CANCER ‘WARN’ LOOMS

Sweetener woe

The artificial sweetener aspartame may soon be declared a “possible carcinogen,” or cancer-causing agent, according to a leaked report from the World Health Organization.

Aspartame is used in Diet Coke, Coke Zero, chewing gum, diet Snapple, breakfast cereals, ice cream and many other common food and drinks.

It’s also sold as Nutra-Sweet, Equal and Sugar Twin.

The news about the possible move by the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer, first reported on Reuters, met with quick resistance from the food industry.

“[T]his leaked opinion contradicts decades of high-quality scientific evidence,” International Council of Beverages Associations executive director Kate Loatman said in a press release.

Robert Rankin, president of the Calorie Control Council, added: “IARC is not a regulatory agency, ingredient expert, or food safety authority, and their sole focus is to find substances that could cause cancer, and they have classified things like aloe vera, low frequency magnetic fields, and pickled vegetables as possibly a causing cancer.”

The possible IARC listing could come as early as July 14 — the same day another group, the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives, is set to announce its findings on aspartame. Labeling an ingredient as cancer-causing requires years of rigorous testing and research.

Research based on lab animals may not always apply to humans, and it’s often difficult to establish that an ingredient or product is the direct cause of cancer or other health problems.

In 2015, the IARC stated that glyphosate — found in weedkillers like Roundup — is “probably carcinogenic,” though other bodies like the European Food Safety Authority contested that finding.

The IARC — which has also linked red meat, working overnight and cellphone use to cancer — might be on shaky ground if it declares aspartame a possible carcinogen.

According to the National Cancer Institute, “studies have not found evidence linking artificially sweetened beverage consumption with cancer in people,” despite years of studies.

However, in 2022, the Nutri-Net-Santé study of over 102,000 adults found that those who consumed artificial sweeteners were slightly more likely to develop cancer than those who didn’t.

Nonetheless, the Food and Drug Administration still considers aspartame to be safe: “Scientific evidence has continued to support the FDA’s conclusion that aspartame is safe for the general population.”