Artificial sweeteners - 100% safe?

Artificial sweeteners reduce the content of added sugar and the corresponding calories while maintaining the sweet taste, a property that makes them very useful in the daily lives of people who are overweight or have low blood glucose levels. However, the safety of these additives has been the subject of debate.

Concerns of the possible role of sweeteners in cancer

It is well known that research in the 1970s linked the artificial sweetener saccharin (the first artificial sweetener made) to bladder cancer in laboratory rats. A French study published in late March suggests that some artificial sweeteners are associated with an increased risk of cancer. The researchers found that participants who consumed larger amounts of artificial sweeteners, especially aspartame, had a higher risk of all types of cancer compared to non-consumers. Breast cancer and obesity-related cancers had an even higher risk. Of course, further research is needed on larger population samples to confirm the findings and clarify the underlying mechanisms.

What applies to the present literature?

The scientific consensus, until further study, is that artificial sweeteners are generally safe in limited quantities, even for pregnant women.

(The study can be found here: https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1003950 )

Maira Stefanakou, Dietician - Nutritionist