Aspartame Sweetener May Cause Cancer- World Health Organisation

A World Health Organisation agency, the International Agency for Research on Cancer has declared that aspartame, an artificial sweetener widely used in diet drinks and low-sugar foods, could possibly cause cancer.

A press statement made available to our correspondent by the global health body noted that IARC classified aspartame as possibly carcinogenic to humans on the basis of limited evidence for cancer in humans, specifically, for hepatocellular carcinoma, which is a type of liver cancer.

“There was also limited evidence for cancer in experimental animals and limited evidence related to the possible mechanisms for causing cancer,” it read in part.

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The WHO agency, however, said aspartame is safe to consume within a daily limit of 40 milligrams per kilogram of a person’s body weight. For example, with a can of diet soft drink containing 200 or 300 mg of aspartame, an adult weighing 70kg would need to consume more than 9–14 cans per day to exceed the acceptable daily intake, assuming no other intake from other food sources.

Aspartame is an artificial (chemical) sweetener widely used in various food and beverage products since the 1980s, including diet drinks, chewing gum, gelatin, ice cream, dairy products such as yoghurt, breakfast cereal, toothpaste and medications such as cough drops and chewable vitamins.

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Cancer is one of the leading causes of death globally. Every year, 1 in 6 people die from cancer.

“The assessments of aspartame have indicated that, while safety is not a major concern at the doses which are commonly used, potential effects have been described that need to be investigated by more and better studies,” the Director of the Department of Nutrition and Food Safety, WHO, Dr Francesco Branca said.

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