"Does Drinking Zero-Calorie Drinks Cause Cancer?"... Food Industry Strongly Denies Credibility

"IARC Evaluation Relies on Unscientific Studies"

The food industry has pushed back against the announcement by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), under the World Health Organization (WHO), that aspartame will be classified as a possibly carcinogenic substance.

According to foreign media reports on the 1st, Francis Hunt-Wood, Secretary-General of the International Sweeteners Association (ISA), recently criticized through the media, stating, “IARC is not a food safety agency, and IARC’s evaluation of aspartame relies excessively on studies that are not scientifically comprehensive and lack credibility.”

Aspartame is an artificial sweetener that is 200 times sweeter than sugar and is widely used, commonly found in sugar-free beverages and sugar-free candies. Since the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) classified it in 1981 as an additive that does not require a daily intake limit, it has been spotlighted worldwide as a sugar substitute.

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However, recent additional studies on the carcinogenic potential of aspartame have sparked safety controversies. IARC, an organization that evaluates the cancer-causing potential of environmental factors and chemicals, plans to classify aspartame as a “possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B)” substance.

This classification is below “carcinogenic to humans (Group 1),” which includes tobacco and asbestos, and “probably carcinogenic to humans (Group 2A),” which includes high-temperature frying and urethane. Group 2B also includes aloe vera and gasoline.

WHO’s focus is not limited to aspartame. Last month, it stated that non-nutritive sweeteners (NSS) have no long-term weight loss effect and may even increase the risk of diabetes and heart disease. WHO emphasized, “Long-term consumption of NSS may have potentially undesirable effects such as increased risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, and increased mortality risk in adults,” adding, “This conclusion was drawn through systematic review.”

NSS are used as sugar substitutes in the manufacture of beverages, snacks, and more. Sweeteners such as Acesulfame K, Aspartame, Advantame, Cyclamate, Neotame, Saccharin, Sucralose, Stevia, and Stevia derivatives fall under this category.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.