It’s in sugar-free chewing gum, low-calorie yogurts and numerous other diet products. Aspartame is a chemical sweetener that promises low-sugar diets, but its side effects are controversial. While critics accuse aspartame of carcinogenic ingredients, experts give the all-clear – despite side effects that need to be considered.
Aspartame: discovery and approval
Back in 1965, aspartame was discovered by accident by chemist James L. Schlatter. While searching for a remedy against ulcers, he came across the sweetener. It is produced by a chemical process and consists of protein building blocks. As a result, aspartame, like sugar, contains four calories per gram. However, the sweetening power of aspartame is about 200 times that of conventional sugar, which is why much smaller doses of the sweetener are sufficient to sweeten a food. Scientists disagreed for a long time about the tolerability of aspartame, which is why it was only approved for use in carbonated beverages in the USA in 1983 after a long series of tests. Approval for other beverages, baked goods and confectionery followed ten years later. Since 1996, there have been no restrictions on the use of aspartame in the USA. In Germany, the sweetener was approved in 1990. Since then, studies have been published again and again calling aspartame a poison and attributing side effects to aspartame that are said to be carcinogenic and harmful.
Aspartame: side effects and studies
Most recently, a study by the European Ramazzini Foundation in Bologna caused a furor in 2005. In it, scientists had fed rats low doses of aspartame in a long-term study and observed them until their natural death. The researchers found that the animals that had eaten aspartame were more likely to develop lymphoma and leukemia than those that had not been fed aspartame. However, this study contradicted numerous other studies that had already disproved the link between aspartame and cancer. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which is responsible for providing scientific advice on food risk issues in the EU, also found no cause for concern following an investigation by an independent panel. Aspartame was last evaluated in detail scientifically in 2002 by the Scientific Committee on Food (SCF), which concluded that aspartame is safe for human consumption.
Criticism of aspartame
Critics warn of the three components into which aspartame breaks down in the intestine after ingestion: the two amino acids aspartic acid and phenylalanine, and the alcohol methanol. However, the amino acids are also found in many other foods, in some cases in larger doses. For example, a glass of low-fat milk contains six times more phenylalanine and 13 times more aspartic acid than a glass of diet cola sweetened with aspartame. The toxin methanol is also found in numerous foods such as vegetable juices and fruits. Only in high doses can the components of aspartame and their side effects be harmful to humans. However, this would require exceeding the acceptable daily dose of 40 milligrams per kilogram of body weight, which corresponds to about ten cans of light cola.
Aspartame: to be taken with caution
Even if experts give the all-clear, the sweetener – like the natural sugar substitute called stevia – should still be consumed with caution. Especially for people living with the inborn error of metabolism disease phenylketonuria, aspartame is poison. Since the sweetener contains protein, those affected can suffer just as much damage as when they consume milk or eggs. However, only one in 10,000 people is affected by this congenital metabolic disorder. However, even healthy people should not consume aspartame thoughtlessly. After all, like the sweetener acesulfame, this is a purely chemical product that has nothing to do with a natural diet. Moreover, the use of sweetener in general does not necessarily contribute to a lower-calorie diet. In fact, artificial sweetener leads to unbridled ravenous hunger and binge eating about 90 minutes after consumption. The sweetener is mistaken by the body for sugar, which leads to a lowering of the glucose level. This causes the burning desire for more food after a short time. This principle is also occasionally used in animal fattening.If you want to be on the safe side, you should avoid aspartame and always check the list of ingredients when buying food. There, the sweetener is labeled either as “aspartame” or with the EU-uniform E-number E-951.
