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EU Scientists Uphold Safety of Aspartame

May 8, 2006

• Artificial Sweeteners Linked to Weight Gain • FDA Should Reconsider Aspartame Cancer Risk, Say Experts • EU Scientists Uphold Safety of Aspartame

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has given a clean bill of health to the low-calorie sweetener, aspartame.

An EFSA panel issued the report after reviewing a recent study by the Ramazzini Institute, which alleged an increased risk of leukemia and lymphoma with aspartame use.

"EFSA considers that the results of this new study on aspartame [by Ramazzini researchers] do not provide scientific basis for reconsidering its use in foods," Dr. Herman Koeter, EFSA Acting Executive Director, said.

The European scientists said their findings further support a recent epidemiology study from the National Cancer Institute which found no link between aspartame consumption and leukemias, lymphomas and brain tumors.

The study, presented at the American Association of Cancer Research meeting in Washington, DC, on April 4, 2006, evaluated over 500,000 men and women between the ages of 50 and 69 over a five-year period.

The researchers found that there was no evidence of an increased risk of leukemias, lymphomas and brain tumors among those who used aspartame compared with those who did not.

"Our findings from this epidemiologic study suggest that consumption of aspartame-containing beverages does not raise the risk of hematopoietic or brain malignancies," the researchers said.

Aspartame has also found to be a safe artificial sweetner by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

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