Study Finds No Link Between Artificial Sweeteners and Increased Cancer Risk

An Italian study has reportedly found that the consumption of artificial sweeteners, including saccharin and aspartame, does not increase the risk of developing gastric, pancreatic or endometrial cancers. Cristina Bosetti, et al., “Artificial Sweeteners and the Risk of Gastric, Pancreatic, and Endometrial Cancers in Italy,” Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention (August 1, 2009). Classifying participants as either users or non-users of artificial sweeteners, researchers compared data from 230 people with stomach cancer and 547 healthy controls; 326 people with pancreatic cancer and 652 healthy controls; and 454 people with endometrial cancer and 908 healthy controls. The results confirmed “the absence of an adverse effect of low-calorie sweetener (including aspartame) consumption on the risk of common neoplasms in the Italian population.”

Although limited to Italy, this conclusion apparently supports the findings of a National Cancer Institute study involving 285,079 men and 188,905 women that found no statistical link between aspartame and leukemia, lymphomas or brain tumors. See FoodNavigator-USA.com, August 12, 2009.