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Aspartame and Its Safety

Literature Review

Maddie Goots
Robert Brannan
Nutrition 220: Wednesday 6-9
9 March 2012

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Maddie Goots
Robert Brannan
Nutrition 220
9 March 2012
Aspartame and Its Safety
Aspartame is an artificial, non-saccharide sweetener used in many foods and beverages.
It is a dipeptide bond of two amino acids: aspartic acid and phenylalanine. It was first discovered
in 1965 by James Schlatter, who was doing research on stomach ulcers and accidently came
upon the substance. Aspartame was approved for use in 1996, after nearly 30 years of research.
Not only is it FDA approved, but approved by United Nations Food, Agriculture Organization,
World Health Organization, and is approve in 100 other countries. It is one of the most
thoroughly tested food ingredients and does have FDA approval, where as other sweeteners,
even sucrose (table sugar), is only GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe). It is 180-200 times
sweeter than sucrose and bares less calories, it can replace 99% of the calories in soft drinks
(History).
There are many common myths about Aspartame and its dangers. Most artificial
sweeteners will have health suspicions, but many are able to be disproved. Aspartame has
recently been attacked for its supposed link to multiple neurological problems, such as
headaches, seizures, and memory loss. These associations have been invalidated because there is
no more risk for these problems in aspartame consumers than there are in those who do not

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consume aspartame. Aspartame has also been targeted because it contains methanol, but many
other foods contain more methanol than aspartame does (Sweeteners). There is also a myth
that the consumption of aspartame causes a reverse effect and increases appetite (News Bites).
A study done in 1989, before aspartame was even approved for use, tested safety of
ingesting large amounts of aspartame for a long period of time. The study gave a randomly
picked group of 108 people ranging in age either a placebo or a dose of 75 mg/kg of aspartame
each day for twenty-four weeks. Vital signs were checked throughout the time of the study.
There were no scientifically significant difference in vitals from the control group and the
aspartame group. The aspartame groups noted no symptoms of any kind. The dosage of
aspartame that was given in the study relates to the aspartame content of about ten liters of
sweetened beverages (Leon et al.). It has been suggested that ingesting aspartame can have an
effect on the blood concentrations of plasma aspartate, phenylalanine, and/or methanol, making
these levels too high. The plasma aspartate levels do not seem to be affected by aspartame
sweetened beverages, but the plasma phenylalanine levels did increase with the consumption of
sweetened beverages (Stegink et al.). This is why the consumption of aspartame is not
recommended for people with Phenylketonuria (PKU), a condition where the metabolism of
phenylalanine cannot be completed (History).
Aspartame has been supposedly associated with several neurological problems. During
tests of aspartame to examine its effect on nearly twenty different neurological defects, no
significant differences were found between high doses of aspartame, low doses of aspartame,
sucrose, and a placebo. There was a rise in the levels of phenylalanine in the large dose

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participants (Spiers et al.). Another neurological problem that has been attributed to the
consumption of aspartame is headaches. A study in 1987 disproved this by testing different
subjects who claimed to have headaches after they drank beverages sweetened by aspartame.
The test showed no significant difference in the rate of occurrence of headaches in the
participants who received aspartame verses those who received the placebo. In fact, more
participants who received placebo reported headaches than those participants who received
aspartame. No relation between the ingestion of aspartame and the occurrence of headaches was
found (Schiffman et al.).
Aspartame consumption has also been linked to the induction of seizures in patients with
a history of seizures. After testing patients who reported seizures relating to aspartame, no
significant relationship was found between the artificial sweetener and seizures. Aspartame was
no more likely to induce seizures in the patients receiving aspartame than in the placebo patients,
there was however an increase in plasma phenylalanine levels in the blood (Rowan et al.).
Children who had well documented seizures were also places into a study testing the effects of
aspartame. Although some of the children did have seizures occur, no evidence was found to
support that the aspartame had anything to do with their incidence. There were no differences
between the placebo side and the aspartame side in the results of the standard EEG, which
concludes aspartame should not be linked to seizures (Shaywitz et al.)
A relationship between brain cancer and aspartame was suggested after an increase of
brain tumors reported after the approval of aspartame by the FDA. When this was suggested a
study was completed to find the relationship between brain cancer and aspartame. Patients that

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were born after the time that aspartame was approved were researched, also participants were
chosen without tumors who were born during the same time period. Participants with tumors
were found to have consumed no more aspartame than those without cancer. The relationship
between the mothers consumption of aspartame during pregnancy and also during breast feeding
was also disproved (Gurney et al.). Aspartames relationship with cancer as a whole has been
suggested by animal testing. A test of around 460,000 people of the ages 50-71, however, proved
no such relationship. These individuals daily aspartame intakes were collected and after a
follow up after five years, almost 2,000 had been diagnosed with a cancer. Higher aspartame
levels were not associated with the risk of cancer (Lin et al.).
Early studies done on aspartame showed that it may increase hunger. This information
went a while without being reexamined or investigated and therefore led to the misinformation of
the public. These studies were re-evaluated and were found to suggest no relationship between
an increased appetite and aspartame. Intense sweeteners are not proven to suppress hunger, but
they are lower calorie that natural sugar. These sweeteners do, however, allow consumers to
choose other foods with calories that they could normally not eat because of the reduction of
calories from the aspartame sweetened items. Consumption of beverages and foods sweetened
with aspartame has been seen to lower body weight and or keep it consistent (Renwick).
Artificial sweeteners can aid in body-weight regulation. This was proven by multiple
studies including one examining the differences in body weight, fat mass, and blood pressure of
consumers of sucrose and those of aspartame. The sucrose group increased their energy intake

