Scientific Facts on the Aspertame artificial sweetener

The consumption of aspertame in Europe is estimated to be between 2.8 and 10.1 mg/kg body weight per day.

Aspertame is a non-caloric artificial sweetener used in many diet drinks and foods. Although this artificial sweetener has been widely used for many years, some allegations still fuel a debate on possible side effects.

Does aspertame really pose health risks?

1.3 Why are there concerns about the aspertame sweetener?

Some concerns have been raised about the aspertame sweetener and its breakdown products (methanol, phenylalanine and aspartic acid). These concerns include epilepsy, brain tumors and effects on the nervous system.

Another concern is related to possible effect of the aspertame sweetener breakdown products on specific people, including healthy infants, children, adolescents, adults, obese individuals, diabetics, lactating women, and people suffering from phenylketonuria (PKU) disease. Read the EC-SCF report on aspertame concerns...

Read the GreenFacts Digest on aspertame

Next Question: How much aspertame sweetener do people consume?

This study on the effects of the aspertame sweetener is a faithful summary of the leading scientific consensus report produced in 2002 by the EC-SCF (European Commission Scientific Committee on Food): "Update on the Safety of Aspartame". More...

Note that the proper spelling for Aspertame is Aspartame.