The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that aspartame, one of the most used sweeteners in the food industry, is "possibly" carcinogenic to humans.
This is how the evaluation of the WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) concluded, classifying it in category 2 B, the same category in which cell phones and gasoline are located, but also some pickled vegetables and aloe vera extract.
"We are not advising companies to withdraw their products, nor advising consumers to stop consuming them completely," clarified Francesco Branca, director of the WHO’s Department of Nutrition, Health and Development, in the presentation of two evaluations on this sweetener.
"The general public should not be concerned about the risk of cancer associated with a chemical classified in group 2B," he added. The decision to include aspartame in that group was made based on ’limited indications’ related to cancer in humans, in particular for hepatocellular carcinoma, a type of liver cancer, according to the WHO.
"Limited indications for hepatocellular carcinoma come from three studies" conducted in the US and ten European countries. "These are the only epidemiological studies on liver cancer," they stated. However, it was indicated that "additional studies are needed to further clarify the situation."
“The findings of limited evidence of carcinogenicity in humans and animals, and limited mechanistic evidence on how carcinogenicity may occur, underscore the need for more research to refine our understanding of whether aspartame consumption poses a carcinogenic risk,” said Dr. Mary Schubauer-Berigan, from the IARC Monographs program.
The Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives of the WHO and the FAO (the United Nations Food and Agriculture Agency) also evaluated the risks associated with aspartame between June 27 and July 6. In this case, it concluded that the data did not provide sufficient reasons to justify a modification of the permitted daily dose established since 1981. This means that a person can “safely” consume 40 mg of this sweetener daily.
A 70 kg adult should consume between 9 and 14 cans of a "light" drink a day (with 200 to 300 mg of the sweetener) to exceed the permitted dose, assuming that he or she has not ingested aspartame contained in other products. "The problem arises for heavy consumers" of products containing aspartame, the WHO warned, but "the results do not indicate that occasional consumption presents a risk."
This sweetener with no nutritional value has been widely used since the 1980s and is present in many products, from low-calorie drinks, known as "light", to ready meals, chewing gum, jellies or ice cream. And also in medical specialties, such as cough drops and toothpastes.
Aspartame is defined as a "synthetic sweetener" that is derived from the combination of two amino acids, phenylalanine and aspartic acid, from which its name comes, which are part of the composition of proteins, the specialists said. It is estimated that 200 million people around the world consume it daily or regularly, with growth that has been experienced in recent years.
