Based on the results of a study by the International Agency for Cancer (IARC) under the WHO, aspartame will be designated as a “potential carcinogen in humans.”
Carcinogens collectively refer to all substances and actions that increase the possibility of cancer by causing genetic damage to the human body. IARC is the most representative organization that studies carcinogens. IARC divides carcinogens into five groups depending on ‘how sure they cause cancer’. The △1 group is a definitive carcinogen △2A group is a carcinogenic substance △2B group is a carcinogenic substance. Group 3 has no evidence to determine the possibility of carcinogenesis, and Group 4 has evidence that it is presumed that there is no possibility of carcinogenesis. TheWHO Joint Committee of Food Additives Experts (JECFA) is also expected to present guidelines for aspartame intake. The meeting began in late June. The IARC said it would announce the results on July 14, when it is expected to announce aspartame as a carcinogen.
The JECFA has maintained that it is safe to consume aspartame within the daily limit since 1981. The daily intake limit is the level of drinking 12 to 36 cans of diet soda every day based on adults weighing 60kg. These standards have been widely used in the United States and Europe. Aspatam is widely used as a representative artificial sweetener for sweetening. It is about 200 times sweeter than sugar, and does not contain sugar in its chemical structure, so it is added instead of sugar to low-calorie foods and drinks.
Because aspartame is 200 times sweeter and less bitter than sugar, it is widely used in more than 120 countries around the world as an additive to soft drinks. Since it is a peptide, not a sugar, 17 kJ of small energy is released per gram when digested, and the amount of calories can be ignored because even a little is added to it and the sweetness is strong.2) However, it is easily decomposed at high temperatures and high pH. Therefore, there is a limit to its use in the baking field. On the other hand, it is very stable at low pH at room temperature, so it is commonly used as a sweetener for carbonated drinks, and is sometimes mixed with more stable sweeteners such as saccharin and added to soft drinks.At room temperature and pH 4.3, the half-life is very long, as 300 days, but at pH 7, the half-life drops to several days. Phenylalanine has a bitter taste, while aspartame has a sour taste with a savory taste. Among aspartame isomers, only L and L-isomers taste sweet, and other isomers L, D, D, L, and D-isomers taste bitter. The advantage of aspartame replacing saccharin is that it has a bitter aftertaste or no metal taste, but it is now replaced by sucralose (trade name: splenda) due to structural instability. Representative products containing aspartame in the U.S. include Coca-Cola’s diet soda, Mars’ “extra” chewing gum, and some Snapple drinks.
