Report: WHO cancer research agency to declare sweetener used in Coca-cola a possible carcinogen
Aspartame is an artificial sweetener that is 200 times sweeter than sugar and widely used in low-calorie products. While aspartame has been used for decades and is approved by food safety bodies, there have been several controversies around the ingredient., two sources with knowledge of the process said the IARC, the World Health Organisation’s cancer research armThe IARC ruling was said to have been finalised earlier in June after a meeting of the agency’s external experts and a review of about 1,300 studies on aspartame and cancer.
The committee’s meeting began at the end of June and it is due to announce its findings on the same day that the IARC makes its decision public.An IARC spokesperson said both the IARC and JECFA committees’ findings were confidential until July, but added they were “complementary”.