Experts slam WHO for causing unnecessary panic over aspartame with cancer fears

Keep calm and keep drinking Diet Coke experts have urged Brits in the wake of an explosive leak linking a commonly used sweetener to cancer.

Aspartame, a sugar alternative used in diet drinks, juices and lighter versions of chewing gum, yogurt and jellies, will be listed by the World Health Organization (WHO) as “possibly carcinogenic to humans,” according to insiders.

The news led some people on social media to swear never to touch Diet Coke or other products containing aspartame again.

But experts told MailOnline today that the WHO leak caused unnecessary panic and urged people not to overreact.

And official dietary advice shows that the average adult Briton would need to drink as many as 15 cans of Diet Coke a day to break the recommended intake of aspartame.

Aspartame has become a mainstay of many people’s diets as a huge push to crack down on sugar in recent decades has led to the massive use of artificial alternatives.

The leaked statement from the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) was harshly criticized by some experts yesterday, with some even going so far as to call it ‘stupid’.

And today, Professor Gunter Kuhnle, an expert in food and nutritional science at the University of Reading, criticized the WHO leak as unnecessary panic.

“So far we have a leak, but neither the actual opinion nor the data to support that opinion,” he said.

“I am concerned that claims are published without supporting data, as this makes it impossible to properly assess and interpret them.

‘Inducing health-related panic is – in my opinion – always a very bad idea.’

He added that he himself would continue to consume products containing aspartame.

“I will not change my behavior and I don’t think there is any reason to do so based on this report,” he said.

“Aspartame has been under investigation for many years and so far there has been no reason to change the recommendation.”

However, he added that this did not render the IARC report useless, and it would be critical to review its data in the context of the amount of aspartame regularly consumed by the general public.

Professor Kuhnle also highlighted an often misunderstood aspect of IARC, which is that it classifies substances based on evidence that they can cause cancer, not cancer risk itself.

This means that the classification of aspartame as a ‘possibly carcinogenic to humans’ is about the strength of the evidence linking it to the disease, not how carcinogenic it is, as it likely causes cancer.

By comparison, IARC gives a similar “possibly carcinogenic” rating to aloe vera extract and using talcum powder on your perineum, and a harsher “probably carcinogenic” rating to eating red meat or being a hairdresser.

“We’ll have to find out what amounts of aspartame caused cancer in the studies IARC relies on and how relevant this is,” Professor Kuhnle.

The Reading academic was not the only expert to ask the British to remain calm about the WHO leak.

Television doctor and GP Dr Amir Kahn told ITV’s Good Morning Britain there was no need for Britons to suddenly change their eating and drinking habits.

“The key here is not to panic, we are still waiting for more information on this,” he said.

“It’s important to say that aspartame is one of the most researched substances in the world and has never been conclusively linked to cancer, but researchers have asked for more long-term data on its side effects.

“Don’t panic, continue with what you were doing and let’s wait for the information.”

Diet Coke was marketed in 1982 as a healthier alternative to the original recipe and has been the subject of numerous marketing campaigns, such as this example featuring model Kate Moss

Aspartame is used to sweeten a variety of foods and drinks, including soft drinks, both diet and regular, as well as chewing gum and some desserts (stock image)

Once the IARC report on aspartame is officially published, safe consumption levels for humans will be determined by a separate body, the Joint WHO and the Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) of the Food and Agriculture Organization.

JECFA is also reviewing aspartame use and will report its findings on the same day IARC makes its decision public — July 14.

These can then be adapted by national health authorities.

Current recommendations for safe daily consumption of aspartame are 50mg per kg of body weight in the US and 40mg per kg of body weight in the UK.

This brings the UK recommendation to about 2800mg for a 70kg adult.

Given that the average can of Diet Coke contains 180 mg of real aspartame, the British Dietetic Association outlines how an adult would need to consume 15 cans a day before being at risk of health consequences from the sweetener.

Cancer Research UK explicitly states that artificial sweeteners such as aspartame do not cause cancer and health and food regulators have repeatedly declared them safe after ‘rigorous’ reviews.

Industry associations have also claimed that the IARC assessment consisted of “widely discredited research” that “contradicts decades of high-quality evidence.”

UK food safety regulators have said they will examine the JEFCA report before deciding “whether further action is needed”.

Currently, foods containing aspartame must list this information on the label because of the danger the substance poses to people with phenylketonuria, a rare inherited blood disorder.

Phenylketonuria patients cannot process phenylalanine – one of the chemical building blocks of aspartame.

When people with phenylketonuria consume phenylalanine, it can build up in their blood and eventually damage their vital organs.

Only about one in 10,000 people has phenylketonuria.

Similar WHO-backed cancer warnings on red meat, night work and mobile phone use have drawn criticism for raising unnecessary alarms about substances or situations that are difficult to avoid.

The IARC said it had reviewed 1,300 studies in its upcoming aspartame review.