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SWEETENER MANUFACTURER DISPUTES VALIDITY OF NEW HEALTH RESEARCH
STUDY LINKS ASPARTAME WITH CANCERS
INGREDIENT USED IN MORE THAN 6,000 PRODUCTS
By Felicity Lawrence
The Guardian
Friday, September 30, 2005

http://www.guardian.co.uk/food/Story/0,2763,1581639,00.html

Aspartame, the artificial sweetener used in more than 6,000 food and drink
products around the world, is the subject of renewed controversy this week
after the results of the latest research into whether it can cause cancer.
Scientists at the independent European Ramazzini Foundation for cancer
research in Bologna presented new results from its long-term, large-scale
study of the effect of aspartame on 1,800 rats, at its international
conference on cancer and environmental sciences in Italy last week.

The research centre said analysis of its latest results showed aspartame
caused cancer of the kidney, and of the peripheral nerves, mainly in the
head. Earlier data from the same study published in July linked aspartame to
an increased risk of leukaemias and lymphomas in female lab rats "at doses
very close to the acceptable daily intake for humans".
Manufacturers of the sweetener have challenged the validity of the study.
They say the research is "in total conflict with hundreds of credible
studies that have been thoroughly reviewed by the regulatory authorities
around the world" and that "the allegations are inconsistent with human
epidemiological data". They question the record of the institute and say it
is "criminal" for it to present its data publicly before it had made it all
available to the regulatory authorities and before it had been fully
reviewed.

Aspartame is roughly 200 times sweeter than sugar. It is regularly consumed
by more than 350 million people worldwide, and is estimated to account for
62% of the market in sweetening agents. It is commonly found in the UK in
diet colas and other low-calorie drinks, juices, sweets, chewing gum,
cereals, yoghurts, other desserts, snack foods such as crisps, medicines and
vitamin supplements, including those for children.

The European Food Safety Authority is not at present recommending any change
in consumers' diets. "Up to now aspartame has been considered safe, based on
the studies available," it said. It would review the research "as a matter
of high priority, in the context of previous extensive safety data available
on aspartame".

Aspartame has been authorised for use in foods for a long time but has a
"controversial history", according to EFSA. Because it is widely consumed,
particularly by young children and pregnant women, the European Ramazzini
Foundation decided to carry out an unusually large study of feeding
aspartame to laboratory rats, according to its director, Dr Morando
Soffritti.

The rats were studied for nearly three years, until the end of their natural
lifespan; most studies last about two years. Six different dose levels were
tested against a control group not given aspartame. The National Toxicology
Programme of the US National Institutes of Health convened a pathology
working group to provide a second opinion on the interpretation of some of
the cancerous lesions observed by the Ramazzini researchers, and helped with
the statistical evaluation of data.

The Italian scientists concluded that aspartame is a "multipotential
carcinogen", causing a dose-related increase in leukaemias and lymphomas in
female rats, and a dose-related increase in incidence of cancer and its
precursors in the kidney (renal pelvis and ureter) as well as tumours in the
peripheral nerves, in particular in cranial nerves.

Aspartame is metabolised into aspartic acid, phenylalanine and methanol.
Methanol is in turn metabolised to formaldehyde. Previous large-scale
experiments by the Ramazzini Foundation have linked both methanol and
formaldehyde to a significant increase of leukaemias and lymphomas, the
researchers say. However, they point out that the other sorts of cancer they
observed in their aspartame study did not show up in studies on methanol and
formaldehyde, suggesting an urgent need to study whether aspartic acid or
phenylalanine were also potential carcinogens.

The researchers also found that while rats fed aspartame ate less food,
there was no difference in weight between treated and untreated animals. The
first results have been published in the foundation's journal, the European
Journal of Oncology, and have been peer-reviewed by seven international
experts, according to the journal's editorial board. The second results have
not yet been peer-reviewed.

The foundation is now planning to enlarge its study to embryonic rats and
mice - work that will take several years to complete. Meanwhile, one of the
authors of the study, Fiorella Belpoggi said: "In our opinion, the results
of our first experiment on aspartame call for urgent reconsideration of the
rules governing its use as an artificial sweetener."

