Artificial Sweeteners: Are They Safe?

[Guest guest]

Personally, I will avoid all artificial sweetners.

I don't see any use for them in a CRON plan.

No real need to mask taste with an artificial product.

Enjoy the NATURAL taste of the food.

Animals in Study Ingested Huge Amounts of the Chemical

Feb. 13, 2006 — - The debate over the safety of artificial sweeteners

intensified over the weekend, when an article in The New York Times

said Aspartame, the most popular sugar replacement in America, might

cause cancer in rats.

Aspartame, which was invented in 1965, is found in more than 6,000

products, and most people know it by its trade names, NutraSweet and

Equal. It is estimated that 200 million people consume Aspartame so if

it is unsafe, the effects could be far-reaching. Dr. Katz, ABC

News' medical contributor, said that people should not jump to

conclusions based on the rat study.

" If it caused any significant harm, we would know about it, " he said.

" If there was any potential for harm, it's a very low level … because

of how widespread the use is and because it's been around long enough. "

Katz, a Yale professor and the author of the " Flavor Point Diet, " said

that the latest study, which comes from Italy, demonstrated a

" statistically significant increase in lymphomas and leukemias over

three years. " The Italian researcher studied the effects of about five

sodas a day worth of Aspartame on each of the 1,900 rats -- that is

the equivalent of 100 ounces of soda for a 150-pound person every day.

The Italian doctor also increased the time the rats ingested the chemical.

Katz said: " This is an animal study. There's [nothing] to indicate

this is the same threat in humans. "

Katz said that rats had short life spans and were naturally more

susceptible to cancer. He also pointed out that even healthy foods

like broccoli, spinach and beans contained some potentially

carcinogenic compounds.

Considering that the average American drinks 837 sodas each year,

equivalent to 46 gallons -- and 27 percent of that is diet soda,

sweetened with artificial sweetener -- the new study has alarmed many

people.

There are alternatives to Aspartame like saccharin (Sweet'N Low) and

sucralose (Splenda), which Katz said were not the same chemically, but

served the same purpose.

" We seem to have the notion in our society that science is something

to be suspicious of and the natural stuff is safe, " Katz said. " But we

know peanuts are dangerous to some people, and we never discuss

banning peanuts. "

Katz said there were bigger reasons to be wary of artificial sweeteners.

" I think artificial sweeteners are harmful and, not because of the

cancer risk, but because as a class they are 300 times more sweet than

sugar, " he said. " You may not get calories from diet soda, but because

you drink it, you develop a sweet tooth and have these cravings. "

If people are worried about getting cancer, Katz said, they should

keep their weight down and avoid tobacco. Katz said that the major

conclusion he drew from the Italian rat study was that rats and humans

were both more likely to develop cancer toward the end of their lives.

" More cancer was seen in this study, and the study's author, Dr.

Morando Soffriti, was saying if you're studying cancer, it makes more

sense to look at the stage of life when the cancer is likely to crop up. "

http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/print?id=1611955