The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has announced that it will release its regulatory review of aspartame on May 5. This review will either confirm or reject the results of a scientific study claiming that aspartame poses a cancer risk. The EFSA review started last year after researchers at the Ramazzini Foundation’s cancer research center in Italy claimed that their study indicates that aspartame consumption by rats leads to increase in lymphomas and leukemias in females. This is not the first study to question the ingredient’s safety; since its discovery in 1965, there have been hundreds of studies debating its health risks.
After saccharin, aspartame is the second most used artificial sweetener in the world. It is found in about 6,000 products worldwide, including carbonated and powdered soft drinks, hot chocolate, chewing gum, candy, desserts, yogurt and tabletop sweeteners.
