Aspartame, an artificial sweetener widely used in “sugar-free” products such as chewing gum and “light” or “zero” soft drinks, should be included on the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) list of “potentially carcinogenic” substances. of the World Health Organization from July.
The news is advanced by the Reuters agency, which cites two sources linked to the process. The decision was made this month by a panel of experts, based on the findings of 1,300 scientific research studies.
The IARC list only indicates which substances may pose a risk, not the recommended amount. That estimate is up to the joint Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and World Health Organization committee of experts on food and additives, known as JECFA, which will also review its position on aspartame in July.
The last JECFA recommendation dates from 1981, when aspartame consumption was considered safe within a fairly wide daily limit: for example, a 60 kg adult would have to drink between 12 and 30 cans of sugar-free soft drink every day to JECFA considered that he was putting his health at risk.
The decisions of the two institutions -IARC and JECFA- are complementary, which is why the regulators of several countries asked that they be announced on the same day, so as not to generate alarmism.
The fear is that institutions will adopt sweeping policies after IARC deems Spartan a potentially carcinogenic substance, when JECFA may later determine that a health risk exists only if a large amount of the sweetener is consumed.
As early as May of this year, the World Health Organization warned that sweeteners (including aspartame) are not effective in long-term weight management and may have unwanted effects if used for a long time, such as increased risk type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular problems. , advising against its consumption.
Source: TSF
