Aspartame: A Safety Evaluation Based on Current Use Levels, Regulations, and Toxicological and Epidemiological Studies

Abstract

Aspartame is a methyl ester of a dipeptide used as a synthetic nonnutritive sweetener in over 90 countries worldwide in over 6000 products. The purpose of this investigation was to review the scientific literature on the absorption and metabolism, the current consumption levels worldwide, the toxicology, and recent epidemiological studies on aspartame. Current use levels of aspartame, even by high users in special subgroups, remains well below the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and European Food Safety Authority established acceptable daily intake levels of 50 and 40 mg/kg bw/day, respectively. Consumption of large doses of aspartame in a single bolus dose will have an effect on some biochemical parameters, including plasma amino acid levels and brain neurotransmitter levels. The rise in plasma levels of phenylalanine and aspartic acid following administration of aspartame at doses less than or equal to 50 mg/kg bw do not exceed those observed postprandially. Acute, subacute and chronic toxicity studies with aspartame, and its decomposition products, conducted in mice, rats, hamsters and dogs have consistently found no adverse effect of aspartame with doses up to at least 4000 mg/kg bw/day. Critical review of all carcinogenicity studies conducted on aspartame found no credible evidence that aspartame is carcinogenic. The data from the extensive investigations into the possibility of neurotoxic effects of aspartame, in general, do not support the hypothesis that aspartame in the human diet will affect nervous system function, learning or behavior. Epidemiological studies on aspartame include several case-control studies and one well-conducted prospective epidemiological study with a large cohort, in which the consumption of aspartame was measured. The studies provide no evidence to support an association between aspartame and cancer in any tissue. The weight of existing evidence is that aspartame is safe at current levels of consumption as a nonnutritive sweetener.

Simultaneous Determination of Caffeine and Aspartame in Diet Supplements and Non-Alcoholic Beverages Using Liquid-Chromatography Coupled to Corona CAD and UV-DAD Detectors

“…Although aspartame can be safely consumed by most healthy individuals, it has long been recognised that excessive intake of phenylalanine, one of the constituent amino acids of aspartame, can pose a hazard to individuals suffering from an inherited metabolic disorder called phenylketonuria (Butchko et al 2002;Magnuson et al 2007). For this reason, all foods containing aspartame must be indicated on the label for the presence of phenylalanine.…”

“…Neither aspartame nor its components accumulate in the body. These components are used in the body in the same ways as when they are derived from common foods (Butchko et al 2002;Magnuson et al 2007).…”

“…The Food and Drug Administration, the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) of the World Health Organization, the Scientific Committee for Food of the European Community and regulatory agencies in more than 100 countries have reviewed aspartame and found it safe for use (Butchko et al 2002;Magnuson et al 2007). …”

Aspartame effects on the brain

“…And, for aspartame to have effects in animals, blood levels of aspartame constituents (aspartate, phenylalanine, methanol) must increase to very high values. At the levels ingested by humans, such increases in blood do not occur, even at high levels of intake (Butchko et al, 2002;Magnuson et al, 2007).…”

“…Olney JW, Sharpe LG, Feigin RD (1972 The following comments relate to the review by Humphries et al (2008). The premise of the review, that the highintensity sweetener aspartame is neurotoxic, ignores a very large scientific literature to the contrary, recently comprehensively summarized (Butchko et al, 2002;Magnuson et al, 2007).…”