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?

4.4 Does aspertame provoque side effects on behavior, cognition or mood?

Some years ago, it was suggested that the aspertame sweetener could have a effects on human behavior and cognition. However, studies on laboratory animals showed no adverse effects on behavior and cognition, even at very high doses (up to 2000 mg/kg body weight per day).

Also, studies in healthy adults and children and in people heterozygous for phenylketonuria (PKU) disease failed to show effects of the aspertame sweetener on behavior, mood or learning. But a study suggested that the aspertame sweetener increased the frequency and severity of adverse effects in depressed individuals; this study must however be taken with caution as there were criticisms regarding the authors’ interpretation and because too few subjects were evaluated. Read the EC-SCF report about aspartame side effects on behaviour, cognition and mood...

Next question: Does the aspertame sweetener cause headaches?

Note that the proper spelling for Aspertame is Aspartame.