However, it concludes that “additional studies are needed” and maintains the recommended dose.
Aspartame, a artificial sweetener widely used in soft drinks and other food products, is “possibly” carcinogenic to humans The World Health Organization (WHO) indicated on Friday, although without modifying the daily dose considered safe. “We are not advising companies to recall their products or advising consumers to stop consuming them altogether,” said Francesco Branca, director of WHO’s Department of Nutrition, Health and Development.
aspartame found in thousands of products called ‘light’, ‘light’ or ‘0%’: drinks, desserts, sweets, dairy products, chewing gum, hypocaloric or slimming products.
It is also a table sweetener, the little “sugar” that is put in the coffee. In addition, it is present in more than 600 medicines. Currently, it is estimated that 200 million people around the world consume it on a regular basis. Aspartame is referred to in the European Union with the code E 951.
The experts, who met from June 6 to 13concluded that the sweetener “may be carcinogenic to humans”, which includes it in group 2B of the IARC classification.
“Limited Indications”
The decision to include aspartame in that group was made on the basis of “limited indications” related to cancer in humans, particularly for hepatocellular carcinoma, a type of liver cancer, according to the WHO.
Limited indications with respect to cancer were also observed in laboratory animals.
According to Branca, additional studies are needed “to further clarify the situation“.
The WHO/FAO (Food and Agriculture Agency of the United Nations) Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives also assessed the risks associated with aspartame between June 27 and July 6.
In this case, it concluded that the data evaluated did not provide sufficient reasons to justify a modification of the permissible daily dose established since 1981.
This dose is one maximum of 40 mg per kilo of body weight and it means that a person can consume aspartame “without risk” within that limit.
A 70 kg adult should consume between 9 and 14 cans of a ‘light’ soft drink (with 200 to 300 mg of sweetener) per day to exceed the permitted dose. This is assuming that you have not ingested aspartame contained in other products.