One of the largest manufacturers of aspartame, Ajinomoto, the Japanese
multinational which also makes monosodium glutamate, has challenged the
research. Its senior scientists said they did not agree with the
interpretation of results, nor did they believe that the study's protocols
met internationally approved standards. They said the results were not
statistically significant, that numerous studies had shown aspartame was
safe, and that regulatory bodies around the world had concluded it was safe.

"Aspartame has a record of 25 years of safe use. Aspartame is made from
amino acids and is broken down into common dietary components. Aspartame
itself therefore brings nothing new to the diet," a spokesman said. "Raising
ill-founded fears about an ingredient which helps people to control calorie
intake is not benign."

The International Sweeteners Association said last week: "Aspartame is one
of the most tested food ingredients ever and all evaluations undertaken by
independent risk assessors at international, European, and national level
have concluded that aspartame is a safe foodstuff ... Aspartame can make a
useful contribution to weight control. With billions of man-years of safe
use, there is no indication of an association between aspartame and cancer
in humans."

Aspartame was approved for use by the US Food and Drug Administration in
1981, and for use in soft drinks a couple of years later. The FDA looked at
four previous studies conducted for the industry on whether aspartame causes
cancer.

One had reported an increase in brain tumours in rats, although the FDA
ruled that parts of the study were flawed. Three others concluded it was not
carcinogenic. When the FDA reviewed all the data, it concluded that there
was no evidence of a carcinogenic effect on the brains of animals. A review
of all the data on aspartame was carried out in 2002 by the European
commission's scientific committee on food. It concluded that it was safe and
reconfirmed the previously established acceptable daily intake of the
additive.

Speaking on behalf of Ajinomoto, Ewan Currie, of the Aspartame Information
Service, said: "We are confident that when it has been scrutinised by third
parties, aspartame will be exonerated."

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RELATED INFORMATION:

ANALYSIS SHOWS NEARLY 100% OF INDEPENDENT RESEARCH
FINDS PROBLEMS WITH ASPARTAME
October 17, 1996

http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/100.html

An analysis of peer reviewed medical literature using MEDLINE and other
databases was conducted by Ralph G. Walton, MD, Chairman, The Center for
Behavioral Medicine, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Northeastern Ohio
Universities College of Medicine. Dr. Walton analyzed 164 studies which were
felt to have relevance to human safety questions. Of those studies, 74
studies had aspartame industry-related sponsorship and 90 were funded
without any industry money.

Of the 90 non-industry-sponsored studies, 83 (92%) identified one or more
problems with aspartame. Of the 7 studies which did not find a problems, 6
of those studies were conducted by the FDA. Given that a number of FDA
officials went to work for the aspartame industry immediately following
approval (including the former FDA Commissioner), many consider these
studies to be equivalent to industry-sponsored research.

Of the 74 aspartame industry-sponsored studies, all 74 (100%) claimed that
no problems were found with aspartame. This is reminiscent of tobacco
industry research where it is primarily the tobacco research which never
finds problems with the product, but nearly all of the independent studies
do find problems.

The 74 aspartame industry-sponsored studies are those which one inveriably
sees cited in PR/news reports and reported by organizations funded by
Monsanto/Benevia/NutraSweet (e.g., IFIC, ADA). These studies have severe
design deficiencies which help to guarantee the "desired" outcomes. These
design deficiencies may not be apparent to the inexperienced scientist.
Healthcare practitioners and scientists should print out the all of the
documents on the Monsanto/NutraSweet Scientific Abuse web page
(http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/abuse/), the Scientific FAQs web page
(http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/aspfaq.html) and the Aspartame
Toxicity Reaction Report Samples
(http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/adverse.txt).

Please refer scientific questions to <mgold@...>.

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PREVIOUS NHNE NEWS LIST ARTICLES:

ONE FINAL POST ON ASPARTAME (2/18/2002):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nhnenews/message/2732

ASPARTAME FOLLOW UP (2/11/2002):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nhnenews/message/2694

THE DARK SIDE OF ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS (2/11/2002):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nhnenews/message/2690

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Published by David Sunfellow
NewHeavenNewEarth (NHNE)
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