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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nThe World Health Organization\u2019s cancer research group on Thursday said<\/a> that it was categorizing the common artificial sweetener found in Diet Coke and other sugar-free foods and drinks as a possible carcinogen, but the agency’s food safety group said that the evidence wasn’t convincing and that the compound could still be consumed safely in fairly high amounts. <\/p>\n\n\n Diet Pepsi to Ditched Aspartame for Splenda in 2015<\/p>\n\n\n\n The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it did not agree that aspartame should be categorized as a possible carcinogen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAspartame is one of the most studied food additives in the human food supply. FDA scientists do not have safety concerns when aspartame is used under the approved conditions,\u201d the FDA said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Aspartame is sold under the names Equal, Nutrasweet, and Sugar Twin. It\u2019s found in many diet sodas, as well as some chewing gums and sugar-free, low-calorie desserts.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n During a media briefing on Wednesday ahead of the announcement, WHO officials stressed that they were not advising companies to withdraw products or telling people to avoid aspartame altogether. <\/p>\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re just advising for a bit of moderation,\u201d said Dr. Francesco Branca, the director of the WHO\u2019s Department of Nutrition and Food Safety. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The seemingly conflicting statements from the WHO \u2014 that aspartame may possibly cause cancer<\/a> but is safe to consume \u2014 came from two separate groups within the organization. <\/p>\n\n\n\n One group, the International Agency for Research on Cancer<\/a> (IARC), focuses on identifying cancer-causing agents. The other, the Joint FAO\/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives<\/a>, looks at the safety of food additives and whether they pose a risk to consumers. The groups undertook the review after an advisory panel marked the compound a \u201chigh priority\u201d for review in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The IARC said in a release Thursday that it was classifying aspartame as possibly carcinogenic, meaning there is some evidence that it may cause cancer in humans, but that the evidence is far from conclusive, according to Mary Schubauer-Berigan, the acting head of the IARC Monographs program. (Exposure to a carcinogen<\/a> does not mean a person will get cancer.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Given the limited evidence, the Expert Committee on Food Additives concluded that it is currently not making any changes to the recommended limit of aspartame that a person can safely consume. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That limit \u2014 known as the acceptable daily intake<\/a> \u2014 is quite high: 40 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day, or 40 milligrams per every 2.2 pounds a person weighs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That means an adult who weighs 154 pounds, or 70 kilograms, would need to consume more than nine to 14 cans of diet soda per day to exceed the acceptable daily intake, assuming they aren\u2019t getting aspartame from other foods or drinks. A 12-ounce can of diet soda typically contains 200 to 300 milligrams aspartame. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The FDA\u2019s limit is even higher, at 50 milligrams per kilogram a day,<\/a> or 50 milligrams per 2.2 pounds of body weight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Coca-Cola Company did not respond to a request for comment. In a statement, American Beverage, the industry trade group, said that the safety of its products is its highest priority and that the \u201cIARC is not a food safety agency.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n American Beverage praised the Expert Committee on Food Additives\u2019 decision to not make changes to the daily acceptable limits of aspartame. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis strong conclusion reinforces the position of the FDA and food safety agencies from more than 90 countries,\u201d American Beverage CEO Kevin Keane said in a statement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Calorie Control Council, which represents the low and reduced calorie food and beverage industry, similarly praised the Expert Committee on Food Additives while blasting the IARC ruling as \u201cwrong\u201d and \u201cpotentially damaging.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Does aspartame cause cancer?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The International Agency for Cancer Research looks at whether certain compounds, organisms or agents are carcinogenic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It classifies its findings into four groups: Group 1 substances \u201ccause cancer.\u201d These include tobacco smoke<\/a> and UV rays from the sun. Group 2a substances are \u201cprobable carcinogens,\u201d and include things like red meat<\/a> and steroids. Group 2b \u2014 which aspartame now falls into \u2014 are substances that are \u201cpossible carcinogens\u201d and include pickled vegetables, engine exhaust fumes and aloe vera. Group 3 substances are \u201cunclassifiable,\u201d meaning there\u2019s no credible evidence to date that they cause cancer. Group 3 includes coffee<\/a>, for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The IACR\u2019s decision on aspartame was based on three studies in humans that found a link between the consumption of artificially sweetened beverages and hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common type of liver cancer<\/a>. There was also some evidence of an increased incidence of tumors in mice and rats who were given aspartame in their food, but the group noted that the studies had flaws. A summary of the evaluation was published Thursday in The Lancet<\/a>, but the full report won\u2019t be available for another six months, the WHO said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Branca, who presented the conclusions of the Joint FAO\/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives, said that a panel of 13 experts across 15 countries didn\u2019t find the evidence linking aspartame and cancer convincing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe panel felt that the studies that were getting positive results were limited in their design and in the quality of the interpretation of the data,\u201d Branca said during the media briefing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n FDA scientists have previously reviewed the studies included by the IARC, and “identified significant shortcomings,” the agency said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The American Cancer Society said the science behind whether aspartame causes cancer is still evolving. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe recommend people use today\u2019s report by IARC as a time to reflect on their use of aspartame, but also an opportunity to review their overall dietary intake, including processed meat and alcohol, known carcinogens associated with increased risk of cancer,\u201d ACS chief scientific officer Dr. William Dahut said in a statement. One scientist from the organization participated in the IARC\u2019s meeting last month to evaluate the health effects of aspartame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s not clear how aspartame could potentially cause cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jotham Suez, a molecular microbiologist and immunologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, said that there are no definitive answers yet on possible mechanisms for how the sweetener is carcinogenic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/41KYrbhV5jL.jpg?resize=291%2C299&ssl=1\")
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