Saturday Quack – Aspartame Fear

Once every few weeks someone writes to our local newspaper with a squeal about the cancer-provoking potential of the sugar substitute, aspartame. Maybe guess that’s because I live in New Mexico, where all forms of alternative medicine are encouraged, and most molecules that do good are denigrated.

I hope (but don’t expect) that these quackers will be silenced by the most recent report. A new epidemiological study from the National Cancer Institute agrees with earlier studies, that there is no link between aspartame consumption and leukemias, lymphomas, and brain tumors. This was based on data from over half a million men and women between 50 and 70, over a 5-year period. It is the most recent in numerous studies, in both animals and humans, indicating the safety of aspartame.

Of course, there are plenty of people ready to take both sides in this argument. One of the more virulent quackers is the DORway website. On the other side, you can visit the Aspartame Information Center, which sees it’s function as defending aspartame (and other sweeteners) against its attackers.

A final point: remember that people take aspartame to get, or keep, their weight under control. Whether aspartame is cancerogenic or not (and I’m firmly convinced that it’s not), obesity is clearly linked to several forms of cancer in humans.