Aspartame, artificial sweetener 200 times sweeter than table sugar and responsible for keeping diet beverages and chocolates seemingly sweet but low-calorie, is now under the scanner. International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) might declare them as potentially cancer-causing.
According to sources familiar with the process, the IARC is planning to list aspartame as "possibly carcinogenic to humans" for the first time in July. This decision follows a thorough assessment of published evidence by external experts.
However, the assessment does not take into account how much of a product a person can safely consume. This advice for individuals comes from a separate WHO expert committee on food additives, known as the Joint WHO and Food and Agriculture Organization's Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), alongside determinations from national regulators, Reuters reported.
Here are a list of products that use Aspartame
Diet sodas, like Diet Coke
Sugar-free puddings and desserts
Low-calorie coffee sweeteners
Have companies moved away from Aspartame?
Aspartame's use in food products has been debated for decades and has also prompted some companies to remove the compound from their products. PepsiCo removed aspartame from some U.S. diet sodas. Although the company brought it back a year later, it again removed the ingredient in 2020.
What other artificial sweetners are in use?
Saccharin, sucralose and neotame are among five other artificial sweeteners alongside aspartame authorized by a WHO expert committee on food additives. The FDA has also approved usage of three types of plant- and fruit-based sweeteners, including extracts obtained from the stevia plant, swingle fruit extracts and a group of proteins called Thaumatin.
More than ninety countries, including the UK, Spain, France, Italy, Denmark, Germany, Australia and New Zealand have reviewed aspartame and found it to be safe for human consumption and allow its use.
