[DEBATE] : another nail in the aspartame coffin

[Riaz K. Tayob]

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/34040.php


   don't forget this is a GM sweetener!


   Aspartame Causes Cancer in Rats at Levels Currently Approved for Humans


A statistically significant increase in the incidence of malignant
tumors, lymphomas and leukemias in rats exposed to varying doses of
aspartame appears to link the artificial sweetener to a high
carcinogenicity rate, according to a study accepted for publication
today by the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives
(EHP). The authors of the study, the first to demonstrate multipotential
carcinogenic effects of aspartame administered to rats in feed, called
for an "urgent reevaluation" of the current guidelines for the use and
consumption of this compound.

"Our study has shown that aspartame is a multipotential carcinogenic
compound whose carcinogenic effects are also evident at a daily dose of
20 milligrams per kilogram of body weight (mg/kg), notably less than the
current acceptable daily intake for humans," the authors write.
Currently, the acceptable daily intake for humans is set at 50 mg/kg in
the United States and 40 mg/kg in Europe.

Aspartame is the second most widely used artificial sweetener in the
world. It is found in more than 6,000 products including carbonated and
powdered soft drinks, hot chocolate, chewing gum, candy, desserts,
yogurt, and tabletop sweeteners, as well as some pharmaceutical products
like vitamins and sugar-free cough drops. More than 200 million people
worldwide consume it. The sweetener has been used for more than 30
years, having first been approved by the FDA in 1974. Studies of the
carcinogenicity of aspartame performed by its producers have been negative.

Researchers administered aspartame to Sprague-Dawley rats by adding it
to a standard diet. They began studying the rats at 8 weeks of age and
continued until the spontaneous death of each rat. Treatment groups
received feed that contained concentrations of aspartame at dosages
simulating human daily intakes of 5,000, 2,500, 500, 100, 20, and 4
mg/kg body weight. Groups consisted of 100 males and 100 females at each
of the three highest dosages and 150 males and 150 females at all lower
dosages and controls.

The experiment ended after the death of the last animal at 159 weeks. At
spontaneous death, each animal underwent examination for microscopic
changes in all organs and tissues, a process different from the
aspartame studies conducted 30 years ago and one that was designed to
allow aspartame to fully express any carcinogenic potential.

The treated animals showed extensive evidence of malignant cancers
including lymphomas, leukemias, and tumors at multiple organ sites in
both males and females. The authors speculate the increase in lymphomas
and leukemias may be related to one of the metabolites in aspartame,
namely methanol, which is metabolized in both rats and humans to
formaldehyde. Both methanol and formaldehyde have shown links to
lymphomas and leukemias in other long-term experiments by the same authors.

The current study included more animals over a longer period than
earlier studies. "In our opinion, previous studies did not comply with
today's basic requirements for testing the carcinogenic potential of a
physical or chemical agent, in particular concerning the number of
rodents for each experimental group (40-86, compared to 100-150 in the
current study) and the termination of previous studies at only 110 weeks
of age of the animals," the study authors wrote.

The authors of the study were Morando Soffritti, Fiorella Belpoggi,
Davide Degli Esposti, Luca Lambertini, Eva Tibaldi, and Anna Rigano of
the Cesare Maltoni Cancer Research Center, European Ramazzini Foundation
of Oncology and Environmental Sciences, Bologna, Italy. Funding for the
research was provided by the European Ramazzini Foundation of Oncology
and Environmental Sciences, Bologna, Italy. The article is available
free of charge, click here
<http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2005/8711/abstract.html>.

EHP is published by the National Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences (NIEHS), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services. EHP EHP is an Open Access journal. More information is
available online at http://www.ehponline.org.