![]() So what should consumers do with this aspartame news? "At least when it comes to beverages, our message is your best choice is to drink water or an unsweetened beverage," said Dr. Obviously, that level of consumption is not realistic, recommended, nor is it aligned with the intended use of these ingredients." person would need to consume about 14 12-oz cans of diet beverages or about 74 packets of aspartame-containing tabletop sweetener every day over the course of their life to raise any safety concern. Robert Rankin, president of the Calorie Control Council, an international association representing the low-calorie food and beverage industry, said that in order to reach the WHO's acceptable daily intake estimates, "the average 150 lb. Kevin Keane, interim president and CEO of the American Beverage Association, a trade group representing the industry, issued a statement in response to the WHO's review of aspartame: "After a rigorous review, the World Health Organization finds aspartame is safe and 'no sufficient reason to change the previously established acceptable daily intake.' This strong conclusion reinforces the position of the FDA and food safety agencies from more than 90 countries." Representatives for Coca-Cola and Pepsi did not respond to MarketWatch's request for comment on this story following the WHO announcement. The IARC said its aspartame declaration is based on "limited evidence" of cancer in humans, specifically a type of liver cancer called hepatocellular carcinoma. The organization that this week labeled aspartame possibly carcinogenic was the World Health Organization's cancer-research arm, the International Agency for Research on Cancer. It secured ultimate FDA approval, after initial hiccups, for use in dry goods and then in carbonated soft drinks in 19, according to the Calorie Control Council, an international association that represents the reduced-calorie food and beverage industry. Searle & Co., now a Pfizer (PFE) subsidiary, which branded the sweetener NutraSweet. There has been plenty of research to suggest that sipping too many sweetened beverages, including diet drinks with artificial sweeteners, may be linked to health problems and elevated risk of death.Īspartame is used in products that millions of people use every day, including Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi, Pepsi Zero Sugar and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, the Mars Wrigley chewing gum Extra and some Trident gums from Mondelz International (MDLZ), and some Snapple drinks (KDP), as well as some protein drinks, among thousands of others, by the Calorie Control Council's count.Īspartame was developed beginning in the mid-1960s by Skokie, Ill.-based G.D. president, for example, drank a reported 12 cans of Diet Coke a day in his White House years - would struggle to consume that much of the sweetener in an average day.īut consumers should also note that a food being labeled "safe" is not equivalent to its being healthy. The Food and Drug Administration has an even higher daily aspartame-exposure limit: 50 milligrams per kilo of body weight.Įven heavy aspartame users - Donald Trump, the former U.S. "We're just advising a bit of moderation." "We're not advising consumers to stop consuming altogether," said WHO's nutrition director, Dr. So, a person who weighs 154 pounds would need to drink nine to 14 cans of, say, Diet Pepsi (PEP) or Diet Coke (KO) per day to exceed that level, assuming there are 200 to 300 milligrams of aspartame in each can. It's safe to consume up to 40 milligrams of aspartame per kilogram, or 2.2 pounds, of body weight per day, a WHO and Food and Agriculture Organizations joint committee of experts on food additives said. Aspartame may cause cancer, but most people don't consume enough for it to matter, the World Health Organization saysĪ leading global health body has declared that the artificial sweetener aspartame, commonly used as an ingredient in diet soda, chewing gum and vitamins, may cause cancer.īut the World Health Organization's report late Thursday also noted that people would have to be exposed to extreme amounts of aspartame - whether through diet, occupational exposure or other means - to be at risk.
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