doses of sugar, but not necessarily a safe switch.”
