ASPARTAME CAUSES CANCER- MORE PROOF

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Apartame Causes

Cancer - More Proof

 

From Dr. E

11-16-5

 

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

 

( 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 "

development

+39 0516640460

 

Movie/Video Clips

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