One of the world’s most common artificial sweeteners will be declared a possible carcinogen by a leading global health organization next month.
Aspartame, used in everything from Coca-Cola diet sodas to Mars Extra chewing gum and some Snapple drinks, may be added to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) list for the first time in July.
IARC’s decision will be finalized early this month. Its purpose is to assess whether or not there is any risk to humans based on all published evidence.
When compiling the list, they do not take into account how much cancer-causing substances a person can safely consume.
It is derived from the recommendations of JECFA (WHO-FAO Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives) and the conclusions of national regulatory authorities.
According to a Reuters article However, previous similar IARC rulings on various ingredients have raised concerns among consumers, led to lawsuits, and subsequently pressured manufacturers to develop new recipes and come up with new alternatives. JECFA is reviewing the use of aspartame this year. The agency began meeting in late June, and their decision will be made public on July 14.
Since 1981, JECFA has stated that aspartame is safe to use within the Accepted Daily Values.
For example, if an adult weighing 60 kilograms were to drink 12-36 cans of diet soda per day – depending on the amount of aspartame in the drink – the risk of cancer should be significant.
The agency’s view is widely shared by national regulatory authorities, including in the United States and Europe.
An IARC spokesman said the findings of the IARC and JECFA committees remained confidential until July, but they were “complementary” and that the IARC decision was “a fundamental first step in understanding carcinogenicity”.
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