Commentary: WHO deems aspartame ‘possibly carcinogenic’ – what this means for your diet soda habit

Commercial names for aspartame include Equal, Nutrasweet, Canderel and Sugar Twin. In Australia, the acceptable daily intake is 40mg per kg of body weight per day, which is about 60 sachets.

In America, the acceptable daily intake has been set at 75 sachets.

WHAT EVIDENCE HAVE THEY USED TO COME TO THIS CONCLUSION?

IARC looked closely at the evidence base from around the world – using data from observational studies, experimental studies and animal studies.

They found there was some limited evidence in human studies linking aspartame and cancer (specifically liver cancer) and limited evidence from animal studies as well.

They also considered the biological mechanism studies which showed how cancer may develop from the consumption of aspartame. Usually, these are lab-based studies which show exactly how exposure to the agent may lead to cancer. In this case, they found there was limited evidence for how aspartame might cause cancer.

There were only three human studies that looked at cancer and aspartame intake. These large observational studies used the intake of soft drinks as an indicator of aspartame intake.

All three found a positive association between artificially sweetened beverages and liver cancer in either all of the populations they were studying or sub-groups within them. But these studies could not rule out other factors that may have been responsible for the findings.