British Medical Journal Editorial Concludes Aspartame Criticisms Are Unfounded

This week's British Medical Journal, in an editorial published on October 2, concludes that aspartame criticisms, many of which have been perpetuated via the Internet without any true scientific foundation, are unfounded.

(PRWEB) October 6, 2004 -- Over the years since its initial approval in 1981, aspartame has been the subject of unfounded myths and anecdotes associating the sweetener with a variety of diseases, ailments and other health effects.

Unfounded allegations against aspartame make it one of the Internet's most widely circulated health rumors.
      
The British Medical Journal editorial states: "Evidence does not support links between aspartame and cancer, hair loss, depression, dementia, behavioural disturbances, or any of the other conditions appearing in websites. Agencies such as the Food Standards Agency, European Food Standards Authority, and the Food and Drug Administration have a duty to monitor relations between foodstuffs and health and to commission research when reasonable doubt emerges. Aspartame's safety was convincing to the European Scientific Committee on Food in 1988,but proving negatives is difficult, and it is even harder to persuade vocal sectors of the public whose opinions are fuelled more by anecdote than by evidence. The Food Standards Agency takes public concerns very seriously and thus pressed the European Scientific Committee on Food to conduct a further review, encompassing over 500 reports, in 2002. It concluded from biochemical, clinical, and behavioural research that the acceptable daily intake of 40 mg/kg/day of aspartame remained entirely safe-except for people with phenylketonuria."

Full text of the editorial can be viewed at: http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/329/7469/755

The Food and Drug Administration, the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) of the World Health Organization, the Scientific Committee for Food of the European Community and regulatory agencies in more than 100 countries have reviewed aspartame and found it safe for use. The American Medical Association, the American Dietetic Association and the American Diabetes Association also have found aspartame safe.

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