Once you pay attention to how much sugar you eat added to your food and drink, it's easy to think of calorie-free artificial sweeteners, many of which are on the shelves, but they all carry one active ingredient, "Aspartame", the same sweetener that soda companies use to sweeten diet drinks such as Cook Zero, Pepsi Diet and others.

But if you do a quick Google search right now for aspartame, you'll be surprised by the news that aspartame causes cancer, get anxious, retract your decision and choose another type extracted from a natural plant because it's safer. But what is aspartame? And does taking it really lead to cancer?

A sweet coincidence

Sweeteners derived from aspartic acid have been studied profusely, until the product of the sweetener known as aspartame, which conquered the pharmaceutical and food markets in the eighties of the last century. (Shutterstock)

One day in 1965, while chemist James Schlatter worked in his lab at G D and Searle, the liquid he was working on spilled on his hand, and in a spontaneous motion Schlatter licked his fingers to discover that the liquid tasted sweeter than sugar. This was just an intermediate in the reaction chain that was supposed to produce something else, and apm was not supposed to have a sweet taste given its ingredients, but it was found that aspartyl was responsible for this taste (1).

After this day, sweeteners derived from aspartic acid were studied profusely, until the sweetener known as aspartame, which invaded the pharmaceutical and food markets in the eighties of the last century, was produced, making artificial sweeteners, calorie-free soft drinks, chewing gum, ice cream, and even cough medicines and toothpaste. Mai Nasser, a consultant in nutrition and local obesity treatment, told Meydan: "Aspartame is used in about 6000,<> food products," so don't be surprised if you take a bottle of cough medicine or a bottle of soda water in your cooler and find aspartame among its ingredients.

In 1981, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives, known as JECFA, set a "daily use limit" of aspartame at 40 mg per kg of body weight per day, equivalent to 12-36 bottles of soda by body weight, according to Nasser, levels that were not common for anyone to reach (2). If the daily limit is so high, why is there renewed concern about the potential for cancer in humans?

Infamous history

Concern began surrounding saccharin when research results came in rodents that found that eating saccharin causes bladder cancer in mice. (Shutterstock)

The history of aspartame was not clean before today, and much of the confusion about the substance dates back to a study by researchers Morando Sofretti and Fiorella Bilbogi of the Ramazzini Institute that was released in 2006 and revealed worrying results (3). However, the European Food Safety Authority stated in a report the same year: "There is no need for further review of the safety of aspartame nor for a review of the predetermined daily use limit."

In their study, the researchers reached three results, the first is that aspartame causes cancer whenever the dose of abuse increases, the second is that even with adherence to the daily use limit, this substance may cause cancer, and the third is that this substance is capable of causing cancer in new generations if exposed to it in the stomachs of their mothers, but all these results came on rats and mice and not humans (4). The two scientists were heavily attacked at the time, claiming that the tumors they found were merely inflammatory reactions from the body and not cancerous tumors, which explains the European Commission's laxity to re-review the seriousness of aspartame.

But in 2021, in a study aimed at reviewing the results of the Sofretti and Bilboji study, all blood and lymphatic system tumor samples in all animals exposed to aspartame were subjected to immunoasphrologic analysis, and re-analysis of the shape of tissues according to the latest international standards, and here the results came to restore the consideration of the researchers, as it was found that 92% of cases actually have cancer, and a positive relationship of importance was found between exposure to aspartame and cancer, and finally confirmed that the exposure of animals to the substance before their birth, in rates less than the limit Daily use, cause cancers after childbirth.

New news

After reviewing 1300,7000 out of <>,<> studies, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) placed aspartame on the list of "potential carcinogens." (Shutterstock)

On July 14, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the results of its latest review of studies on aspartame to determine whether aspartame may be a "potential carcinogen", after the Advisory Group for Prioritization recommended that aspartame should be re-evaluated in light of new studies linking the substance to cancers in humans and animals, to determine whether it poses a risk to humans, and this review was conducted between June 6-13. Last June during the IAEA meeting in Lyon, France (5).

At the same time, between 27 June and 6 July, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) conducted its own review on the "risk assessment" of aspartame, which is responsible for determining the daily limit of use, as well as determining the way specific types of cancers occur and their association with exposure to different substances. Some.

