WHO says aspartame, sweetener found in soda, may cause cancer

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced Thursday that aspartame may cause cancer but it is safe if you limit your intake.

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In a news release, WHO said that International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified aspartame as possibly carcinogenic to humans, meaning it has the possibility of causing cancer.

The Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) reaffirmed in the news release that a daily intake of 40mg/kg body weight does not pose an increased risk.

“Our results do not indicate that occasional consumption should pose a risk to most,” said Dr. Francesco Branca, director of the WHO Department of Nutrition and Food Safety, according to the New York Times.

It is the first time WHO has made a declaration publicly linking artificial sweeteners and cancer, the newspaper reported.

Aspartame is an artificial sweetener that has been used in food and beverage products since the 80s, WHO said. Those items include diet drinks, chewing gum, gelatin, ice cream, dairy products, toothpaste, medication, and more.

Dr. Mary Schubauer-Berigan, a senior official at IARC, according to CNBC, said that the classification of aspartame as being a potential carcinogen is based on “limited evidence.”

“This shouldn’t really be taken as a direct statement that indicates that there is a known cancer hazard from consuming aspartame,” Schubauer-Berigan said in a news conference, CNBC reported.

“In our view, this is really more a call to the research community to try to better clarify and understand the carcinogenic hazard that may or may not be posed by aspartame consumption.”

“Cancer is one of the leading causes of death globally. Every year, 1 in 6 people die from cancer. Science is continuously expanding to assess the possible initiating or facilitating factors of cancer, in the hope of reducing these numbers and the human toll,” said Dr. Francesco Branca, Director of the Department of Nutrition and Food Safety, WHO, in the news release.

“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 U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved aspartame decades ago, the Times reported, but in a statement said that it “disagrees with I.A.R.C.’s conclusion that these studies support classifying aspartame as a possible carcinogen to humans.”

The FDA said that “aspartame being labeled by the WHO as ‘possibly carcinogenic to humans’ does not mean that aspartame is actually linked to cancer,” according to the newspaper.

“Aspartame is safe. 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,” Kevin Keane, interim president and CEO of American Beverage, said in a statement.

“People all around the world can be confident in consuming food and beverages with aspartame,” the statement went on to say. “The safety of our products is the highest priority for our industry. The purpose and expertise of food safety agencies is to ensure safety over time. The WHO has done this again, rigorously and definitively, with aspartame. With more than 40 years of science and this definitive conclusion from the WHO, consumers can move forward with confidence that aspartame is a safe choice, especially for people looking to reduce sugar and calories in their diets.”