Study links artificial sweetener use with cancer

According to a survey conducted primarily by the nutritional epidemiology team from the Université Saubon Paris Nord, a possible link could exist between the high consumption of artificial sweeteners in nutrition and the risk of developing cancer.

The study was based on data analysis from the NuriNet-Sante Project, a population study that has been tracking the health and lifestyle habits of French adults since 2009, largely through questionnaires filled out online.

The researchers focused on more than 100,000 volunteers who regularly completed 24-hour food diaries, and used it as an indicator of their typical consumption level of artificial sweetener.

They were then able to track these volunteers' subsequent health outcomes over an average of eight years through linked electronic health records.

Overall, the study noted, “People who consumed the most sweeteners had a modest but significantly higher risk of developing any cancer compared to non-consumers – 13% higher.”

This associated risk was greater for those who took aspartame- and acesulfame-type sweeteners, focusing primarily on certain types of cancer where the greatest risk of breast cancer and other types of cancer thought to be associated with obesity, such as colorectal, stomach and liver cancers.

"These findings suggest that artificial sweeteners, used in many food and beverage brands worldwide, may represent a modifiable risk factor for cancer prevention," the authors wrote in their paper published in March in PLOS Medicine.

Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news