A committee of 25 international experts has determined that aspartame may "possibly" cause cancer in people, according to a report released Thursday by the World Health Organization.
This new classification, which is based on a review of "limited evidence," does not change the recommended limit on the daily intake of the artificial sweetener.
"Our results do not indicate that occasional consumption should pose a risk to most consumers," said Dr. Francesco Branca, director of the Department of Nutrition and Food Safety at the WHO, during a press conference in Geneva. He said the problem is for "high consumers" of diet soda or other foods that contain aspartame. "We have, in a sense, raised a flag here," Branca said, and he called for more research.
But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it disagrees with this new classification, pointing to evidence of safety. In a written statement, an FDA official told NPR that aspartame being labeled by the WHO "as 'possibly carcinogenic to humans' does not mean that aspartame is actually linked to cancer."
Aspartame was approved for use as a sweetener in the U.S. in 1974. Coca-Cola began blending the artificial sweetener into Diet Coke in the 1980s and popularized the zero-calorie drink with splashy ad campaigns, promoting the taste of it. But for all its popularity, there have long been skeptics and critics, and in recent years, small studies suggest that artificial sweeteners may increase food cravings in some people and alter the microbiome. In addition, a few recent studies point to potential cancer risks, which is why the World Health Organization set out to review all the data.
