Context: The cancer research arm of the World Health Organization (WHO) is reportedly considering listing aspartame, a popular sugar substitute ‘Aspartame’ as “possibly carcinogenic to humans.”

• This potential listing by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has generated controversy as it contradicts previous studies that found no evidence linking aspartame to cancer.

• Carcinogens are substances that can cause cancer to humans. There are four levels of carcinogens:

• Carcinogenic, probably carcinogenic, possibly carcinogenic and not classifiable.

• Aspartame is likely to be classified as possibly carcinogenic, the third category.

What is Aspartame?

• Definition: Chemically, aspartame is a methyl ester of the dipeptide of two natural amino acids, L-aspartic acid and L-phenylalanine.

• Discovered by: It was discovered by James M Schlatter, a chemist at the American pharmaceutical company G D Searle & Co. (which is now a subsidiary of Pfizer) in 1965.

• Properties: According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), aspartame is about 200 times sweeter than table sugar.

• This makes aspartame far less sweet than other artificial sweeteners like advantame and neotame.

• 1 gram of aspartame has the sweetness intensity of roughly 2 teaspoons (about 8 g) of sugar.

Uses

• Aspartame is one of the world’s most common artificial sweeteners and is used in a wide range of diet soft drinks, sugar-free chewing gum, sugar-free ice cream, sugar-free breakfast cereals, etc.

• Aspartame is preferred by people trying to cut calories or lose weight, or by diabetics, because while 2 teaspoons (8 g) of sugar provides about 32 kcals of energy, 1 g of aspartame is only 4 kcals.

• It is often argued that a 12 fl oz (about 350 ml) can of regular cola contains about 10 teaspoonfuls of sugar.

• While the same quantity of diet cola containing aspartame has only 7 kcals.

• That is why Cans/ bottles of diet fizzy drinks often say “zero sugar” or “zero calories” on the packaging.

• Aspartame is present in several brands of artificial sweeteners, the most common of which in India are Equal and Sugar-Free Gold.

List of products that use Aspartame

• Diet Coke Coca-Cola

• Extra sugarfree Mars chewing gum

• Jell-O Sugarfree gelatin dessert mix

• Snapple zero sugar tea and juice drinks

• Sugar Twin 1 sweetener packets

• Equal zero calorie sweeteners

• Trident sugar-free peppermint gums

How Safe is Aspartame?

Carcinogen: Over more than 40 years, aspartame has been one of the most rigorously tested chemical additives in food for its possible links with cancer.

• More than 100 studies have found no evidence of harm caused by aspartame.

Phenylketonuria: There is a broad scientific consensus on the safety of aspartame for all groups of people except one those suffering from phenylketonuria (PKU).

• Phenylketonuria is a rare inherited disorder in which the patient does not have the enzyme that is needed to break down phenylalanine, one of the two amino acids in aspartame.

• Foods containing aspartame carry the warning “Not for phenylketonurics”.

Review by WHO: Two different WHO groups i.e International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the Joint Organization Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) are currently reviewing the safety of aspartame.

• The result of both evaluations would be announced on July 14, 2023.