Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) – The Saudi Food and Drug Authority said, on Friday, that the report of the International Agency for Research on Cancer regarding the classification of the artificial sweetener “aspartame”, the common artificial sweetener found in thousands of products, such as “diet” soft drinks, as a substance Possible carcinogen within (Group 2B) according to the agency’s classification, “it is a possibility, not a conclusive evidence.”
The authority added, in a statement, that the classification (2B) means “the lack of sufficient scientific evidence and evidence to cause cancer in humans and experimental animals,” according to the Saudi news channel.
And the authority added that “the joint expert committee between the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization on food additives confirmed that the data that was subject to evaluation do not indicate that there is a sufficient reason to adjust the specific daily intake rate, which ranges from 0 to 40 milligrams per kilogram of body weight.” .
And she stressed that “it is safe to use within these limits, and exceeding these limits is equivalent to consuming 9 to 14 cans of soft drinks containing 200 or 300 milligrams of aspartame per day for an adult weighing 70 kg, assuming that there is no other intake from other food sources.” “.
The Food and Drug Authority stated that it “conducted many scientific assessments on the safety of the substance over the past years, during which it reviewed all scientific assessments from international organizations and international bodies concerned with food safety control and shared information and research with those authorities, which proved that there are no concerns related to aspartame.”
She stated that “aspartame has been used for more than 40 years, and it is found in more than 6,000 products in various countries of the world, and there is no evidence or scientific evidence to prove the danger of its consumption according to the recommended limits not to be exceeded.”
According to the authority, “The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies disease-causing according to 4 groups, as (GROUP A) is considered carcinogenic to humans and there is scientific evidence to prove this, while (GROUP 2A) indicates a high probability of causing cancer with no evidence and evidence.” Sufficient scientific evidence to cause cancer in humans, and sufficient scientific evidence to prove that it causes cancer in experimental animals, in what is meant by (B2) that there is a low probability of causing cancer with the absence of sufficient scientific evidence and evidence to cause cancer in humans and experimental animals, and group (3) which means It does not cause cancer because there is no scientific evidence that it causes cancer in humans and experimental animals.
The semi-autonomous International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization announced Thursday for the first time that it had decided that “aspartame” should be classified as a “probable carcinogen to humans”.
But although the name may seem shocking, this classification does not mean that the “diet” soft drinks you consume cause cancer.
This classification means that some of the research reviewed by the international agency shows that there may be a possible link between “aspartame” and liver cancer, but science has not yet reached conclusive results, as is the case with a substance such as “asbestos” or “tobacco”.
Aspartame is one of the most studied food additives, with many regulatory agencies, such as the US Food and Drug Administration, repeatedly confirming that aspartame is safe for human consumption if used according to set guidelines.
In fact, an independent expert panel of the World Health Organization has assessed the risks of aspartame and announced Thursday that the WHO’s guidelines do not need to be changed.
While some scientists and food and beverage companies are concerned that the World Health Organization’s designation of aspartame as a “possible carcinogen” might confuse consumers, the agency said it hoped the designation would spur scientists to do more research on aspartame and its possible link, if any. , with cancer.
What is “aspartame”?
Aspartame, one of the most widely used artificial sweeteners in the world, has been on the market for decades.
The Calorie Control Council, an international association representing the low-calorie and reduced-calorie food and beverage industry, says aspartame is found in about 6,000 products worldwide.
Aspartame may appear in products you wouldn’t expect, such as toothpaste or medicine, but it often appears on labels of products marketed as “diet” or “calorie-free”.
Soft drinks like Diet Coke, Coke Zero, and Pepsi Zero Sugar contain aspartame, as do many low-calorie sweeteners like Equal and NutraSweet, and some syrups.
In food, aspartame is often found in sugar-free salad dressings and low-calorie ice cream, and it is also found in sugar-free chewing gum such as Extra.
Although the World Health Organization declared in a separate resolution last May that people should not rely on sugar-free sweeteners for weight control, aspartame is often used in “diet drinks” because it contains fewer calories than regular sugar.
And compared to regular white sugar, aspartame tastes about 200 times sweeter, so products don’t need to use it in large amounts.
And if you put a packet of Equal artificial sweetener in your coffee, it will have about the sweetness of two teaspoons of regular sugar.
A packet of Equal contains 4 calories, but 2 teaspoons of sugar contains 32 calories.
There was some confusion about aspartame from the start. In 1974, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the use of aspartame in some foods and beverages, but the decision was held up for a few years due to some contradictory studies, objections to its approval, and questions about the initial studies themselves.
Some scientists were concerned when an early animal study showed that aspartame might cause brain tumors in mice.
It wasn’t until 1981, after an exhaustive investigation, that the US Food and Drug Administration finally authorized the marketing of “aspartame” in dry foods. That year, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives set acceptable daily intake standards.
Aspartame Guidelines
The WHO guidelines have not changed since 1981: the daily limit is 40 milligrams of aspartame per kilogram of body weight.
The US recommendations are a little more generous. In 1983, the US Food and Drug Administration set the guideline at 50 milligrams per kilogram of body weight, meaning a person would have to drink a lot of soda or eat a lot of food containing “aspartame” to consume that. Quantity.
The American Beverage Association reports that diet soda typically contains an average of 100 milligrams of aspartame per can.
With the World Health Organization’s recommendation of 40 milligrams of aspartame per kilogram of body weight per day, the average American weighing 83 kilograms could drink up to 33 cans per day and stay within the limit.
While the US recommendation of 50 milligrams per kilogram would allow more than 40 cans to be drunk for an adult weighing 83 kilograms.
2023-07-15 02:47:59
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