Aspartame is an artificial sweetener that is added to many foods, candies, gums and beverages such as diet soda. Because it is approximately 200 times sweeter than table sugar, smaller amounts of aspartame are added to foods, and they contribute considerably fewer calories.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer, an entity within the World Health Organization, evaluated findings from both human and animal studies of aspartame and cancer. The group noted some positive associations between aspartame consumption and hepatocellular carcinoma, a form of liver cancer.
Professor of Epidemiology Paul D. Terry from UT’s Graduate School of Medicine, Professor of Nutrition Ling Zhao and Associate Professor of Public Health Jiangang Chen provide insight on the risks of artificial sweeteners after the WHO recently declared that aspartame could be a possible carcinogen. Read the full article on The Conversation.
UT is a member of The Conversation, an independent source for news articles and informed analysis written by the academic community and edited by journalists for the general public. Through our partnership, we seek to provide a better understanding of the important work of our faculty.
—
Contact:
Cindi King (865-974-0937, cking126@utk.edu)