BREAKING: Reuters reports that Aspartame, which is one of the world's most common artificial sweeteners, is set to be declared a possible carcinogen.
— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) June 29, 2023
An artificial sweetener added to thousands of fizzy drinks, chewing gums and low-calorie foods will be declared a potential cancer risk, a bombshell report claimed today.
Aspartame is set to be listed as ‘possibly carcinogenic to humans’ in a World Health Organization reclassification, according to insiders. It follows a major safety review into the artificial sugar replacement involving 1,300 studies.
Particular products containing aspartame — which entered the market in the 1980s — include Diet Coke, Dr Pepper and Fanta, as well as Extra chewing gum and Muller Light yoghurts. Some toothpastes, dessert mixes, and sugar-free cough drops also contain it.
The move will send shockwaves through the global food manufacturing market, with some of the world’s best-loved brands affected. A huge push to crackdown on sugar over the past few decades has led to the mass usage of artificial sweeteners such as aspartame.
Experts immediately questioned the International Agency for Research on Cancer’s (IARC) decision, calling the classification system used by the WHO’s subsidiary body ‘dumb’ and arguing that ‘the dose makes the poison’. Cancer Research UK explicitly states that artificial sweeteners such as aspartame don’t cause cancer.