Bittersweet: Valley dietician reacts to aspartame's designation as possible carcinogen

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Products as diverse as diet soda to toothpaste often contain the artificial sweetener aspartame in it.

The World Health Organization recently listed the sugar substitute to its list of possible carcinogens following a recent study.

• The WHO says aspartame, in large amounts, can cause cancer
• Sodexo dietician says small quantities are ok, shouldn't be part of regular diet
• More research needs to be done in order for any regulation changes

"We find aspartame in so many products — not just the artificially sweetened sodas, so not just your diet drinks, but it's also in chewing gum, it's in the sugar free gelatin," said Suzanne Ickes, Sodexo Clinical Dietitian at Lehigh Valley Health Network.

"It can be in sugar-free ice cream or calorie-reduced ice cream, yogurt, breakfast cereals, toothpaste, cough drops, chewable vitamins and sugar free syrups, like Log Cabin sugar free syrup, for example,”

Ickes said that while the sweetener shouldn’t be part of a regular diet, it would take a large amount of aspartame to be dangerous, according to the WHO’s findings.

“If you weigh 154 pounds, you would need to drink nine to 14 cans of soda to be at the limit," she said. "So small amounts of aspartame that we use throughout the day, such as in your chewing gum or your toothpaste or your cough drops probably aren't gonna be a big deal.”

Other ways of getting sweet taste

Ickes advised that some of the keywords that indicate a fake sugar in a product are “sugar-free” or “reduced sugar.”

The Lehigh Valley dietician also weighed in on what substitutes can be used to add sweetness to our foods.

“Eating things that are sweet, such as dried fruits, regular fruit or mixing a little fruit juice in your water using that natural sugar,” she said.

“People also like to use agave or stevia, and then monk fruit is another one. It's used for reduced calorie items because it's so incredibly sweet that you only need a small amount of it."

Aspartame now is on the WHO’s list of carcinogens, probable carcinogens and possible carcinogens, as the latter.

Ickes pointed out that alcohol is considered more dangerous than aspartame on the list, as it’s listed as a carcinogen.

The organization’s announcement quoted Dr. Francesco Branca, WHO's director of the department of nutrition and food safety.

It read, “Cancer is one of the leading causes of death globally. Every year, 1 in 6 people die from cancer. Science is continuously expanding to assess the possible initiating or facilitating factors of cancer, in the hope of reducing these numbers and the human toll.”

Branca said, “The assessments of aspartame have indicated that, while safety is not a major concern at the doses which are commonly used, potential effects have been described that need to be investigated by more and better studies.”

'A way to cut back on your sugar intake'

Ickes concluded by saying she will continue to recommend artificial sugars as a tool for people with a sugar addiction to ween off their intake.

“As a way to cut back on their sugar intake, by mixing regular soda with diet soda, you can start to reduce your sugar addiction and adjust to the taste of the diet soda,” she said.

“Now, once you've adjusted to the diet soda you can then transition ... you can transition to seltzer water or water with lemon or just plain water."

She said that's especially important for people with diabetes, people who are overweight or those who have experienced a “sugar roller coaster,” where they have sugar highs and lows.

The WHO’s list of carcinogens, probable carcinogens, and possible carcinogens is available online.

The announcement linking aspartame to cancer didn’t change any guidelines and more studies need to be done.