The World Health Organisation (WHO) has released a statement on artificial sweetener aspartame that has deemed the product "safe for human consumption".
Following this, global agencies have issued responses to WHO's review.
Dr Arnold Baskies, past Chairman of the National Board of Directors of the American Cancer Society, National Cancer Institute (NCI) Fellowship-Trained Surgical Oncologist, and a member of the Coalition for Safe Food and Beverage Choices Expert Advisory Committee released the following statement after the WHO Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives' (JECFA) review of aspartame:
"The WHO Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives' (JECFA) review says that aspartame is safe for human consumption. JECFA is the authoritative international agency when it comes to food safety. The FDA relies on JECFA's assessments as part of its process to determine not only what is safe to consume, but also what quantity. The American people should have confidence in their food and beverage choices because JECFA is the WHO agency that measures risk to humans from ingredients."
It is irresponsible to needlessly scare or confuse people. If there was any cause for concern, they would have adjusted the current Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI)
- Dr Arnold Baskies
"It is irresponsible to needlessly scare or confuse people. If there was any cause for concern, they would have adjusted the current Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI). The FDA has affirmed and reaffirmed aspartame's safety in six comprehensive reviews. JECFA's current review lends further credence to this consensus and should be considered authoritative."
The Coalition for Safe Food & Beverage Choices represents organisations from agriculture, business, consumer, labour, multicultural advocacy, and public health groups who believe Americans should know who to trust when making safe choices about their family's diets.
Elsewhere, the International Sweeteners Association (ISA) applauds the WHO’s reaffirmation of aspartame's safety.
“JECFA has once again reaffirmed aspartame’s safety after conducting a thorough, comprehensive and scientifically rigorous review,” said ISA Secretary General Frances Hunt-Wood. “Aspartame, like all low/no calorie sweeteners, when used as part of a balanced diet, provides consumers with choice to reduce sugar intake, a critical public health objective.”
As part of its comprehensive assessment, reconfirming the safety of aspartame, JECFA examined IARC’s conclusions and found no concern for human health. Importantly, IARC is not a food safety body and its 2B classification does not consider intake levels nor actual risk, making an IARC review far less comprehensive than the thorough reviews conducted by food safety bodies like JECFA and potentially confusing for consumers.