Sweeteners
While it may look just like sugar, aspartame is actually 200 times sweeter than its natural counterpart.
itself. ‘WHO’s cancer research agency to say aspartame sweetener a possible carcinogen’ is how Reuters put its scoop on the story, while the Express claimed that the sweetener “may” cause cancer. To an extent, the use of simplistic language after such a long and divisive scientific debate is unsurprising. Describing aspartame as a “hot topic”, Burt adds it’s “something a lot of people have a strong opinion on”.
Looking beyond the journalistic hype, however, what did the IARC actually say? Perhaps the most pressing thing to understand is that the organisation didn’t conduct any new research itself. Supported by a bevy of external experts, it instead analysed all the evidence that’s already been published. McCullough, for her part, was one of these outside advisers and agrees with the IARC’s overall findings, stating that aspartame is “a possible” cause of liver cancer. Like the IARC, meanwhile, McCullough argues that more research is needed, not least given the “emerging” evidence linking it to cancer in both animals and humans. Fair enough: as recently as 2021, a pair of scientists at Boston College suggested that evidence linking prenatal aspartame exposure to cancer in rodents was “very worrisome”. Not that the IARC’s findings are necessarily catastrophic. Importantly, McCullough and her colleagues made no judgement on how much aspartame someone would need to consume to elevate their risk of cancer. That, the IARC leaves to the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), another international agency jointly administered by the UN and the WHO. In point of fact, JECFA recently commented on the ‘acceptable daily intake’ (ADI) of aspartame as previously approved by the European Food Safety Authority, and restated that the 40mg/kg limit still stood. This is significant not just because it puts regulators and external experts on the same page. If a can of diet soft drink contains between 200–300mg of
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aspartame, a 60kg person would need to consume 2,400mg of aspartame each day to surpass the ADI, the equivalent of eight to 12 cans.
Holistic discussion
Given that those who weigh more can enjoy an even higher ADI – and that the typical American drinks 2.6 glasses of soft drinks a day found Gallup’s annual Consumption Habits poll – could we be forgiven for breathing a collective sigh of relief? The experts suggest not. For one thing, McCullough points out that aspartame is included in many other products, not just soft drinks, meaning “it’s not implausible to reach the ADI”. For another, Burt warns that it can be hard to monitor consumption, especially when some products don’t state how much aspartame they contain. As she puts it: “Even if you wanted to, you couldn’t keep track of how much aspartame you are consuming.” Nor is this simply a personal problem. Because it isn’t included in national dietary surveys, Burt notes that aspartame consumption at a national level is a mystery too. With that in mind, it makes sense that Burt would argue for government action around aspartame – much like the anti-sugar drives of recent years. “In relation to sugar,” she says, “we need policies to ensure the food industry reduces levels of sugar and non-sugar sweeteners, like aspartame, in their everyday products and protects our health from avoidable illnesses and early deaths.” The IARC, for its part, doesn’t make policy interventions, but you get the feeling McCullough would prefer a more holistic discussion as well. As she admits, “many things” can be done to reduce someone’s cancer risk, from doing exercise and staying thin to eating whole grains and avoiding red meat. Abstaining from alcohol is a good idea too. To put it differently – and whatever the truth about the sweetener itself – anyone serious about cancer should probably see aspartame as just one area of focus. ●
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