Brussels, 20th February 2025: Contrary to what is reported in the animal study by Wu and colleagues, the International Sweeteners Association (ISA) points to the available scientific evidence showing that aspartame does not affect heart health.
Human clinical studies consistently confirm no adverse impact of aspartame on glucose control, blood lipids, blood pressure, or other risk markers of cardiovascular diseases. Clinical research actually shows that, when used to replace sugars, low/no calorie sweeteners such as aspartame have a neutral or modestly beneficial effect on cardiometabolic risk factors such as body weight, glycaemic control, blood pressure and lipid levels and liver fat (McGlynn et al., 2022).
Moreover, it is important to stress that the suggested mechanism for increasing the risk of atherosclerosis is not confirmed in humans as aspartame does not cause a spike in insulin release and does not otherwise affect our glucose control (Nichol et al, 2018; Greyling et al, 2020; Zhang et al, 2023). Numerous randomised controlled trials, the gold standard in clinical and nutrition research, have investigated and confirmed a neutral effect of low/no calorie sweeteners on glycaemic and insulinemic responses in humans.
From a methodological perspective, it should be emphasised that the type of mouse model used in these experiments is prone to the development of heart disease, as they display perturbed lipid metabolism and inflammation. The authors recognise that “feeding ApoE−/− mice with a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet also diminishes clinical relevance” of these findings.
Finally, it is important to remember that aspartame has been thoroughly researched and approved for use in food and beverages. Food safety authorities including the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) have reviewed aspartame and found that its use is safe.
As part of an overall healthy diet and lifestyle, aspartame can be used to further public health objectives on sugar intake reduction and ultimately assist in weight and diabetes management, as well as with dental health.
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