last month that the cancer research arm of the World Health Organization , known as the International Agency for Research on Cancer , was set to make that declaration on July 14, according to two sources with knowledge of the process.
Smith said regulators worldwide may also reconsider the data in the wake of the IARC declaration and an upcoming review by another WHO committee., appearing in products from Coca-Cola's Diet Coke to Mars' Extra sugar-free chewing gum, but questions have been raised about its safety since not long after U.S. health regulators first approved its use four decades ago. Regulators worldwide have ruled that aspartame is safe to consume within set limits.
The "possible carcinogen" classification also reflects the limited evidence suggesting a link, and puts aspartame in the same category as whole-leaf extract aloe vera and some pickled vegetables. But no action was taken until 2022, after aspartame was again nominated for review by CSPI and Melnick in 2019.
The IARC declined to comment on the lack of action on aspartame for over a decade. The agency updates its priority list every five years, and usually deliberates on many – but not all – of the substances in each period. Some items are reconsidered: coffee, for example, was listed as a possible carcinogen in the 1990s, but taken off the list in 2016.