The International Agency for Research on Cancer’s decision based on limited evidence that the sweetener could cause a type of liver cancer. The sweetener is found in many drinks
“A working group ofInternational Agency for Research on Cancer IARCcomposed of 25 experts, met in Lyon to make an assessment, reviewed all available data and
classified aspartame as a possible human carcinogen, i.e. in group 2B
».
This is the announcement that comes from the World Health Organization. To explain the verdict of the Iarc was Mary Schubauer-Beriganinterim head of the WHO agency’s monographs programme, who pointed out how the decision is based on «limited evidence in humans for a type of liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, from 3 studies conducted in the United States and 10 European countries.
Risk assessment
In parallel another committee of experts, the Joint FAO/Who Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA)was involved in a risk assessment and decided to confirm “an acceptable daily intake level of up to 40 milligrams per kilogram of body weight”, communicated Francesco Branca, director of the WHO Nutrition and Food Safety Department. The reason is that “in vitro and in vivo genotoxicity studies gave conflicting results” e “Confounding factors cannot be ruled out”he highlighted.
An aspect also touched upon by the Iarc expert, who specified how all 3 studies considered “examined the consumption of artificially sweetened beverages (Asb)”, considered by the working group to be a “good indicator of exposure to aspartame”, considering that this was the main sweetener used in drinks. A summary of the findings in question comes published online in «Lancet Oncology».
What happens now
But how should people behave now regarding the consumption of these products? “If you consume aspartame to avoid sugar consumption, and the effects of high sugar intake for example on body weight, the WHO has already recommended in the guidelines released a couple of weeks ago to moderate both the consumption of free sugars and the consumption of sweeteners. So if consumers are faced with the decision whether to have a drink with sweeteners or one with sugar, I think it should be considered. a third option, which is to drink water. And limit the consumption of sweetening products,” Branca suggested.
“This – continued the WHO expert – is particularly important for young children, that they would be exposed to a taste adjustment soon enough and thus essentially routed to continue consuming sugary products. There are alternatives that do not contain free sugars or sweeteners and should be preferred by consumers.”
The meaning of «acceptable quantity»
Branca made a point of clarifying the meaning of the conclusion reached by the risk assessment: «It does not indicate that the consumption of sweeteners automatically leads to an impact on health. Having the definition of an acceptable daily intake means that it is acceptable to consume a certain amount of aspartame without having appreciable health effects. This amount is quite large.”
To give an idea Branca explained that: for an average adult weighing about 70 kg translates into «2,800 milligrams per day of aspartame. If we look, for example, at the aspartame content in common sodas, it’s around 200-300 milligrams per day, which means consuming between 9 and 14 cans of these sodas. Turns out that’s a pretty large amount. So surely WHO is not advising manufacturers or authorities to withdraw products from the market. But it’s considering the fact that there are some concerns that have been identified by some studies, not consistently, not clearly enough. And he’s advising consumers not to stop consuming these products, just a little moderation».
Consumption of products with sweeteners on the rise
«The consumption of products containing sweeteners – the expert argued – has increased. And the use of sweeteners, including aspartame, has increased to try to meet consumer demand to reduce free sugars. Similarly, Schubauer-Berigan specified that the classification made by the IARC «shouldn’t really be taken as a direct statement which indicates that there is a known risk of cancer from consuming aspartame. Rather, considering the fact that there is limited evidence for a single type of cancer in humans, as well as limited evidence from animal studies and mechanistic studies, in our view this is really more of a call to the research community to try to clarify and better understand the carcinogenic risk which may or may not be represented by the consumption of aspartame.
July 14, 2023 (change July 14, 2023 | 08:19)
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