THE sweeteners are food additives with a sweet taste used by manufacturers in food because they provide less calories that the sugar. If you are a fan of low-fat yogurts, light drinks or even 0% compotes, you are bound to ingest them.
The most often used are aspartame or saccharin and sucralose. Many studies are already alerted to the hazard artificial sweeteners for health.
Aspartame would not only be linked to cancerbut also to the occurrence of other diseases such as multiple sclerosis, blindness, depression, anxiety, birth defects or cognitive decline.
Today, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)which is part of the World Health Organization (WHO), is about to declare aspartame as “potentially carcinogenic to humans”.
WHO will release official data on July 14, 2023.
Aspartame remains less harmful than tobacco or alcohol
Don’t panic if you happen to eat low-fat yogurts. Frequent evaluations by the WHO , the FDA and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) have for the moment no direct evidence that would indicate that aspartame would be linked to the appearance of cancers.
So far it has been deemed safe for a person to consume 40 mg of aspartame per kilogram of body weight per day. That’s about 2.8g for a 70kg adult, and that’s way more than most people consume.
In addition, aspartame will be classified as “possibly carcinogenic to humans”. It means that evidence is limited in humans and insufficient in animals.
To compare, smoking, alcohol, processed meat, and sunlight are classified as ” carcinogenic to humans “. The evidence is sufficient in humans. There is indeed convincing evidence that these can cause cancer. For example, the appearance of lung cancer could be directly linked to smoking.
Many aspartame consumers are also obese
Data from another study, French, had also made the link between aspartame and cancer, but according to the latter, obesity also plays a role. Participants in this trial were asked to provide information about their diet. This research has proven that a high consumption of aspartame does increase the risk of cancer.
However, the results should be tempered because obesity is also a known risk factor cancer, and among those who took aspartame regularly, many were obese.
Source : [Exclusif] WHO cancer research agency says aspartame sweetener a possible carcinogen -Reuters
