PSA: Aspartame determined to be carcinogenic at normal use levels

[unixronin]

For those who haven't seen it or the New York Times article yet, the Cesare Maltoni Cancer Research Center of the European Ramazzini Foundation has recently conducted a long-term study on aspartame that everyone should be aware of.

The results of this mega-experiment indicate that APM is a multipotential carcinogenic agent, even at a daily dose of 20 mg/kg body weight, much less than the current acceptable daily intake. On the basis of these results, a reevaluation of the present guidelines on the use and consumption of APM is urgent and cannot be delayed.

(Emphasis mine; full paper in HTML here, PDF here)

Stay away from that shit, folks.  Not only is it nasty, there's growing evidence it can really screw you up in an increasing number of ways.

Comments

[otherbill.livejournal.com]

Refresh my memory...aspartame == Nutra-sweet?

What artificial sweetener do they use in most diet soft drinks?

[tabbifli.livejournal.com]

aspartame == Nutra-sweet

Tab is saccherine.

Most of the Diet Whatevers are aspartame.

Some of the new Diet Whatevers that are coming out now are Splenda / sucralose. There may be a remote, possible indication that it can cause severe and sudden problems in people with diabetes, but it's pretty rare, and the one study that I found indicating this was excessively biased and never followed up on (the head researcher's father had a stroke she blamed on a diet drink with the stuff). Still, if you've got severe diabetes, it's possibly something to be aware of.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Correct, Nutrasweet is aspartame. (Far as I can tell, the name is supposed to imply it's somehow nutritious. I hate marketers.) And most diet soft drinks are indeed sweetened with it.

[jilara.livejournal.com]

And Crystal Lite. Same stuff.