UK-based Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer products and the Environment (COT) has peered reviewed a double blind randomized crossover study of aspartame, commissioned by the Food Standards Agency (FSA).
COT is a committee of independent experts that provides advice to the FSA and other parts of government.
The expert committee concluded that “the results presented did not indicate any need for action to protect the health of the public”.
The study has been led by Hull York Medical School and the results were discussed in closed session at the COT meeting on October 29, 2013.
Study
The research aimed to record any effects from eating a snack bar that may or may not have contained aspartame.
The study recruited individuals who reported reactions after consuming aspartame, alongside a matched control group of individuals who normally consume foods containing aspartame without problems.
A double blind randomized crossover study was conducted to test the effect of a substance in such a way that neither the research team nor the participants know whether the bar consumed contains the test substance or not.
It eliminates the risk of pre-judgment by participants or researchers that could distort the results.
COT says a research paper containing the detail and results of the study has been submitted by the researchers for publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.
The FSA will publish the full study once it has appeared in a journal.
The Hull York Medical School study, which was commissioned by the FSA, looked at the reported effects of self-diagnosed reactions to aspartame and did not consider the overall safety evaluation of aspartame.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), as part of its systematic re-evaluation of all currently permitted food additives, is carrying out a safety evaluation of aspartame; which was to be published in December 2013.
The FSA will share the results of the Hull study with EFSA when it is published.
Aspartame is an approved additive and is also referred to as E951.
It is an intense sweetener, approximately 200 times sweeter than sugar, which has been used in soft drinks and other low calorie or sugar free foods throughout the world for more than 25 years.
Sweeteners and all other food additives are regulated and may only be used once their safety has been rigorously assessed.
