The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) reviewed both human and animal studies on aspartame, the controversial artificial sugar that sweetens drinks like Diet Coke and Sprite Zero. (You’ll also find it as Equal and NutraSweet in your sugar caddy.) EFSA concluded that aspartame is safe in doses up to 40 mg/kg of body weight per day: So if you weight 150 pounds, that’s about 15 cans of diet soda per day. The one exception to safety that they note? People with phenylketonuria, or PKU, who are sensitive to one of the breakdown products of aspartame, shouldn’t consume it. In this first full risk assessment of aspartame by the agency, EFSA ruled out the possibility that it causes cancer or harms genes. It also concluded that aspartame doesn’t damage the brain, cognitive function, or nervous system of kids or adults. “This opinion represents one of the most comprehensive risk assessments of aspartame ever undertaken,” said Dr. Alicja Mortensen, chair of EFSA’s Panel on Food Additives And Nutrient Sources Added To Foods, in a statement. “It’s a step forward in strengthening consumer confidence in the scientific underpinning of the EU food safety system and the regulation of food additives.” The news comes as Americans are becoming disenchanted with diet soda. According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, diet soda sales dropped nearly 7% over 52 days. Health fears—that aspartame may be linked to everything from dizziness to cancer—are a big part of that plunge; it’s no coincidence that Diet Coke took out expensive print advertisements attempting to dispel aspartame’s bad health reputation this fall. But not everyone is so sure of the sweetener’s effects in the long-term. A recent study published in Diabetes found that the taste receptors for sweetness in type 2 diabetics triggered the intestine to absorb more glucose, faster. And even normal, healthy guts had trouble distinguishing artificial sweeteners from the real deal, triggering the same hormone release. Richard Young, PhD, is the Diabetes study’s author and a senior postdoctoral researcher at the University of Adelaide in Australia. “Based on our recent study, I feel it important that the impact of long-term, heavy consumption of any sweeteners be better understood, particularly in conditions such as obesity and type 2 diabetes,” he says. “The pathways that recognize sweeteners are present within the upper gut, and may, as we have shown in patients with type 2 diabetes, be more accessible and trigger augmented glucose uptake.” And some researchers think aspartame should be judged as a drug—not a food—since the industry could (and does) argue that artificial sweeteners can reduce obesity, and could even improve cardiovascular health as sugar replacements. “If that is a case, then aspartame should undergo the scrutiny of a drug approval, showing its indications for the mass use and superiority in placebo-controlled or comparative effectiveness trials,” said Rasa Kazlauskaite, MD, an endocrinologist and assistant professor in the department of preventative medicine at Rush University Medical Center. In other words, a whole lot more rigorous testing. “Speaking roughly, the food industry gives us the choice: eat waste or eat poison,” she said. “I prefer the normal food without additives.” More from Prevention: Dr. Andrew Weil Weighs In On The Safety Of Artificial Sweeteners