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during the ten weeks of the study and also their carbohydrate levels increased, while their protein
level decreased. Both the body weight and fat mass of the sucrose group were shown to increase,
while those in the sweetener group showed a decrease in both body weight and fat mass. Blood
pressure showed the same results, in that it increased in the sucrose group while decreasing in the
sweetener group (Raben et al.). Studies that examined the effect of substituting sugar with
aspartame showed a significant reduction in body weight and energy intakes. Studies had an
average decrease of energy intake by about ten percent. Overall these studies showed a decrease
of about .2 kg/week for a 75 kg adult (de la Hunty et al.). During a diet program supplemented
with aspartame sweetened items, showed a positive connection with weight loss. Participants on
the aspartame side of the study reported that they had better eating control. Dieting with
aspartame can improve long-term weight loss results (Blackburn et al.).
In conclusion, the artificial sweetener aspartame appears to be proven safe as well as
effective in weight control. Most rumors that report aspartame to have negative effect on the
health of its consumers have been able to be disproved by multiple studies. Animal studies have
been given much more aspartame than a human can handle and still these studies proved it to be
safe (Butchko et al.). A large amount of information supports aspartames safety. Only people
with PKU should avoid aspartame (Kroger, Meister, and Kava). The warning label on most
sweetened beverages is there to warn individuals with PKU, not to suggest any danger in
consuming aspartame. The ADI (Acceptable Daily Intake) for aspartame is 50 mg/kg of body
weight per day. A 150 pound person would have to consume 20 12-oz. diet beverages or 97
packets of sweetener to reach that ADI, therefore consuming over the amount that is considered

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to be safe is unlikely. Aspartames safety testing has gone way ahead of what is required to be
approved by the FDA (Butchko et al.). It has been concluded that aspartame as a sweetener can
be an aid in weight loss, as well. The use of these low calorie sweeteners are important to our
society today because they allow a reduction of calories as well as sustained palatability.
Aspartame is considered safe and research concludes there is nothing to worry about.

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Citations
Blackburn, George L, et al. The Effect of Aspartame as Part of a Multidisciplinary WeightControl Program on Short- and Long-term Control of Body Weight. American Journal
of Clinical Nutrition 65.2 (1997): 409-418. Web of Knowledge. Web. 8 Mar. 2012.
Butchko, HH, et al. Aspartame: Review of Safety. Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology
35.2 (2002): S1-S93. Web of Knowlegde. Web. 8 Mar. 2012.
De la Hunty, A., S. Gibson, and M. Ashwell. A Review of the Effectiveness of Aspartame in
Helping with Weight Control. Nutrition Bulletin 31.2 (2006): 115-128. Academic
Search Complete. Web. 3 Mar. 2012.
Gurney, JG, et al. Aspartame Consumption in Relation to Childhood Brain Tumor Risk: Results
from a Case-Control Study. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 89.14 (1997):
1072-1074. Web of Knowledge. Web. 6 Mar. 2012.
History. Aspartame Information Service. Ajinomoto Food Ingredients, n.d. Web. 4 Mar. 2012.
<http://www.aspartame.net/Aspartame_history.asp>.
Kroger, Manfred, Kathleen Meister, and Ruth Kava. Low-calorie Sweeteners and Other Sugar
Substitutes: A Review of the Safety Issues. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science
and Food Safety 5.2 (2006): 35-47. Web of Knowledge. Web. 8 Mar. 2012.
Leon, A S, et al. Safety of Long-term Large Doses of Aspartame. Archives of Internal
Medicine 149.10 (1989): 2318-2324. Web of Knowledge. Web. 4 Mar. 2012.

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Lim, Unhee, et al. Consumption of Aspartame-containing Beverages and Incidence of
Hematopoietic and Brain Malignancies. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and
Prevention 15.9 (2006): 1654-1659. Web of Knowledge. Web. 5 Mar. 2012.
News Bites. Tufts University Health and Nutrition Letter 27.6 (2009): 3. Academic Search
Complete. Web. 4 Mar. 2012.
Raben, Anne, et al. Sucrose Compared With Artificial Sweeteners: Different Effects on Ad
Libitum Food Intake and Body Weight After 10wk of Supplementation in Overweight
Subjects. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 76.4 (2002): 721-729. PubMed. Web.
5 Mar. 2012.
Renwick, AG. Intense Sweeteners, Food Intake, and the Weight of a Body of Evidence.
Physiology and Behavior 55.1 (1994): 139-143. Web of Knowledge. Web. 4 Mar. 2012.
Rowan, AJ, et al. Aspartame and Seizure Susceptibility: Results of a Clinical Study in
Reportedly Sensitive Individuals. Epilepsia 36.3 (1995): 270-275. Web of Knowledge.
Web. 8 Mar. 2012.
Schiffman, SS, et al. Aspartame & Susceptibility To Headache. New England Journal of
Medicine 317.19 (1987): 1181-1185. Web of Knowledge. Web. 8 Mar. 2012.
Shaywitz, BA, et al. Aspartame Has No Effect on Seizures or Epileptiform Discharges in
Epileptic Children. Annals onf Neurology 35.1 (1994): 98-103. Web of Knowledge.
Web. 6 Mar. 2012.

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Spiers, Paul A, et al. Aspartame: Neuropsychologic and Neurophysiologic Evaluation of Acute
and Chronic Effects. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 68.3 (1998): 531-537. Web
of Knowledge. Web. 6 Mar. 2012.
Stegink, LD, et al. Effect of Repeated Ingestion of Aspartame-Sweetened Beverage on Plasma
Amino Acid, Blood methanol, and Blood Formate Concentrations In Normal Adults.
Metabolism: Clinical and Experimental 38.4 (1989): 357-363. Web of Knowledge. Web.
6 Mar. 2012.
Sweetners. Harvard Womens Health Watch 4.1 (1996): 2. Academic Search Complete. Web.
4 Mar. 2012.