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Manufacturers await groundbreaking aspartame safety review

The WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is preparing to release its findings on whether the sweetener aspartame is a possible carcinogen.

Following the news that the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is about to publish its results on whether it determines the low/no-calorie sweetener aspartame may cause cancer, the International Sweetener Association (ISA) has expressed worries over the preliminary announcement.

On 29th June 2023, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) announced it has examined aspartame for its potential carcinogenic effect.

On the same day as the announcement, the International Sweeteners Association (ISA) released a statement expressing its “serious concerns” with what it refers to as “preliminary speculation” around IARC’s opinion on the manufactured sweetener, aspartame. In the official statement, the ISA said IARC’s opinion “may mislead consumers about the safety of aspartame”.

The European Food Safety Authority (ESFA) re-confirmed the safety of aspartame a decade ago, following “the most comprehensive risk assessment of aspartame to date”, the ISA stated in an information document on aspartame. The sweetener’s inclusion in food manufacturing has again entered the public and food industry’s consciousness as the IARC throws doubt on its safety credentials and risk to human health.

ISA says it joins other global food safety agencies in trusting the scientific rigour of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), which it describes as a “comprehensive food safety review of aspartame”.

Other global food safety authorities, including ESFA and the US Food and Drug Administration (USDA), also approve aspartame, a long-standing ingredient in food manufacturing.

Is aspartame safe?

“Aspartame is one of the most thoroughly researched ingredients in history, with over 90 food safety agencies across the globe declaring it is safe, including the EFSA, which conducted the most comprehensive safety evaluation of aspartame to date,” Frances Hunt-Wood, secretary general of ISA told Ingredients Network.

In recent years, several research studies have reported that consumer intake of the sweetener is “well below” the acceptable daily intake (ADI) level set by authorities, the ISA states.

The most recent of these studies referenced by the ISA, published in 2022, reveals that while its results found aspartame was one of the most consumed non-nutritive intense sweeteners (NNIS) studied, the estimated risk of exceeding NNIS intake safety levels was very low, even when considering the most conservative approach.

In response to new research results, the Advisory Group to Recommend Priorities for the IARC Monographs advised that aspartame be assessed again for cancer hazard identification with high priority during 2020–2024. The sweetener was also recommended for risk assessment evaluation by the WHO/JECFA committee.

Long-standing sweetener replacement

Aspartame is a low/no-calorie sweetener, popular with food manufacturers and consumers as an alternative to sugar. Described as “a non-nutritive sweetener” by the WHO’s IARC in a recent Questions and Answers document, aspartame has been used since the 1980s in a range of food and beverages, including low-calorie soda, chewing gum, gelatine, ice cream, and breakfast cereals.

© AdobeStock/Richard Villalon

In 1981, when the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) first evaluated aspartame, it established an ADI at 40 mg/kg body weight per day.

Its presence in formulations signals the food industry and public health body’s focus on reducing sugar intake and supporting weight, diabetes management and dental health.

The sweetener contains two amino acids, aspartic acid, and phenylalanine, which are compounds that come together to form proteins. These components are found naturally in most foods with protein, including meat, dairy and vegetables.

The latest 2023 aspartame review

An IARC Monographs Working Group of independent international experts evaluated aspartame and its potential as a possible carcinogen, the WHO’s IARC says. During the assessment, these experts analysed available global data where people have been exposed to the agent.

A working group evaluated the carcinogenicity of aspartame for the first time at IARC Monographs Meeting 134, on 6–13 June 2023 in Lyon, France. The experts critically review three types of data. They evaluated more than 7000 references, after collection and screening. Approximately 1300 studies were included in the review and made available to the working group.

The working group can use the strength of the scientific evidence to determine its hazard classification and whether aspartame can cause cancer in humans. However, the IARC Monographs classifications do not specify the likelihood and risk of developing cancer.

Awaiting the results

The JECFA will subsequently amend the aspartame risk assessment, including reviewing the acceptable daily intake and dietary exposure assessment for aspartame.

The assessment results will be available on 14th July and are confidential until then. The summary of the IARC Monographs Volume 134’s evaluations will then be published online by The Lancet Oncology. The WHO will also simultaneously release the JECFA findings on WHO’s website.

“IARC is not a food safety body,” Hunt-Wood said. “The World Health Organization’s Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) is currently conducting a comprehensive food safety review of aspartame, and no conclusions can be drawn until both reports are published,” Hunt-Wood added.

“We look forward to the full publication of those findings in the coming weeks,” the ISA concluded.