Concern about aspartame’s health risks was reawakened after one unit of the World Health Organization classified the artificial sweetener as a possible carcinogen and another agency cleared the substance for consumption at common levels.
Aspartame was labeled Friday as a possible cause of cancer in a report from the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer, based on limited evidence. A joint committee between the WHO and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations said the same day that the safety of aspartame isn’t a major concern at current levels of recommended consumption.
The controversy escalated when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration took the rare step of showing public disagreement with the WHO. The conflicting statements by health authorities and the food industry are bound to confuse consumers over a sweetener that’s ubiquitous in diet drinks, yogurt, ice cream, breakfast cereals and even toothpastes and medicines.
