Aspartame

[Guest guest]

Folks,

Strictly speaking, this post isn't about CR, but given that I've

recently been researching links to sources of artificial sweeteners

for our files, I thought it might be relevant to the diets of many of us.

Tony forwarded me the information below that was posted today by

CRSociety's Dean Pomerleau. It's about a study that apparently

contradicts previous studies on the safety of aspartame.

- Diane

First Experimental Demonstration of the Multipotential

Carcinogenic Effects of Aspartame Administered in the

Feed to Sprague-Dawley Rats

Morando Soffritti, Fiorella Belpoggi, e Degli

Esposti, Luca Lambertini, Eva Tibaldi, and Rigano

Free full text:

http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/members/2005/8711/8711.pdf

The Cesare Maltoni Cancer Research Center of the

European Ramazzini Foundation has conducted a

long-term bioassay on aspartame (APM), a widely used

artificial sweetener. APM was administered with feed

to 8 week-old Sprague-Dawley rats (100-150/sex/group),

at concentrations of 100,000; 50,000; 10,000; 2,000;

400; 80 or 0 ppm. The treatment lasted until natural

death, at which time all deceased animals underwent

complete necropsy. Histopathological evaluation of all

pathological lesions and of all organs and tissues

collected was routinely performed on each animal of

all experimental groups. The results of the study show

for the first time that APM, in our experimental

conditions, causes: 1) an increased incidence of

malignant tumor-bearing animals with a positive

significant trend in males (p0.05) and in females

(p0.01), in particular those females treated at

50,000 ppm (p0.01); 2) an increase in lymphomas and

leukemias with a positive significant trend in both

males (p0.05) and females (p0.01), in particular in

females treated at doses of 100,000 (p0.01), 50,000

(p0.01), 10,000 (p0.05), 2,000 (p0.05), 400

(p0.01) ppm; 3) a statistically significant increased

incidence, with a positive significant trend (p0.01)

of transitional cell carcinomas of the renal pelvis

and ureter and their precursors (dysplasias) in

females treated at 100,000 (p0.01), 50,000 (p0.01),

10,000 (p0.01), 2,000 (p0.05) and 400 ppm (p0.05);

and 4) an increased incidence of malignant schwannomas

of peripheral nerves with a positive trend (p 0.05)

in males. The results of this mega-experiment indicate

that APM is a multipotential carcinogenic agent, even

at a daily dose of 20 mg/kg b.w., much less than the

current acceptable daily intake (ADI). On the basis of

these results, a re-evaluation of the present

guidelines on the use and consumption of APM is urgent

and cannot be delayed.