Aspartame and cancer – new evidence for causation

Abstract

Background Aspartame is one of the world’s most widely used artificial sweeteners and is an ingredient in more than 5000 food products globally. A particularly important use is in low-calorie beverages consumed by children and pregnant women. The Ramazzini Institute (RI) reported in 2006 and 2007 that aspartame causes dose-related increases in malignant tumors in multiple organs in rats and mice. Increased cancer risk was seen even at low exposure levels approaching the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI). Prenatal exposures caused increased malignancies in rodent offspring at lower doses than in adults. These findings generated intense controversy focused on the accuracy of RI’s diagnoses of hematopoietic and lymphoid tissue tumors (HLTs). Critics made the claim that pulmonary lesions observed in aspartame-exposed animals were inflammatory lesions caused by Mycoplasma infection rather than malignant neoplasms. Methods To address this question, RI subjected all HLTs from aspartame-exposed animals to immunohistochemical analysis using a battery of markers and to morphological reassessment using the most recent Internationally Harmonized Nomenclature and Diagnostic (INHAND) criteria. Findings This immunohistochemical and morphological re-evaluation confirmed the original diagnoses of malignancy in 92.3% of cases. Six lesions originally diagnosed as lymphoma (8% of all HLTs) were reclassified: 3 to lymphoid hyperplasia, and 3 to chronic inflammation with fibrosis. There was no evidence of Mycoplasma infection. Interpretation These new findings confirm that aspartame is a chemical carcinogen in rodents. They confirm the very worrisome finding that prenatal exposure to aspartame increases cancer risk in rodent offspring. They validate the conclusions of the original RI studies. These findings are of great importance for public health. In light of them, we encourage all national and international public health agencies to urgently reexamine their assessments of aspartame’s health risks - especially the risks of prenatal and early postnatal exposures. We call upon food agencies to reassess Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) levels for aspartame. We note that an Advisory Group to the International Agency for Research on Cancer has recommended high-priority reevaluation of aspartame’s carcinogenicity to humans.

Zebrafish Behavioral Phenomics Links Artificial Sweetener Aspartame to Behavioral Toxicity and Neurotransmitter Homeostasis

“…APM, an important sweetener, is commonly used in pharmaceutical processing and food processing, and its safety is highly controversial. Some studies have reported that APM is carcinogenic, causes immune deficiency, and induces brain tumors and other safety hazards in use . Although some of the sweeteners on the market have been replaced with relatively safer sweeteners such as glucose syrup by APM, its use is still widespread, and its overuse may affect people’s life safety in particular.…”

“…Some studies have reported that APM is carcinogenic, causes immune deficiency, and induces brain tumors and other safety hazards in use. 38 Although some of the sweeteners on the market have been replaced with relatively safer sweeteners such as glucose syrup by APM, its use is still widespread, and its overuse may affect people's life safety in particular. Thus, the potential neurological effects or toxicity of APM has been a hot topic of research.…”

Authors’ response to Ashley Roberts’ letter to the editor on aspartame and cancer

“…Ashley Roberts, a consultant to the Calorie Control Council, a food-industry trade group that promotes the use of aspartame and other artificial sweeteners, ( https://caloriecontrol.org/about-the-council/ ” ) makes several incorrect and unsubstantiated claims in his response to our recent commentary, “Aspartame and Cancer – New Evidence for Causation” [ 1 ].…”

Response to the publication by Landrigan PJ, Straif K. Aspartame and cancer – new evidence causation

“…A recent re-evaluation of the information regarding aspartame and cancer from studies conducted at the Ramazzini institute (RI) was published within Environmental Health [ 1 ]. This publication referenced additional analysis conducted by RI regarding aspartame induced haematopoietic and lymphoid tumours (HLT’s) in rats after life-time treatment [ 2 ].…”

“…In conclusion, a close examination of the articles published by RI [ 1 , 2 ] who re-evaluated the HLT’s from the original life-time aspartame rat studies [ 8 – 10 ], and using INHAND criteria, provided insufficient evidence to challenge and contradict the opinions of both EFSA and the FDA regarding the “shortcomings and uncontrolled variables”, within the study “such as the presence of infection in the test animal”. For lymphocytic lymphoma, the histological images proved to be inconclusive since the relationship with surrounding tissues was not provided and the absence of inflammation in other organs was not reported.…”