FDA rejects WHO’s claim aspartame causes cancer
US health officials have dismissed claims that a popular artificial sweetener used in soda, chewing gum and low-calorie foods causes cancer.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it “disagrees” with the World Health Organization (WHO) that aspartame is a possible human carcinogen.
The FDA said the studies cited in the WHO ruling had “significant flaws” and pointed out that its own review in 2021 came to the opposite conclusion.
US regulators also urged customers not to trade artificially sweetened snacks for sugary snacks based on the latest development. Sugar is known to cause a whole host of health consequences, from diabetes to heart disease.
The charts above show which of America’s favorite snacks contain the sweetener aspartame
One of the most famous products that uses the sweetener is Diet Coke. Today, aspartame was labeled a “possibly carcinogenic,” but it likely only puts people at risk if consumed in excess — or more than 14 cans of Diet Coke a day
In a statement released today, the FDA said: “The FDA disagrees with the conclusion that these studies support the classification of aspartame as a possible human carcinogen.
FDA scientists reviewed the scientific information in the 2021 review when it was first made available and identified significant flaws in the studies on which [the conclusion] relied on.
“We note that the Joint WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives has not raised concerns about the safety of aspartame under current levels of use and has not changed the acceptable daily intake.”
Aspartame is one of the most studied food additives in the world and is approved for use in many countries, including Canada, the UK and throughout the European Union.
It has been available since 1981 and has seen a renaissance in use in recent years as brands have turned to artificial sweeteners during the crackdown on sugar.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) today published an updated ruling on aspartame, concluding that it is “possibly carcinogenic to humans.”
But only people who consume excessive amounts are at increased risk for the disease, they said.
The current safe limits are set at 40 mg per kilogram of body weight per day.
That means a 70kg adult would need to consume 14 cans of diet soda containing 200mg of aspartame per can – such as Diet Coke – to exceed this limit.
And a 20kg child could theoretically consume two to three a day without aspartame posing a risk, according to the WHO. However, the UN health agency noted that this was not ‘good practice’.
The ruling means that aspartame is now considered as dangerous as substances such as aloe vera extract, the metal lead and various dyes for cancer risk.
By comparison, red meat has been declared a ‘probably carcinogenic’ – one stage higher than aspartame’s status.
The WHO confirmed at a press conference yesterday that it is ‘absolutely’ not calling on manufacturers or authorities to remove products containing aspartame from the shelves.
But the agency urged manufacturers to consider reformulating products because sweeteners “are not the way forward.”
Today also published the advice of the Joint WHO and Food and Agriculture Organization’s Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), another agency within the WHO.
It said it didn’t change guidelines on how much was safe to consume despite the reclassification.
The IARC classified the risk as 2B – meaning there is limited or inconclusive evidence – and puts it in the same category as gasoline engine exhaust, lead and the occupational hazard of being a hairdresser – where workers are regularly exposed to chemicals
At a briefing yesterday, Dr Francesco Branca, the WHO’s Director of Nutrition and Food Safety, said the WHO’s “quite large” daily tolerable limit means there is no problem consuming that amount of aspartame “with no noticeable impact on the health’.
Many of the most beloved brands have aspartame — which is 200 times sweeter than sugar — mixed into everything from yogurt to fizzy drinks and low-calorie meals.
Some — like PepsiCo — have previously removed the sweetener amid reports of cancer risks. But they were later forced to add it back amid plummeting sales.
Concerns about whether or not aspartame causes cancer stems from lab rat studies published in the late 2000s by a group of Italian researchers that found a higher rate of blood cancers in those exposed to the sweetener.
But human studies have been less conclusive, with only a few discovering a link to cancers such as liver cancer.
Animal research also has serious limitations, including that the rodents were exposed to much higher concentrations of aspartame than humans.
Scientists warn that aspartame can cause cancer because when broken down in the body it can form formaldehyde, a known carcinogen.
This can disrupt the DNA in cells and cause some to become cancerous and divide uncontrollably.
But the amounts of formaldehyde produced are normally very small, scientists say, while natural processes in the body are also known to produce it.
Many experts say that sugar – which aspartame was created to replace – still poses a much greater risk to humans.
Dr. Deidre Tobias, a nutritionist at Harvard University in Massachusetts, told DailyMail.com last month, “Suddenly something natural, like sugar, feels healthier. But the evidence for that is misleading.’
She continued, “There isn’t much evidence to suggest that artificial sweeteners or anyone in particular would be a major concern about health risks.
“In any case, it seems that for those people who, for example, regularly drink a lot of sugary drinks and want to stop, have an alternative to temporarily switch to such as artificially sweetened drinks … in those cases, it may even be of benefit.”
Highlighting the risks of sugar, she cautioned, “I think the evidence supporting added sugars in our diets as something we should cut back is quite strong.
“We do see that in short-term, tightly controlled studies, as well as long-term studies that can look at health events and outcomes, added sugar is consistently associated with poorer metabolic health.”
David Sinclair, a Harvard genetics professor and longevity expert, added, “Sugar is worse.”