Aspartame, a possible carcinogen: foodwatch, the Cancer League and Yuka launch a European petition calling for a ban

• 4 February is World Cancer Day 
• The sweetener aspartame (E951) has been classified as "possibly carcinogenic to humans" by the World Health Organisation's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) since July 2023 
• foodwatch, the Cancer League and Yuka are calling for an unprecedented mobilisation of consumers across Europe via a petition targeting the European Commission and EU Member States 

+++ foodwatch-petition "No to aspartame in our food and drinks!" +++

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the WHO (World Health Organisation) classified the sweetener aspartame (E951) as "possibly carcinogenic to humans" in July 2023. However more than one year on, aspartame is still on the market. This is an unacceptable health risk according to foodwatch, the Cancer League and Yuka who call for a ban with a European petition. 

Aspartame is still used as a sugar substitute in over 2,500 low-fat or sugar-free products in Europe particularly in soft drinks - Coca-Cola Zero, Pepsi Max, Sprite Zero, etc.-, energy drinks and chewing gum, as well as in other so-called 'light' products such as some Nestlé Lindahl dairy products and Mentos chewing gum. 

For over thirty years, independent research also associated aspartame with an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Finally, a number of studies show that it has no positive effect on weight and may even cause weight gain in the long term. 

In an unprecedented mobilisation, foodwatch, the Cancer League and Yuka are launching today a petition in eleven countries - Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom - to put pressure on the European institutions to ban aspartame and ask the EU Member States to take action. The precautionary principle enshrined in European regulations requires it to be banned.

Natacha Cingotti, Senior Campaigns Strategist at foodwatch International, says: "There's no time to lose. The inaction of governments and Europe over the last year and a half is intolerable. An additive with so many risks has no place in our food or drink. By highlighting the possible cancer risks associated with aspartame, the WHO has sent out a clear signal about the risk to our health. Our European decision-makers must protect us". 

Julie Chapon, Managing Director of Yuka, plans to mobilise the 45 million users of the app in Europe: "95% of Yuka users say they have stopped buying products containing controversial additives thanks to the app. We now want to empower consumers so that they can act as a lever for banning this risky additive". 

Philippe Bergerot, President of the Cancer League, sees "no reason to allow people to be exposed to a completely avoidable risk of cancer. The WHO and numerous scientific studies highlight this risk. We can't say we didn't know. We are asking our political decision-makers to shoulder their responsibilities and ban it". 

According to a YouGov poll commissioned by foodwatch, 40% of Europeans respondents regularly consume products containing aspartame. There is therefore a clear public health issue at stake here. All the more so since the French INSERM epidemiological study on aspartame carried out in 2022 on 102,865 participants identified the first risks of cancer from consuming just half a can of soda sweetened with aspartame soda pera day. The petition from foodwatch, the Cancer League and Yuka meets the expectations of two out of three European consumers surveyed who are in favour of a ban on aspartame as a precautionary measure. They would rather ask for a ban on aspartame (E951) than expose themselves to a health risk. 

In a report, foodwatch details the issues involved in assessing this highly controversial additive in terms of health. The assessment of aspartame by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in 2013 was the subject of a number of criticisms concerning its conflicts of interest. 

foodwatch, the Cancer League and Yuka are determined to mobilise European consumers and get decision-makers moving: “Since it has not yet been proven that aspartame is fully safe, it should no longer be authorised on the European market”, said foodwatch's Natacha Cingotti.

Sources and more information

• foodwatch-petition "No to aspartame in our food and drink!"
  • English 
  • French
  • German
  • Dutch
  • Spanish 
  • Italian
• List of products containing aspartame in Europe
• YouGov poll for foodwatch in seven countries: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Spain
• foodwatch-Report "Clean washing aspartame" 
• Questions & answers on aspartame
• WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Aspartame, Methyleugenol, and Isoeugenol, IARC Monographs on the Identification of Carcinogenic Hazards to Humans Volume 134, 2024
• Artificial sweeteners and cancer risk: Results from the NutriNet-Santé population-based cohort study (full study), Artificial Sweeteners: Possible Link to Increased Cancer Risk (INSERM Press release). This 2022 French Nutrinet cohort study, which the IARC considers to be "the most detailed and of the highest quality in exposure assessment"showed a significant increase in the incidence of cancer in people exposed to aspartame at doses well below the acceptable daily intake set by EFSA, the European Food Safety Agency. 
• Landrigan, P.J., Straif, K. Aspartame and cancer - new evidence for causation. Environ Health 20, 42, 2021 
• Soffritti M, Padovani M, Tibaldi E, Falcioni L, Manservisi F, Belpoggi F. The carcinogenic effects of aspartame: The urgent need for regulatory re-evaluation , 2014 
• Schernhammer, Eva S et al, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Consumption of artificial sweetener- and sugar-containing soda and risk of lymphoma and leukaemia in men and women, 2012
• European regulations: 
  • The precautionary principle is a key EU principle for the protection of public health, enshrined in Article 191 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and in General Food Law (Regulation (EC) No 178/2002). Article 114(3) of the TFEU requires the European Commission to act in favour of health and consumer protection on the basis of the most recent scientific data.
  • Article 6.1 of Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 on food additives clearly states that an additive can only be included in the list of authorised additives if it meets the following criteria: 
    • on the basis of the scientific evidence available, it does not pose a health safety concern to the consumer at the proposed level of use; 
    • there is a reasonable technological need that cannot be met by other economically and technologically feasible means; and 
    • its use does not mislead the consumer. 
• In 2019, foodwatch, Cancer League and Yuka had already joined forces on a petition calling on the French government to remove added nitrites from food, which promote certain cancers. This petition attracted a huge response, with over 500,000 signatures. Following this action, the French government published a plan to reduce nitrites in food. 

foodwatch is a not-for-profit organisation fighting for safe, healthy and affordable food for all. We make consumers' voices heard, we campaign for greater transparency in the food sector, and we defend our right to food that does not harm people or the environment. foodwatch is a citizen counterweight and whistleblower in the food sector. foodwatch is totally independent and refuses any subsidies from governments or the agri-food industry. We operate at national and European level, and are present in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and Brussels. 

La Ligue contre le cancer is France's largest independent non-profit organisation in the fight against cancer. With almost 640,000 members and 13,000 volunteers, the Ligue is a grassroots movement organised into a federation of 103 departmental committees. Together, they fight in four complementary directions: research to cure, prevention to protect, support to help, mobilisation to act. Today, the League is making the fight against cancer a societal challenge, bringing together as many health, economic, social and political players as possible in every region. By breaking down taboos and fears, the League is helping to change the image of cancer and cancer sufferers. For more information: www.ligue-cancer.net  

Yuka is a 100% independent mobile application that analyses the impact of food and cosmetic products on health. By scanning the barcode of a product, the application provides access to a score out of 100 associated with a colour code ranging from green to red, as well as details of the product's composition. The application now has 65 million users in 12 different countries. As well as helping consumers to make more conscious choices, Yuka's mission is also to encourage manufacturers to improve the composition of their products. See: https://yuka.io/