There were good reasons to avoid products with the artificial sweetener aspartame even before the World Health Organization classified it as a “possible carcinogen” last month. But now diet soda drinkers might really want to put down the can.
But first, some perspective: “Possible carcinogen” is the weakest of three bins into which WHO classifies anything that’s been even remotely tied to cancer in any kind of study. The organization labels substances with more serious links to cancer as “probable carcinogens” and if the evidence is really strong, “carcinogenic to humans.” That middle category includes things that many of us consume routinely, including alcoholic beverages and very hot drinks (which have been linked to esophageal cancer).
The evidence behind possible carcinogens is more tenuous. The low-frequency radiation emitted from cell phones is in that category because studies have suggested very weak associations with cancer in animals.
