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Potential Carcinogenic Risks of Aspartame

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Sweeteners

Part of the book series: Reference Series in Phytochemistry ((RSP))

Abstract

Aspartame is an intense artificial sweetener with a sweet test approximately 200 times that of sucrose and used as additive in more than 6,000 products.

Aspartame was invented by GD-Searle in 1965 and submitted for pre-marketing safety evaluation in early 1980s. The studies conducted by GD-Searle to evaluate the potential carcinogenic risks of aspartame did not show any effect. Because of the great commercial diffusion of aspartame, in 1997 the Ramazzini Institute started a large experiments project on rodents to test the carcinogenic effects of aspartame in our experimental model with more sensitive characteristics, namely large number of rats and mice, observation until natural death. Overall the project included the study of 2,270 rats and 852 mice starting the treatment from prenatal life or in mature age and lasting all life.

These studies have shown that aspartame is a carcinogenic agent inducing a significant dose-related increased incidence of several types of malignant tumors and, among them, haematological neoplasias. Later this effect was confirmed by an epidemiological study conducted by a group of the Harvard University.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Code of the reference as reported on the documentation posted on EFSA website [3].

Abbreviations

ADI:

Admitted daily dose

APM:

Aspartame

CI:

Confidence interval

DKP:

5-benzyl-3, 6-dioxo-2 piperazine acetic acid

EFSA:

European Food Safety Authority

FDA:

Food Drug Administration

GR:

Glutathione reductase

GSH:

Glutathione

IARC:

International Agency for Research on Cancer

MPL:

Maximum permitted level

RR:

Relative risk

US-NCI:

United States – National Cancer Institute

US-NTP:

United States – National Toxicology Program

WHO:

World Health Organization

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Acknowledgements

A special thanks to Dr. Eva Tibaldi and Dr. Erica Tommasini for their extraordinary technical support during the preparation of the paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Center of Cancer Prevention, Ramazzini Institute, Via Emilia 79, 60064, Bologna, Italy

    Morando Soffritti

  2. Clinical Center of Cancer Prevention, Bologna, Italy

    Angela Guaragna

  3. Cesare Maltoni Cancer Research Center, Bologna, Italy

    Marco Manservigi

Authors
  1. Morando Soffritti
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  2. Angela Guaragna
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  3. Marco Manservigi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Morando Soffritti .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France

    Jean-Michel Mérillon

  2. Botany Department, M.L. Sukhadia University, Udaipur, India

    Kishan Gopal Ramawat

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Soffritti, M., Guaragna, A., Manservigi, M. (2018). Potential Carcinogenic Risks of Aspartame. In: Mérillon, JM., Ramawat, K. (eds) Sweeteners. Reference Series in Phytochemistry. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27027-2_5

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