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Aspartame sweetener to be declared possible cancer risk by WHO, say reports

theguardian.com

271–280 of 584 posts

Re: Aspartame sweetener to be declared possible cancer risk by WHO, say reports

#271
post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why stop with nitrates and nitrites? Acrylamide is a known human carcinogen, and occurs in a huge variety of cooking processes (including baking, frying, and grilling). If you eat potatoes, you're almost certainly putting yourself at more risk than aspartame is: we've got epidemiology and mechanism of action to back up the potato risk.

I believe California even helpfully warns you about any location that has acrylamide.

So… restaurants?

Re: Aspartame sweetener to be declared possible cancer risk by WHO, say reports

#272
post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lack of bioavailability analysis and links between processed meat and cancer are fears... of the established scientific community.

Bioavailability isn't the while story: some foods can be too bioavailable (and not great for you when consuming too much) such as sugars which can cause your body to form inappropriate hormonal signals and disrupt normal satiety. (Looking at you , fructose!) Additionally, there are literally thousands of antinutrients, toxins, carcinogens, and endocrine disruptors that simply aren't accounted for in normal nutritiona…

To make things even worse, on the other side of your last sentence, a lot of so called toxins and antinutrients are just orthorexic memes: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7600777/ ("Is There Such a Thing as “Anti-Nutrients”? A Narrative Review of Perceived Problematic Plant Compounds")

And an example of a nutrient that can be too bioavailable for some people is heme-iron, yet if you were to follow nutrition influencers online you might think that heme-iron was essential. A young man doesn't necessary want it. Yet anemic women might.

Very confusing space to navigate which I think is one of the main reasons we tend to get sucked into diet camps, all of them promising to cut through the BS while coming to vastly different conclusions.

Re: Aspartame sweetener to be declared possible cancer risk by WHO, say reports

#273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Silica can cause cancer, in the form of asbestos fibres or silica dust. Yet, it’s safe to drink from a glass, have windows at home, and walk on sand. A lot of factors matter besides chemical composition.

Are you suggesting that aspartame in food has a different physical form that prevents it from entering the body?

Sand is not a different physical form than that which causes cancer. (See: toxic silicosis) Often it's dosage that leads to concern. A typical walk on the beach will not result in cancer from sand exposure.

Re: Aspartame sweetener to be declared possible cancer risk by WHO, say reports

#274
post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe California even helpfully warns you about any location that has acrylamide.

So… restaurants?

Literally yes. Every Starbucks in California has a little placard with that stupid warning to the point where people tune it out.

Re: Aspartame sweetener to be declared possible cancer risk by WHO, say reports

#275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the UK, we have nitrate-free bacon available that is actually nitra(i)te free: https://www.betternaked.com/products/better-naked-unsmoked-b...

To what everybody else is saying, I'll add that by the US definition, that's not bacon; it's back bacon, which is a loin cut, radically different than American bacon, which I believe you lot call "streaky bacon".

Interesting, I didn't realise that but I always preferred the non-streaky kind.

Re: Aspartame sweetener to be declared possible cancer risk by WHO, say reports

#276
post #88

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It was known to be harmful back in 1920s when it was introduced

But it solved a problem that got in the way of selling you things! It's also still used in most every prop engine that flies over my house everyday at a normal schedule, so we still haven't solved the problem of leaded gas. We never will (in my lifetime).

Scheduled flights almost all use turbine engines, even prop ones (turboprop). They use Jet-1 which is unleaded kerosine.

Only the smallest GA planes like Cessna 172s still use leaded fuel. Turbodiesel alternatives are present aftermarket but they need to be replaced every once in a while unlike the old gas engines which can be revisioned. Unlike a car engine an aircraft engine spends a lot of its life at 100% power which makes them age quicker.

Re: Aspartame sweetener to be declared possible cancer risk by WHO, say reports

#277

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> Myself the truly distasteful part is the use of neotame (a follow-on to aspartame) on animal feed, to get animals to eat feed that they normally would not; for instance, if the feed is rancid or otherwise in a condition/taste that normal animal instincts, would have the animal reject the food... What's the difference between that and humans eating a pizza but not eating the raw ingredients of a pizza? If it's not i…

Not quite following you... do you mean the difference between cooked and raw, or something else?

I'm saying that you don't find it distasteful that we add sweeteners to raw cocoa powder to make chocolate edible for humans, so what's distasteful in adding sweeteners to animal feed to make it edible for animals?

Re: Aspartame sweetener to be declared possible cancer risk by WHO, say reports

#278
post #166
post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To expand on point number 3, the sugar industry is one of the most notorious at utilizing motivated research to its own benefit. If aspartame had even slightest chance of causing illness or cancer, you could bet on the inevitable, unrelenting smear campaign that Big Sugar would be waging against it.

Who are the players in Big Sugar who would exploit this? Can’t be the likes of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, because they’d also be part of Big Aspartame.

US Sugar and Domino, if memory serves.

Re: Aspartame sweetener to be declared possible cancer risk by WHO, say reports

#279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not quite following you... do you mean the difference between cooked and raw, or something else?

I'm saying that you don't find it distasteful that we add sweeteners to raw cocoa powder to make chocolate edible for humans, so what's distasteful in adding sweeteners to animal feed to make it edible for animals?

People do however eat raw cocoa. And rancid or spoiled food is quite different from 'bitter' food.
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