Most foods and drinks containing aspartame are advertised as «healthy» or «diet» alternatives to sugary foods. However, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which is the anti-cancer arm of the World Health Organization (WHO), recently reported that aspartame is likely to be declared a «possible human carcinogen».
Aspartame was discovered in 1965, has zero calories and is 150-200 times sweeter than sugar. But the ability of foods containing this artificial sweetener to reduce the risk of diabetes or obesity has never been confirmed. On the contrary, some evidence suggests that the taste of both sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened beverages increases hunger and, as a result, causes weight gain.
Worldwide, aspartame can be found in more than 6,000 foods, including foods and drinks, cough drops and some toothpastes, indicating the ubiquitous presence of this chemical.
According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the allowable daily intake of aspartame is 50 mg/kg, while European regulatory authorities recommend not to exceed 40 mg/kg of aspartame for both adults and children. .
After consumption of aspartame, this chemical is hydrolyzed and absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract. This process results in the release of methanol, aspartic acid and phenylalanine.
Methanol metabolism begins in the liver, where it is first oxidized to formaldehyde and then back to formic acid. In addition to methanol's direct liver damage, formaldehyde is also directly toxic to liver cells and has been linked to carcinogenic properties.
The sheer volume of in vivo and in vitro studies pointing to the potential role of aspartame in cancer development has prompted many regulatory bodies , such as IARC, to reconsider the safety of aspartame for human consumption.