After reviewing 1300,7000 out of 4,<> studies, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) placed aspartame on the list of "potential carcinogens," a list that is divided into <> groups, each of which determines the susceptibility of the substance in question to causing cancer "according to the strength of the research presented against the substance and not according to the seriousness of the substance itself," as Nasser noted in her statement.

Group A is a list of carcinogens with sufficient scientific evidence of their ability to cause cancers in humans. The second group is divided into two parts, "Group 2A", which includes substances that are "likely" causing cancer, and this group has evidence that they cause cancer in animals, but the available evidence about humans is insufficient, and Nasser says: "The organization has already included staying up late and working late in addition to red meat to this list."

Although the evaluation of aspartame indicated that it does not pose a significant safety concern for commonly used doses, there are potential effects that need to be investigated through more better studies. (Shutterstock)

The second section, "Group 2B," includes substances that are "probably" carcinogenic because the results of studies on humans only were insufficient, or because the results on animals were also sufficient, but not on both, and now includes aspartame and the "mobile phone" that was previously listed, according to Nasser. The fourth group includes substances against which there is no strong evidence in either humans or animals but is doubtful (7).

This division is concerned with the strength of scientific evidence against a substance, but it is not responsible for determining the level of danger of the substance or determining the daily limit of use, these determinants are left to the national bodies of each country after receiving the recommendations of the Committee of the World Health Organization, including the Joint Committee of Experts "JECFA", which confirmed its previous recommendations on the daily use limit of aspartame to remain 40 mg per kg of weight, as there is no justification for changing this figure at the moment (8).

Francesco Branca, Director of Nutrition and Food Safety at the World Health Organization (WHO), said: "Although the assessment of aspartame indicated that it does not pose a significant safety concern for commonly used doses, there are potential effects that need to be investigated through more and better studies" (9). So you can theoretically drink 9-12 bottles of diet soda a day, which contains about 200 mg of aspartame to the daily use limit, which again is a difficult number to reach anyway.

Aspartame isn't the only artificial sweetener that may be harmful: acesulfame potassium, also used to sweeten diet soft drinks, and Saccharin, the first artificial sweetener safe for human use, was discovered by chance in 1879.

It's best to minimize sweeteners, whether it's white sugar or artificial sweeteners, as they all seem to be capable of causing health problems. (Shutterstock)

Anxiety began surrounding saccharin when the results of research came on rodents that found that eating saccharin causes bladder cancer in mice, but repeated studies found that the interaction of mouse cells with saccharin is radically different from the interaction of human cells with the same substance, and saccharin cannot cause cancer in humans in the same way it does in rodents (10).

In general, it is better to reduce local substances, whether white sugar or artificial sweeteners, because they all seem to be capable of causing health problems, Nasser told Meydan: "Diet soft drinks are not the best in all cases, but if you want to drink a soft drink every period, choose the drink for the diet, but do not resort to soft drinks of all kinds for routine consumption." "The World Health Organization has changed its recommendations on the use of artificial sweeteners, as they are not a safe alternative in cases of obesity or for weight-loss dieters."

According to Branca's statement in May, replacing artificial sweeteners with sugar made no difference in long-term weight loss, and it's best to reduce sugar consumption altogether and settle for fruits with natural sugar. The statement comes against the backdrop of the results of a systematic review conducted by WHO that also found that taking artificial sweeteners may carry a long-term risk of heart disease and type II diabetes. (11) Finally, Branca says, "If consumers are faced with the decision whether to eat cola with sweeteners or to eat cola with sugar, I think a third option should be considered: drink water instead" (12).

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Sources:

1- Symposium: sweeteners

2- Aspartame Questions and Answers (Q&A).

3- Comprehensive Review of Ramazzini Study Demonstrates No Scientific Evidence of Aspartame and Cancer Link

4- Aspartame and cancer – new evidence for causation – PMC

5- Aspartame Questions and Answers (Q&A).

6- Aspartame hazard and risk assessment results released

7- Ibid.

8- Ibid.

9- Ibid.

10- Artificial Sweeteners and Cancer – NCI

11- WHO advises not to use non-sugar sweeteners for weight control in newly released guideline

12- WHO cancer arm deems aspartame 'possible carcinogen'; consumption limits unchanged | Reuters