Aspartame, a sweetener widely used in the food industry in low-calorie beverages, chewing gum, jellies and cereals, among other foods, will be evaluated by the World Health Organization (WHO) as “possibly carcinogenic,” according to the Reuters agency.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a WHO body in charge of evaluating the carcinogenic potential of substances, will be in charge of evaluating this product, which has been widely used since its appearance in 1980. The Results, which remain confidential, will be announced on July 14.
According to IARC, the safety of this substance was evaluated in 1981 by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) and established an acceptable daily intake of 40 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day. . However, “given the availability of new research results,” the advisory group recommending IARC monograph priorities suggested that reassessing the cancer risk of aspartame was a “high priority” during the period 2020-2024. .
The Reuters agency had anticipated that in the coming days the IARC will include aspartame in July as “possibly carcinogenic to humans.” According to IARC classifications, what is called “possibly carcinogenic” would correspond to category 2 B, which includes cell phones and coffee. "This means that either there is limited evidence of its carcinogenicity in humans, or that sufficient evidence is found in experimental animals, or there is ’strong mechanistic evidence, showing that the agent exhibits key characteristics of carcinogens in humans.’ ", indicates the newspaper El País .
Last month, the WHO published guidelines advising against using sugar-free sweeteners for weight control.
