Results of study on the carcinogenicity of aspartame

[Guest guest]

Mon, 19 Sep 2005 15:13:47 -0700 (PDT)

JoAnn Guest <angelprincessjo

Results of study on the carcinogenicity of

aspartame

 

Results of study on the carcinogenicity of the

artificial sweetener

aspartame JoAnn Guest Sep 19, 2005 15:04 PDT

14 July 2005

Press Release

http://www.ramazzini.it/eng/fondazione/eventidettagli.asp?id=210

CRC/ERF

Results of study on the carcinogenicity of the

artificial sweetener

aspartame

 

Summary. A long-term study to evaluate the potential

carcinogenic

effects of aspartame, an artificial sweetener used in

more than 6,000

food and pharmaceutical products has recently been

completed in the

experimental laboratories of its Cancer Research

Center of the European

Foundation of Oncology and Environmental Sciences “B.

Ramazzini” in

Bologna, Italy.

 

The first results of the experiment were reported to

the Ministry of

Health and to the Superior Institute of Health of the

Italian

government

in April 2005. In mid-June, these findings were then

communicated to

the

European Food Safety Authority, the Herbert Irving

Comprehensive Cancer

Center of Columbia University, the National Cancer

Institute of the US

government, and the National Toxicology Program of the

US National

Institutes of Health.

 

First results demonstrate that aspartame, when

administered to rats for

the entire life span, induces an increase of lymphomas

and leukemias in

female rats. The study is currently being published in

the European

Journal of Oncology (available at:

 

http://www.ramazzini.it/fondazione/docs/AspartameGEO2005.pdf

) and

final

results will be presented at the 3rd international

scientific

conference

of the Collegium Ramazzini, “Framing the Future in

Light of the Past:

Living in a Chemical World”, to be held in Bologna,

Italy from

September

18-21, 2005, the proceedings of which will be

published in the Annals

of

the New York Academy of Sciences.

 

Communication. Aspartame is an artificial sweetener

consumed by

hundreds

of millions of people worldwide. It is used in over

6,000 diet products

including soft drinks, chewing gum, candy, desserts,

yogurt as well as

in pharmaceuticals, in particular, syrups and

antibiotics for children.

 

The average daily intake of aspartame is calculated to

be about 2-3

mg/Kg of body weight, a figure which increases for

children and women

of

childbearing age. Current daily intake allowed by

regulatory bodies is

50 mg/Kg of body weight in the US and 40 mg/Kg of body

weight the

European Union.

 

Prior to the commercialization of aspartame in the

1970s, the

manufacturers of the compound conducted various

experimental studies on

rats and mice to test its carcinogenicity. When taken

together, the

results of these studies were considered negative with

regard to the

carcinogenicity of aspartame. Doubts were however

raised by some in the

scientific community about the conduct of the

experiments and the fact

that some cases of malignant brain tumors were found

among animals

treated with aspartame while none were found among the

control group.

Given the limitations of these studies and the ever

growing use of

aspartame throughout the years, the European Ramazzini

Foundation

decided in the late 1990s to plan and perform an

experiment that would,

based on the total number of animals used, the number

of dose levels

studied, and the conduct of the experiment according

to Good Laboratory

Practices, provide an adequate evaluation of the

potential carcinogenic

effects of aspartame.

 

The CRC/ERF study was conducted on 1800 rats (900

males, 900 females)

of

the colony used for over 30 years by the Foundation.

In order to

simulate daily human intake, aspartame was added to

the standard rat

diet in quantities of 5000, 2500, 100, 500, 20, 4, and

0 mg/Kg of body

weight. Treatment of the animals began at 8 weeks of

age and continued

until spontaneous death. A complete necropsy and

histopathological

evaluation of tissues and organs was then performed on

each deceased

animal, for a total of over 30,000 slides examined by

microscope.

 

The first results of the experiment show:

1) a dose-related statistically significant increase

of lymphomas and

leukemias in female rats. This statistically

significant increase was

also observed at a dose level of 20 mg/Kg of body

weight, a dose

inferior to the accepted daily intake permitted by

current regulations

(50-40 mg/Kg of body weight);

 

2) that the addition of aspartame to the diet induces

a dose-related

reduction in food consumption, without however causing

a difference in

body weight between treated and untreated animals.

 

The above results demonstrate for the first time that

aspartame is a

carcinogenic agent, capable of inducing lymphomas and

leukemias in

female rats, including when administered at dose

levels very close to

the acceptable daily intake for humans. In addition,

the data

demonstrate that the integration of aspartame into the

diet did not

affect the body weight of treated animals compared

with untreated

animals.

 

As recognized by the International Agency for Research

on Cancer (IARC)

of the World Health Organization, results of long-term

bioassays

conducted on rodents (rats and mice) are highly

predictive of

carcinogenic risk for humans. In light of this fact,

the results of the

CRC/ERF study on aspartame call for urgent

reconsideration of

regulations governing its use as an artificial

sweetener in order to

better protect public health, in particular that of

children.

 

 

Websites

European Foundation for Oncology and Environmental

Sciences “B.

Ramazzini” www.ramazzini.it/fondazione/eng

 

3rd international scientific conference of the

Collegium Ramazzini

www.ramazzini.it/living2005

 

Contact

Kathryn Knowles of Resource Development

European Foundation of Oncology and Environmental

Sciences “B.

Ramazzini”

develo-

+39 0516640460

 

 

 

 

JoAnn Guest

mrsjo-

www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Diets

 

 

 

 

AIM Barleygreen

" Wisdom of the Past, Food of the Future "

 

http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Diets.html