After a comprehensive review, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the Food & Agriculture Organization’s Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) have once again concluded that aspartame is a safe ingredient in foods and beverages. Consequently, the WHO has made no change to the current Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) levels of aspartame. The rigorous review concluded that there was there was “no sufficient reason” to change the previously established ADI levels. They “therefore reaffirmed that it is safe for a person to consume within this limit per day”.
This robust conclusion from the WHO supporting the safety of aspartame is based on a foundation of extensive scientific evidence, with more than 40 years and over 100 studies supporting the safety of aspartame. Furthermore, the WHO’s safety decision is aligned with more than 90 food safety authorities around the world, including the US FDA, the European Food Safety Authority, the UK Food Standards Authority, Health Canada and Food Standards Australia New Zealand, among others.
The IARC carried out a comprehensive and overlapping review on the safety of aspartame, although its review was a more limited “hazard identification”. The IARC classified aspartame as a level “2B” carcinogen, in other words “possibly carcinogenic to humans”, and this falls in the same category as aloe vera and pickled vegetables. International Council of Beverage Associations (ICBA) President Kate Loatman applauded the WHO and FAO finding:
“This definitive conclusion by the world’s leading health and food safety experts once again affirms that aspartame is safe. After rigorous review, this landmark WHO and FAO finding further strengthens confidence in the safety of aspartame and will play a vital role in informing consumers as they consider all options to reduce sugar and calories in their diets. JECFA’s comprehensive conclusion that aspartame is safe builds on the overwhelming weight of scientific evidence for more than four decades, as well as positive determinations by food safety authorities in more than 90 countries.” International Sweeteners Association Secretary-General Frances Hunt-Wood applauded the WHO’s reaffirmation of aspartame’s safety by its leading scientific body responsible for evaluating the safety of food additives.
