WHO says artificial sweetener 'aspartame' is safe to consume within certain limits

The World Health Organisation on Thursday declared that aspartame, an artificial sweetener is safe to consume within recommended daily limit.

Earlier, WHO said that consumption of aspartame leads to cancer. But, according to JECFA, an international group of WHO and U.N. scientists, aspartame is safe to consume if a person's daily limit of sweetener does not exceed 40 milligrams per kilogram of body weight during the individual's lifetime.

The FDA’s recommended daily limit is slightly higher, at 50 milligrams of aspartame per kilogram of body weight.

The F.D.A. also said that “aspartame being labeled by the W.H.O. as ‘possibly carcinogenic to humans’ does not mean that aspartame is actually linked to cancer.”

An adult weighing 70 kilograms or 154 pounds would have to drink more than nine to 14 cans of aspartame-containing soda daily to exceed the limit and potentially face health risks.

Also watch: WHO to declare artificial sweetener used in Diet Coke as possible cancer risk: report