2023-07-14 19:16:23
According to a new study from the World Health Organization, aspartame poses many health risks, but especially for heavy consumers.
The World Health Organization now considers aspartame, an artificial sweetener used in sodas, toothpaste or medicines, to be “possibly carcinogenic to humans”.
This is the conclusion just made by the WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer, which for the first time assessed the level of danger of aspartame.
However, there is no question of calling a stoppage of production and consumption.
“We are not advising companies to withdraw their products, nor are we advising consumers to completely stop using them”said Doctor Francesco Branca, Director of the Department of Nutrition, Health and Development of the WHO, during the presentation of two evaluations of this sweetener.
According to Paul Pharoah, professor of cancer epidemiology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, “the general public should not be concerned about the cancer risk associated with a Group 2B chemical”.
Other products classified in this group include aloe vera extract or caffeic acid, he says.
The decision to place aspartame in this group was made on the basis of “limited directions” related to cancer in humans, in particular, for hepatocellular carcinoma, which is a type of liver cancer, according to the WHO.
Limited evidence has also been observed for cancer in laboratory animals.
“The limited evidence for hepatocellular carcinoma comes from three studies” conducted in the United States and ten European countries. These are the only epidemiological studies on liver cancer.”IARC’s Dr Mary Schubauer-Berigan told reporters.
According to Dr. Branca, further studies are needed “to further clarify the situation”.
For its part, the Joint Committee of Experts on Food Additives of the WHO and the FAO (UN Food and Agriculture Agency) met from June 27 to July 6 concluded concluded that daily doses recommendations should not be changed.
According to the joint committee, the data assessed did not provide no sufficient reason justifying a modification of the acceptable daily dose established since 1981 at a maximum of 40mg per kilogram of body weight and therefore that a person can consume aspartame “without risk” within the limit of this daily quantity.
With a can of diet soft drink containing 200 or 300 mg of this sweetener, an adult weighing 70 kg would need to consume more than 9 to 14 cans per day to exceed the acceptable daily intake, assuming no additional aspartame intake from other sources. food.
“The problem arises for large consumers” of products containing aspartame, explains a specialist but “our results do not indicate that occasional consumption poses a risk”.
Created in the 1960saspartame has no nutritional value and has been widely used since the 1980s as a table-top sweetener.
It is incorporated into low-calorie drinks such as les sodas “light”, prepared meals, chewing gum, gelatin, ice creams and breakfast cereals, as well as medicines, such as cough drops, and other products such as toothpaste.
Reacting to these studies, the International Sweeteners Association (ISA) pointed out that Group 2B puts aspartame in the same category as kimchi and other pickled vegetables.
But for Camille Dorioz, campaign manager for the Foodwatch association, the WHO announcement “has a bitter taste” because he judges that “a possibly carcinogenic sweetener has no place in our food or drink”.
Beyond Cancer, the WHO recently reported that artificial sugar-free sweeteners are no benefit for weight loss.
If there is a choice “between a cola with sweetener and a cola with sugar, I think a third option should be considered: drink water“, slipped Dr. Branca.
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