Aspartame is one of the most-studied food additives in the world and has been safely used for at least 25 years. It’s been reviewed by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), the FAO/WHO Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), and the US Food and Drug Administration. Scientific evidence so far supports the safety of aspartame.
Despite this, aspartame is still controversial. There are claims it’s been associated with multiple sclerosis, vision problems, Alzheimer’s, and tumours. In 2007 the European Ramazzini Foundation (ERF) published a study that suggested aspartame could cause cancer in rats at levels close to the human Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI). The EFSA reviewed this study and concluded that on the basis of all the evidence, including the Ramazzini study, aspartame did not cause cancer and there was no reason to revise the ADI for aspartame. FSANZ agreed with its European counterpart’s conclusions.
In 2010 two further studies were published questioning aspartame’s safety. EFSA was concerned about the validity of one study and said its statistical approach could not be assessed and its results couldn’t be interpreted. EFSA also had concerns about the design of the study. And it said there was no evidence in the second study to support the causal relationship being claimed.
Many people are adamant that aspartame adversely affects them. So the UK Food Standards Agency has launched a pilot study that’s testing individual sensitivity to aspartame through a double-blind placebo-controlled study. This may be useful in providing direction for future research and could provide insights into the issue of possible aspartame sensitivity.
Aspartame does carry a risk for a small number of people with the rare inherited disorder phenylketonuria (PKU). People with PKU should avoid aspartame because they are unable to break down phenylalanine, a component of aspartame. For this reason, all products containing aspartame must carry a warning label. (Babies are screened for PKU at birth.)
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