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FDA says aspartame is safe, disagreeing with WHO finding

cnbc.com

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Re: FDA says aspartame is safe, disagreeing with WHO finding

#41

Post by fatfingerd »

legitster wrote: post #14

> Schubauer-Berigan acknowledged during a press conference with journalists Wednesday that the studies could contain flaws that skewed the results. She said the classification should be viewed as a call to conduct more research into whether aspartame can cause cancer in humans. > “Aspartame is one of the most studied food additives in the human food supply. FDA scientists do not have safety concerns when aspartame is…

The only alternative isn't sugar. We need to back away from this whole project. We don't need to have everything taste like candy,

Re: FDA says aspartame is safe, disagreeing with WHO finding

#42

Post by legitster »

oxfordmale wrote: post #36
legitster wrote: post #14

> Schubauer-Berigan acknowledged during a press conference with journalists Wednesday that the studies could contain flaws that skewed the results. She said the classification should be viewed as a call to conduct more research into whether aspartame can cause cancer in humans. > “Aspartame is one of the most studied food additives in the human food supply. FDA scientists do not have safety concerns when aspartame is…

A lot of your criticism seems to be playing the man rather than the ball. The WHO said a person weighing 70kg would need to consume more than between nine and 14 cans of diet soft drink per day to exceed the daily guideline. So basically the FDA and WHO are in agreement, but the WHO uses more cautious language.

Sure, but as much as the news is going to pick up this story and blow it out of proportion, I think people should kind of know they are being played with here.

Re: FDA says aspartame is safe, disagreeing with WHO finding

#43

Post by justrealist »

fatfingerd wrote: post #41
legitster wrote: post #14

> Schubauer-Berigan acknowledged during a press conference with journalists Wednesday that the studies could contain flaws that skewed the results. She said the classification should be viewed as a call to conduct more research into whether aspartame can cause cancer in humans. > “Aspartame is one of the most studied food additives in the human food supply. FDA scientists do not have safety concerns when aspartame is…

The only alternative isn't sugar. We need to back away from this whole project. We don't need to have everything taste like candy,

It's not the job of the FDA or WHO to tamper with scientific evidence to push people in that direction. That's how people lose trust in the institutions of science.

Re: FDA says aspartame is safe, disagreeing with WHO finding

#44

Post by dang »

Recent and related:

WHO says soda sweetener aspartame may cause cancer, but it’s safe within limits - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36717961 - July 2023 (9 comments)

Aspartame Is a Possible Cause of Cancer in Humans, a WHO Agency Says - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36717553 - July 2023 (5 comments)

The WHO is about to declare aspartame can cause cancer - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36644185 - July 2023 (26 comments)

Aspartame: Once More Unto the Breach - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36562739 - July 2023 (199 comments)

Aspartame is set to be declared a possible carcinogen - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36522471 - June 2023 (30 comments)

Aspartame sweetener to be declared possible cancer risk by WHO, say reports - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36519942 - June 2023 (565 comments)

Re: FDA says aspartame is safe, disagreeing with WHO finding

#45

Post by withinrafael »

chomp wrote: post #4

> An adult who weighs 70 kilograms, or 154 pounds, would have to drink more than nine to 14 cans of aspartame-containing soda daily to exceed the limit and potentially face health risks. Okay, but if I consume 9 to 14 cans of sugar-based soda, I don't wind up with the same cancer risk? It's a ludicrous amount of aspartame/soda to be sure, but there -is- something potentially an issue with aspartame somewhere in there…

Probably obvious to many, but I wanted to throw out there: after quick audit of my kitchen, I found aspartame in or added to other products (e.g., chewing gum, coffee, smoothie mixes, cereal, ice cream, etc.). So lets make sure we keep that in mind when quantitatively measuring aspartame consumption!

Re: FDA says aspartame is safe, disagreeing with WHO finding

#46

Post by klodolph »

wredue wrote: post #34
legitster wrote: post #14

> Schubauer-Berigan acknowledged during a press conference with journalists Wednesday that the studies could contain flaws that skewed the results. She said the classification should be viewed as a call to conduct more research into whether aspartame can cause cancer in humans. > “Aspartame is one of the most studied food additives in the human food supply. FDA scientists do not have safety concerns when aspartame is…

The WHO does have a tendency to lean overly cautious. But you have to remember that the FDA is not working for YOUR best interest either. When the FDA says that something is “safe”, what it actually means is “the economic impacts of this are probably negligible in a lifetime”. So if aspartame causes cancer after your career is over, then it’s safe according to the FDA. The WHO isn’t under the same lobbying or economi…

The FDA has a history of being cautious as well. Perhaps even overly cautious.

> So if aspartame causes cancer after your career is over, then it’s safe according to the FDA.

I would love to see some kind of foundation for this, to explain where your beliefs about FDA processes are coming from.

Re: FDA says aspartame is safe, disagreeing with WHO finding

#47

Post by klodolph »

BrianHenryIE wrote: post #15

It is "normal" that the US allows food (additives, at least) that is banned in Europe https://archive.is/N6JI1

It is also normal that many European foods are banned in the US. For every discussion I see about how the FDA is crazy for letting Americans consume all these various additives, I see another discussion about how the FDA is crazy for banning $EUROPEAN_FOOD. Unpasteurized milk is one of the more common ones people talk about (along with products made from unpasteurized milk). Kinder eggs were another, but the situation has changed. People also scoff at the American habit of refrigerating eggs (which is fine—the choice to refrigerate or not refrigerate eggs just has to be consistent with the ways eggs are prepared for consumers in your country, and in the US, refrigeration is correct, because of the way eggs are treated).

Re: FDA says aspartame is safe, disagreeing with WHO finding

#48

Post by kelipso »

tedunangst wrote: post #28
pc86 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder what the time-frame for this is. If I drink 14 cans of diet soda once, have I permanently increased my odds of cancer? That seems likely. If I drink 14 cans of anything other than water or maybe coffee every day for 30 years I would expect negative health effects. It would be great if they had some sort of time-frame.

If you plan on living 200 years, I guess you'd have to restrict yourself to five cans per day to stay under your lifetime limit.

Cancer risk is accumulative I'm assuming. So you would want to reduce risk as much as possible because there are plenty of other things you're exposed to that increases cancer risk. Can't just look at one substance and it's risk alone.

Re: FDA says aspartame is safe, disagreeing with WHO finding

#49

Post by oxfordmale »

legitster wrote: post #42
oxfordmale wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of your criticism seems to be playing the man rather than the ball. The WHO said a person weighing 70kg would need to consume more than between nine and 14 cans of diet soft drink per day to exceed the daily guideline. So basically the FDA and WHO are in agreement, but the WHO uses more cautious language.

Sure, but as much as the news is going to pick up this story and blow it out of proportion, I think people should kind of know they are being played with here.

WHO can't be held responsible for headlines put out by newspapers.

WHO declared aspartame possibly carcinogenic, putting it in the same class as mobile phone usage That means there is some limited evidence pointing in that direction, but that further studies are needed to confirm this. I don't think this statement is incorrect. In the end is all about the daily dosis, and the possibly increase in cancer (is it 0.005% or 5%).

If you need to drink 40 cans to increase your cancer risk by 0.005%, it would be irrelevant for most people.

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