As WHO Flags Cancer Risk, Survey Shows High Consumption of Artificial Sweeteners Among Urban Indians

As the World Health Organization’s cancer agency deems the sweetener aspartame — found in diet soda and countless other foods — as a “possible” cause of cancer, a pan-India survey has shown the extent of consumption of artificial sweeteners in the country.

The survey, conducted by Local Circles, received over 23,000 responses from consumers located in 295 districts of India. While 38% urban Indians surveyed confirmed consuming foods with artificial sweeteners each month, 91% wanted food brands to display usage of artificial sweeteners on front of the pack.

One in three of those consuming artificial sweeteners do so in the form of diet soda drinks, sugar free gums, while 26% consumers of such products consume them in the form of energy drinks, the findings showed. Around 18% of those surveyed take artificial sweeteners in the form of sugarfree chocolates, ice-creams, the survey report said.

Around 66% respondents were men, while 34% respondents were women. 42% respondents were from tier 1, 34% from tier 2 and 24% respondents were from tier 3, 4 and rural districts, Local Circles said.

While the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a special branch of the WHO, has raised an alarm over the sweetener aspartame, a separate expert group looking at the same evidence said it still considers the sugar substitute safe in limited quantities. The latter group is an expert panel selected by WHO and another UN group, the Food and Agriculture Organization.

Aspartame joins a category with more than 300 other possible cancer-causing agents, including things like aloe vera extract, Asian-style pickled vegetables and carpentry work.

The guidance on use of the sweetener, though, isn’t changing. “We’re not advising consumers to stop consuming (aspartame) altogether,” said WHO’s nutrition director Dr. Francesco Branca. “We’re just advising a bit of moderation.”

WHAT IS ASPARTAME?

Aspartame is a low-calorie artificial sweetener that is about 200 times sweeter than sugar. It is a white, odourless powder and the world’s most widely used artificial sweetener.

Aspartame is authorised as a food additive in Europe and the US and is used in numerous foods, drinks such as Diet Coke, desserts, chewing gum, medications including cough drops and foods intended to help with weight loss. It’s in tabletop sweeteners sold as Equal, Sugar Twin and NutraSweet.

Aspartame was approved in 1974 by the US Food and Drug Administration with an acceptable daily intake of 50 milligrams per kilogram of body weight. According to the FDA, a person weighing 132 pounds (60 kilograms) would need to consume about 75 aspartame packets to reach that level.

UN experts evaluated the safety of aspartame in 1981 and set the safe daily limit slightly lower, at 40 milligrams of aspartame per kilogram.

WHAT DID THE TWO GROUPS SAY?

WHO’s cancer agency, IARC, based its conclusion that aspartame is “possibly carcinogenic” on studies in humans and animals that found “limited” evidence that the compound may be linked to liver cancer.

In a separate evaluation, experts assembled by WHO and the food agency updated their risk assessment, including reviewing the acceptable daily intake. They concluded there was “no convincing evidence” at the currently consumed levels that aspartame is dangerous; their guidelines regarding acceptable levels of consumption were unchanged.

SO WHAT SHOULD CONSUMERS DO?

WHO’s Branca said it was acceptable for people to consume a “pretty large” amount of aspartame without suffering any ill effects. “High consumers” might want to cut back, he said.

Dr. Peter Lurie, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which previously nominated aspartame for IARC review, said there’s an easy choice for consumers.

“At least when it comes to beverages, our message is your best choice is to drink water or an unsweetened beverage,” he said.

Most people, though, probably don’t pay much attention to IARC evaluations. The agency has previously classified processed meat like hot dogs and bacon as cancer-causing, noting in particular its link to colon cancer. That move surprised even others in the scientific community — the UK’s biggest cancer charity reassured Britons that eating a bacon sandwich every so often wouldn’t do them much harm.

Food and beverage producers say there’s no reason to avoid products with aspartame.

“There is a broad consensus in the scientific and regulatory community that aspartame is safe,” the American Beverage Association said in a statement.

WHO’s Branca said the agency advises food manufacturers in general to “use ingredients that do not require the addition of too much sugar.” After the latest assessments of aspartame, Branca said that using sweeteners “is probably not the way forward.”

With inputs from Associated Press