Recent Comments on the Safety of Aspartame and its Alleged Relationship to Cancer

"Aspartame is one of the most studied food additives in the U.S. food supply. Over the past 25 years, more than 200 studies have been conducted on aspartame. An examination of the animal and human research findings by regulatory bodies in countries around the world has led repeatedly to the conclusion that aspartame is safe. As recently as 2002, the Scientific Committee on Food of the European Commission re-evaluated hundreds of studies and re-confirmed the safety of aspartame. Aspartame is a simple compound, consisting of two amino acids (phenylalanine, aspartate) and a methanol molecule.  Because it is so sweet (almost 200 times sweeter than sugar), people use tiny amounts daily in foods and beverages. Their daily aspartame intake is thus very small. Indeed, individuals consume vastly greater amounts of each of aspartame’s constituents in other foods, including fruit and vegetable juices (methanol), and milk, eggs and meat (phenylalanine, aspartate). No adverse effects occur from the ingestion of the methanol contained in fruits and juices, or the phenylalanine and aspartate found in protein-containing foods. Hence, none should be expected from the ingestion of the comparatively small amounts of these compounds provided by aspartame. (The only exception would be the very small number of individuals who have a gene-based metabolic disorder, phenylketonuria, that limits their ability to metabolize phenylalanine; and, in such people, limiting phenylalanine intake from dietary protein is the most important treatment issue.) In consideration of these facts, it is difficult to accept a new claim of carcinogenesis in rats ingesting large amounts of the sweetener, particularly given the extensive database that already exists showing the absence of carcinogenic effects.”

-Dr. John Fernstrom, Professor of Psychiatry, Pharmacology & Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Research Director, UPMC Weight Management Center
To speak with Dr. Fernstrom, call 404-252-3663

“To assess whether such an association might be present in the U.S. population, available data from the [National Cancer Institute’s] Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program were used to examine trends for Hodgkin’s lymphoma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) and leukemia from 1973 through 2002 in comparison to trends of aspartame consumption.  There has been relatively no increase in the rates of leukemias and lymphomas since the introduction of aspartame.  Although the incidence of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in the U.S. has increased somewhat (between the years of 1973 and 1990), scientists with the American Cancer Society have indicated that two possible explanations of this rise are the increase in HIV infection and improvements in diagnostic procedures.  Since 1991, approximately 10 years after aspartame’s approval, the combined incidence of lymphomas and leukemias has remained constant and does not suggest that cancer trends are related to aspartame consumption.”

 -Dr. Michael Kelsh, Exponent, UCLA School of Public Health
To speak with Dr. Kelsh, call 650-688-1764

“Based on the large body of evidence we have reviewed, including several studies on carcinogenicity which showed no adverse effects and data on how aspartame is metabolized by humans, we have no reason to believe that aspartame would cause cancer. Thus, it remains FDA's position that use is safe."

-U.S. Food & Drug Administration

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