Millions of people drink aspartame each day in their diet sodas and other sugar-free foods, though there are
many other sweetener options to
choose from. The brand name artificial sweeteners made with aspartame include Equal and Nutra-Sweet. In the
past, study results have suggested that there might be a
link between aspartame consumption and increased risk of some types of cancer, particularly when aspartame
consumption was unusually high. Virtually all of these previous studies were in groups of rats, not people,
and the amount of aspartame given to rats was up to several times their body weight - a feat which might be physically
impossibly to do via diet cola consumption.
A new federal study
has looked at people, not rodents, and shows that there was no increased cancer risk from aspartame consumption. The
researchers in the study looked at over 500,000 American diets to draw their conclusions. The study has been praised by
consumer groups and was presented to the American Association of Cancer research earlier this week. (Our sister blog -
The Cancer Blog - is also talking about this
study.)
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