Aspartame: Inca suggests avoiding sweetener associated with cancer – 07/17/2023 – Health

The Inca (National Cancer Institute) published a position in which it claims not to recommend the consumption of any type of artificial sweetener, such as aspartame. The text was published on Friday (14), one day after the announcement that the arm of the WHO (World Health Organization) classified the sweetener as potentially carcinogenic to humans.

The IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) was the institution that reached this conclusion about aspartame, and Inca sits on the directive and advisory boards within the agency.

The Brazilian institute, linked to the Ministry of Health, explains that the agency’s analysis “results in a classification of levels of scientific evidence of risk, after careful and careful assessment of the quality of studies in humans, experimental animals and the mechanisms involved”.

Depending on what is found by the IARC, a substance can be classified into four types: carcinogenic to humans, possibly carcinogenic, potentially carcinogenic or, finally, non-carcinogenic. Aspartame was ranked in the third niche, indicating that the evidence is limited about the sweetener’s carcinogenicity.

Inca explains that aspartame has been adopted since 1980 and has become more popular in recent decades. “Its appeal is obviously related to its sweet taste without calories, which was initially considered healthy,” continues the institute in the note.

But the spread of the sweetener in conjunction with the high rates of obesity and non-transmissible chronic diseases, such as diabetes, makes the Inca consider it important to evaluate aspartame with caution.

In addition to the IARC analysis, the WHO itself had already indicated concern about substances of this type. The organization recommended that sweeteners should not be used as a substitute for sugar in people who want to lose weight.

For Inca, considering the assessment of IARC in conjunction with evidence such as that sweeteners do not collaborate in weight control, the indication is that this type of product should be avoided. The institute’s advice is that the population adopt “a healthy diet, that is, based on fresh and minimally processed foods and limited to ultra-processed foods”.