ISA statement in response to new animal study by Jones et al.
Brussels, 15th December 2022: Responding to a new animal study by Jones et al.1, the International Sweeteners Association (ISA) would point to the safety of the low/no calorie sweetener aspartame, repeatedly confirmed by food safety authorities worldwide.
Indeed, prior to being approved for use on the market, aspartame has undergone stringent safety assessments by food safety bodies worldwide including the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and of the World Health Organization (WHO)2, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)3, and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)4.
Specifically, in 2013 EFSA has carried out the most comprehensive risk assessment of aspartame ever undertaken. Based on the extensive scientific evaluation of all available data, including data relating to potential toxicity and genotoxicity, EFSA ruled out any potential risk and reconfirmed that aspartame is safe.5,6
It is also important to highlight that the results from the study by Jones et al. performed on mice cannot be extrapolated to humans. A study funded by the UK Food Standards Agency in 2015, which examined anecdotal evidence of perceived effects of consuming aspartame, including anxiety, concluded that “there was no evidence of any acute adverse responses to aspartame”.7 As stated by the authors of the study, “This independent study gives reassurance to both regulatory bodies and the public that acute ingestion of aspartame does not have any detectable psychological or metabolic effects in humans.”7