Aspartame, one of the most common artificial sweeteners used in Coca-Cola and other beverages, is set to be declared as a ‘possible carcinogen’ by the cancer arm of the World Health Organization.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which leads cancer research for the World Health Organization (WHO), will list aspartame as ‘possibly carcinogenic to humans’ in July.
The IARC’s decision comes after it organised a meeting of health experts on the issue based on the available research and published evidence. It, however, does not take into consideration the permissible amount that humans can consume without problems.
This ruling – which is set to be made public on July 14 – will be accompanied by research into the same topic by another WHO agency. JECFA (the Joint WHO and Food and Agriculture Organization’s Expert Committee on Food Additives), the WHO’s expert committee on food additives, is also looking into the health hazards that aspartame consumption poses to humans.
JECFA has maintained that aspartame is safe for human consumption since 1981, and this view has been echoed by food regulators around the world, including in India, Japan, the USA, Australia, and New Zealand.
FSSAI, India’s food regulatory body, said in 2013 that aspartame is safe for human consumption, including by pregnant women and children, with a daily intake level set at 40mg/kg body weight.
Aspartame is an artificial non-saccharide sweetener that is 200 times sweeter than natural sugar. It has widespread use in the beverages industry, and it is found in 95% of carbonated soft drinks and 90% of ready-to-drink teas available in the market.
It is used in more than 90 countries and is used by companies such as Coca-Cola, Mars, and Snapple.
The IARC’s ruling, however, has been criticised by industry experts for being misleading.
Kevin Keane, the CEO of the American Beverage Association, which represents leading beverage makers such as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, said, “There is a broad consensus in the scientific and regulatory community that aspartame is safe. It’s a conclusion reached time and time again by food safety agencies around the world.
“The fact that food safety agencies worldwide, including the FDA, continue to find aspartame safe makes us confident in the safety of our products. And people all over the world should be, too.”
Similar views were echoed by the International Council of Beverages Associations, whose executive director Kate Loatman said, “While it appears IARC is now prepared to concede that aspartame presents no more of a hazard to consumers than using aloe vera [which the IARC classified as a possible carcinogen], public health authorities should be deeply concerned that this leaked opinion contradicts decades of high-quality scientific evidence and could needlessly mislead consumers into consuming more sugar rather than choosing safe no- and low-sugar options – all on the basis of low-quality studies.
“Even IARC agrees it is not the appropriate authority to undertake risk assessment based on actual consumption and that it ‘does not make health recommendations.’ We remain confident in the safety of aspartame given the overwhelming weight of scientific evidence and positive safety determinations by food safety authorities in more than 90 countries around the world.”
Although IARC’s study is not set to be made public until next month, the leaked ruling has had severe effects on the stocks of beverage companies.
Soon after reports of the study’s findings were published in Reuters, both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo saw drops in stock value.
It is important to know that PepsiCo stopped using aspartame in its soft drinks in 2020.
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