Aspartame under scrutiny: is a European ban imminent?

Today is on World Cancer Day, and organisations such as food watchdog Foodwatch and the French Cancer League are using that day to launch a large-scale European campaign against the use of aspartame. According to the World Health Organization, the sweetener is possibly carcinogenic.

“A matter of public health”

Aspartame (also known under its E-number E951) is used as an artificial sweetener in thousands of food products, such as soft drinks, energy drinks and chewing gums. However, the WHO classified it as “possibly carcinogenic” in 2023. Moreover, it is associated with increased risks of type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

The organisations are calling on consumers in eleven European countries to pressure policymakers. They point to the risks of the additive and emphasise that there is not enough evidence the additive is actually safe. According to a survey, 40 % of Europeans regularly consume products containing aspartame, causing Foodwatch to call this issue a matter of public health.

In addition to the food watchdogs and health organisations, health app Yuka is mobilising its 45 million users. The app highlights the responsibility of European authorities to apply the precautionary principle and calls on them to ban aspartame. The action claims to build on previous successes, such as the French petition against nitrites in food in 2019, which indeed led to policy changes.