Artificial sweeteners are somewhat controversial. While some use them as a means of losing weight, others fear the consequences that artificial sweeteners may have on their wellbeing. However, even if you try to avoid artificial sweeteners, you may still be consuming them in products you’ve never considered, so let’s take a look at what you need to watch out for on the label:
1. Saccharin: According to diet wellness expert Lee Ann Obringer, ‘Saccharin is 300 times sweeter than sugar and not metabolized by the body, so it has no calories. There are very few products that contain saccharin these days. Fountain Diet Coke® and Pepsi® use a blend of saccharin and aspartame, as does Tab®. It’s also still available as Sweet ‘N Low®, a tabletop sweetener in the familiar pink packet. Saccharin has had a very controversial past. The FDA tried to ban it in 1977 because some animal studies showed that it caused cancer (mainly bladder cancer, but also uterine, ovarian, skin, and others). Saccharin stayed on the market because of pressure from the diet food industry (and the dieters themselves). However, it carried a warning label that stated it had been shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals until the late 1990s. The Calorie Control Council argued that people don’t develop bladder cancer in the same way that rats do, so the warning label should be removed.’
2. Aspartame: ‘Aspartame is 180 to 200 times sweeter than sugar,’ notes Obringer. ‘So only very tiny amounts are necessary to sweeten a food or beverage. People with the rare genetic disorder phenylketonuria (PKU) should avoid aspartame because their bodies are deficient in the enzyme that breaks down phenylalanine…According to the official aspartame website, it can be found in “more than 6,000 products including carbonated soft drinks, powdered soft drinks, chewing gum, confections, gelatins, dessert mixes, puddings and fillings, frozen desserts, yoghurt, tabletop sweeteners, and some pharmaceuticals such as vitamins and sugar-free cough drops.” There appears to be more controversy over the safety of aspartame than any other artificial sweetener. Since its approval, 75% of all complaints reported to ARMS have been about aspartame…Aspartame is blamed for a number of health problems, including headaches, seizures, chronic fatigue syndrome, memory loss, and dizziness. It has also been associated with an increase in multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and cancer.’
3. Acesulfame: ‘Acesulfame (also known as acesulfame potassium, and acesulfame K) is a synthetic chemical that is roughly 200 times sweeter than sugar,’ Obringer explains. Our bodies can’t metabolise it, which is why it’s considered low calorie. The FDA approved acesulfame in 1988 and it is found in more than 4,000 products around the world. In August of 1988, the Centre for Science in the Public Interest formally asked for a stay of acesulfame’s approval by the FDA because of “significant doubt” about its safety. CSPI claimed that the studies were flawed and did not sufficiently prove that acesulfame did not cause cancer. According to the CSPI Web site, “…acetoacetamide, a breakdown product of acesulfame, has been shown to affect the thyroid in rats, rabbits, and dogs. Administration of 1% and 5% acetoacetamide in the diet for three months caused benign thyroid tumours in rats. The rapid appearance of tumours raises serious questions about the chemical’s carcinogenic potency”.’
4. Sucralose: Obringer points out that sucralose ‘is an artificial sweetener that is 600 times sweeter than sugar. Sucralose isn’t metabolisd by the body, so it has virtually no calories. The chlorine that prevents it from being absorbed by the body also gives it the ability to withstand enough heat to be used in baking. Sucralose, marketed as Splenda®, is the fastest growing artificial sweetener on the market…Sucralose isn’t as controversial as aspartame. However, the Food and Drug Administration’s 1998 report that gave approval for sucralose also stated that it is “weakly mutagenic in a mouse lymphoma mutation assay.” This means it caused minor genetic damages in mouse cells. In addition, it stated that one of the substances sucralose breaks down into when digested is also “weakly mutagenic in the Ames test.” The Ames test is the standard method used to detect possible carcinogens.’
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