On June 6–13 in Lyon, France, the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) conducted its first aspartame carcinogenicity assessment.
The WHO classified aspartame, an artificial sweetener used in soft drinks, as "possibly carcinogenic to humans" on Friday, though the recommended daily intake amount remained unaltered.
Francesco Branca, WHO nutrition and food safety director, said, "We're not advising companies to withdraw products or consumers to stop consuming."
"We're just advising for a bit of moderation," he said during a press briefing releasing two aspartame reviews.
On June 6–13 in Lyon, France, the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) conducted its first aspartame carcinogenicity assessment.
"The working group classified aspartame as possibly carcinogenic to humans," the WHO warned. Based on inadequate data about hepatocellular carcinoma, a liver cancer, it was put in Group 2B.
Experimental animals showed weak cancer evidence. Paul Pharoah, a cancer epidemiology professor at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, said Group 2B includes aloe vera and caffeic acid from tea and coffee.
"The general public should not be worried about the risk of cancer associated with a chemical classed as Group 2B," he stated.
Three US and 10-European studies provided the IARC's Mary Schubauer-Berigan with little evidence for hepatocellular cancer.
"These are the only epidemiological studies that examined liver cancer," she told reporters. Branca said, "We have, in a sense, raised a flag here.