The International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified aspartame as "possibly carcinogenic." This has sparked a debate over artificial sweeteners' use, importance and safety.
Consumers need to know that this classification comes with a set of addendums. The agency is not a food-safety agency, meaning it merely looks at agents in themselves, not the amount regular consumers will take in.
In the case of aspartame, a person weighing 130 pounds would need to drink between 12 and 36 cans of Diet Coke each day for an extended period for the sweetener to constitute a risk. That is way beyond most consumers' regular consumption level, and it relativizes the perceived risk when reading the headline that "aspartame is possibly carcinogen." The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives released a report on the same day stating that within the recommended daily limit, the additive remains safe.
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