- author, James Gallagher
- stock, Science and Health Affairs Correspondent
Aspartame, a sweetener found in various foods and soft drinks, has been officially classified as a human carcinogen, it has been reported.
This classification is often confusing because it does not indicate whether the potential risk is large or small.
Aloe vera, diesel, and Asian pickled vegetables are classified as “probably carcinogenic.”
The International Agency for Research on Cancer will make the announcement on July 14, the BBC understands.
What does aspartame contain?
Aspartame is 200 times sweeter than sugar. It gives the taste of sugar without the calories.
Aspartame has been in use for decades and is approved by food safety authorities, but it has always sparked controversy.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer, the research arm of the World Health Organization, reviewed nearly 1,300 studies on aspartame and cancer.
Reuters spoke to sources close to the research process and reported that aspartame is classified as a “probable carcinogen” – but what does this designation mean?
According to BBC information, the classification will be officially announced by an international agency and an independent panel of experts specializing in food additives – published on July 14 in the medical journal Lancet Oncology.
The agency uses four possible classifications:
Group 1: Carcinogenic to humans
Group 2-A: Carcinogenic to humans
Group 2-B: Carcinogenic to humans
Group 3: Not classified
However, there is one thing that can cause confusion.
Kevin McEnvey, a statistics professor at the Open University in Britain, said the agency’s classification “doesn’t tell us anything about the current risk from aspartame, because that’s not what the agency’s classifications are.”
The company tells us how strong the proof is, not how dangerous the substance is to your health.
A rating of “possible” is used when evidence in humans or data from animal experiments is “limited.”
Dr McEnvey said: “However, I stress that the evidence is not strong that these may cause cancer, otherwise they would have been placed in Group 1 or Group 2-A.
IARC classifications have caused confusion in the past and have been criticized for providing unnecessary caution. When processed red meat was classified as a carcinogen, it led to reports that its consumption was equivalent to smoking.
But giving 100 people an extra 50g of pork – on top of what they eat – could lead to one bowel cancer every day for the rest of their lives.
We don’t have equivalent numbers for aspartame, however, as the joint WHO/Food and Agriculture Organization WHO/United Nations Expert Panel on Food Additives is due to report in July.
Published in 1981, it is safe to eat 40 milligrams per day for every kilogram of your body weight.
Kate Lotman, executive director of the International Council of Beverage Associations, said health authorities should be “extremely concerned” about “leaked comments”. It warned that this could “unnecessarily mislead consumers into consuming more sugar instead of pursuing safer, sugar-free and low-sugar options”.
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