A study conducted at an Italian
cancer research center has rekindled the debate
on aspartame.
Aspartame is sold under the brand names Nutra-Sweet and
Equal and is found in such popular products as Diet Coke,
Diet Pepsi, Diet Snapple and Sugar Free Kool-Aid. Hundreds
of millions of people consume it worldwide. And Dr. Soffritti's
study concluded that aspartame may cause the dreaded "c"
word: cancer.
The research found that the sweetener was associated
with unusually high rates of lymphomas, leukemias and
other cancers in rats that had been given doses of it
starting at what would be equivalent to four to five 20-ounce
bottles of diet soda a day for a 150-pound person. The
study, which involved 1,900 laboratory rats and cost $1
million, was conducted at the European Ramazzini Foundation
of Oncology and Environmental Sciences, a nonprofit organization
that studies cancer-causing substances; Dr. Soffritti
is its scientific director.
The findings, first released last July, prompted a flurry
of criticism from the Calorie Control Council, a trade
group for makers of artificial sweeteners that has spent
the last 25 years trying to quell fears about aspartame.
It said Dr. Soffritti's study flew in the face of four
earlier cancer studies that aspartame's creator, G. D.
Searle & Company, had underwritten and used to persuade
the Food and Drug Administration to approve it for human
consumption. "Aspartame has been safely consumed for more
than a quarter of a century and is one of the most thoroughly
studied food additives," read one news release from the
council.
At the same time, Dr. Soffritti's findings have energized
a vociferous group of researchers, health advocates and
others who say they are convinced that aspartame is a
toxin associated with a variety of health troubles, including
headaches, dizziness, blindness and seizures.
DR. SOFFRITTI, who oversees 180 scientists and researchers
in 30 countries who collaborate on toxin research, says
that since last July, he has been contacted by some of
these critics, including a member of Parliament in Britain
and a number of conspiracy theorists, some of whom say
they have suffered from "aspartame poisoning" and filled
Web pages with cloak-and-dagger speculation about why
the F.D.A. approved aspartame for sale a quarter-century
ago.
No regulatory agency has yet acted on Dr. Soffritti's
findings, although Roger Williams, a member of Parliament,
called for a ban on aspartame in Britain last December.
Last month, the European Food Safety Authority, an advisory
body for the European Commission, began to review 900
pages of data from Dr. Soffritti; the goal is to finish
by May. A commission spokesman, Philip Tod, said it was
too early to know what the next steps would be if the
scientists reviewing the data concurred with Dr. Soffritti's
findings.
In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration
says it has also taken note of the study, which is available
online (http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2005/8711/abstract.html)
and is scheduled to be published next month in a medical
journal financed by the National Institutes of Health.
F.D.A. officials say that they, too, intend to conduct
a thorough review.
But both the F.D.A. and the European Commission have
cautioned that there is no need for people to avoid aspartame.
"We don't see any concerns at this stage," said George
H. Pauli, associate director for science policy in the
F.D.A.'s Office of Food Additive Safety. "We've gone through
a humongous amount of data on aspartame over the years."
Putting restrictions on aspartame would come at a significant
cost. Food companies and consumers around the world bought
about $570 million worth of it last year. New regulatory
action on aspartame would also jeopardize the billions
of dollars worth of products sold with it. Already, in
the United States, many companies are opting to use sucralose,
or Splenda, in their new low-calorie products, in part
because it is less controversial.
