EFSA reaffirms aspartame safety following scientific review of the salt of aspartame-acesulfame

Key takeaways

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has reaffirmed the safety of the salt of aspartame-acesulfame.
EFSA has reviewed the latest available evidence and reconfirmed the safety of aspartame.
Existing Acceptable Daily Intakes (ADIs) for aspartame and acesulfame remain unchanged.

Brussels, 10^th September 2026: The International Sweeteners Association (ISA) welcomes EFSA’s scientific opinion, published today, which concludes that the salt of aspartame-acesulfame is safe (E 962) and reconfirms the safety of aspartame based on the latest available scientific evidence.¹

The salt of aspartame-acesulfame is a low/no calorie sweetener containing ionically bound aspartame and acesulfame originally authorised for use in the European Union in 2000. The current review is part of EFSA’s ongoing re-evaluation of authorised food additives permitted for use in the EU.

EFSA’s scientific experts assessed the totality of the available scientific evidence of its two components, including toxicological, epidemiological and intake data and concluded that the salt of aspartame-acesulfame is safe at the established Acceptable Daily Intake levels of 40 mg/kg body weight per day for aspartame and 15 mg/kg body weight per day for acesulfame. EFSA also recommended to the European Commission to update its definition of the salt of aspartame-acesulfame to respect the products specifications provided for both components.

As part of this assessment, EFSA also performed an update of its safety assessment of aspartame done in 2013, reviewing all the latest studies published since then and reconfirming that aspartame is safe, based on all existing scientific data. EFSA already reconfirmed the safety of Acesulfame-K in April 2025.

Low/no calorie sweeteners can play a role in reducing sugar intake. They offer sweet-tasting options with few or no calories, aiding in overall calorie reduction² and blood glucose management³ when used instead of sugar in a balanced diet. Additionally, low/no calorie sweeteners are tooth-friendly ingredients that do not contribute to tooth demineralisation, which causes tooth decay.⁴

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For more information, please check our Frequently Asked Questions about the salt of aspartame-acesulfame.

For media enquiries, please contact media@sweeteners.org

REFERENCES

https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/j.efsa.2026.10259
Bellisle F. Low- or No-Energy Sweeteners and Body Weight Management: Dissecting a “Minor” Effect. Obesity Reviews. 2025;e13937. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.13937
Joint position statement on the use of low or no calorie sweeteners (LNCS). British Dietetic Association (BDA), British Nutrition Foundation (BNF), Diabetes UK. October 2025. Available at: https://www.diabetes.org.uk/about-us/about-the-charity/our-strategy/position-statements/use-of-low-or-no-calorie-sweetners
EFSA Scientific opinion on the substantiation of health claims related to intense sweeteners. EFSA 2011 Journal 9(6): 2229, and 9(4): 2076.