Running head: CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING ASPARTAME 1

The Controversy Surrounding Aspartame

Paige Robinson

Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary School

Mr. Koshman

November 17th, 2017

CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING ASPARTAME 2

Introduction

Anyone living in a developed country around the world has come into contact with aspartame

during their existence. All over the world the medical and health communities have strong

controversial debates surrounding the topic of aspartame and its positive or negative side effects.

Many scientific studies have been undertaken to prove the harmful effects of aspartame,

challenge bad reports about it, and the positive/negative effects it has on the human body. The

main topic of this research paper is to inform individuals and make them aware about the pros

and cons of consuming aspartame.

CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING ASPARTAME 3

What is Aspartame?

Aspartame was first discovered in 1965 by James M. Schlatter. (Wikipedia, 2014)

Although it was first discovered in the 1960s, it did not really enter the food market until the

1980s. (Facts, 2004) Aspartame is an artificial non-saccharide sweetener that is used as a sugar

substitute in some food and beverages. It is mostly found in diet drinks and diet products.

(Wikipedia, 2014) It is a sweetener that contains 0 calories and many people enjoy using it or

products made with it if they are watching their caloric intake. (Facts, 2004) Aspartame is a

white powder that does not have any smell to it. It is about 200 times sweeter than regular sugar

so you dont need to sue very much to add a sweet taste to your food or drinks. It is marketed or

sold as a table sweetener under the names of Canderel, NutraSweet, and Equal. (Facts, 2004)

Aspartame is made from aspartic acid (40% of aspartame), phenylalanine (50% of aspartame),

and methanol which is also known as wood alcohol/poison which is found in antifreeze (10% of

aspartame). (Mercola, 2011)

Negative Effects

Since the time that aspartame was first discovered in the 1960s, scientists have made

claims that aspartame is related to many different mild to serious health effects. These effects

could possibly be headaches, dizziness, digestive concerns, mood swings, seizures, nausea,

numbness, muscle spasms, depression, insomnia, hearing loss, breathing difficulties, anxiety

attcks, slurred speed, tinnitus, vertigo, memory loss, joint pain, and more serious diseases.

(Mercola, 2011) Some of the more serious diseases include Alzheimers Disease, birth defects,

Diabetes, epilepsy, Parkinson Diseases, and a variety of different types of cancer. (Society, 2014)
CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING ASPARTAME 4

Blood-related cancers such as leukemia, lymphomas, bladder cancer, and brain tumors are all

possible types of cancer that scientists have been linking to the consumption of aspartame.

(Institute, 2016)

Findings That Spin Positive Support For the Use Of Aspartame

Many findings are given that argue with the studies published saying that aspartame

causes multiple major health concerns. There are hundreds of websites that are mostly used to

slam aspartame but the authors of some of these sites are not credible. (Novella, 2010) One of

the sites that talks about the dangers of aspartame is run by Dr. Janet Starr Hull. She is also the

same doctor who wells an aspartame detox it so you wonder if her motives are really true, or if

she is trying to sell more of her product. (Novella, 2010)

There are just as many websites that try to tell people that aspartame isnt bad for them.

They talk about the lab studies that have been done on rats which caused them to get brain

tumors. This evidence comes from the animal data and is flawed because the same results have

not been found to be true with humans. (Novella, 2010) Scientists discovered that the dose-

dependent effect with the tumors needs further study and that the carcinogenic effect of

aspartame is mixed and nothing definite can be determined.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and European Food Safety Authority found that

the amount of aspartame consumed by humans is well below the suggested acceptable levels of

consumption. (Group, 2007) The data that they collected does not support evidence that

aspartame causes cancer in any tissue in the human body. They further state that most of the

existing evidence is that aspartame is safe at the current levels that it is being consumed by

humans as a sweetener. (Group, 2007)

CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING ASPARTAME 5

Overall, many of the sites say that aspartame has been found to be safe for humans in

more than ninety countries around the world. They also describe it as one of the most tested

food additives that the FDA has ever approved of. (Hall, 2011)

Conclusion

During the research that I did on this topic, I found a lot of information on how aspartame

is terrible for your body. Whether that information is really true or not, this makes me think that

I never want to consume it again. All of the disease and side effects from using aspartame that I

learned about really make me think twice about what I am putting into my body. Even though

there is also a lot of information that leads us to believe that it is not harmful, I still have

concerns about it. When given the option of having foods that might contain aspartame or not, I

would suggest not to consume them.

CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING ASPARTAME 6

References

Bibliography

Facts, G. (2004, June 15). Aspartame . Retrieved from greenfacts.org:

https://www.greenfacts.org/en/aspartame

Group, W. B. (2007). PubMed.gov US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of

Health. Retrieved from ncbi.nim.nih.gov:

https://www.ncbi.nih.gov/pubmed?Db=pubmed&Cd=ShowDetailViewe&TernToSearch-

17828671&ordinalopos=1&itool+

Hall, S. (2011, October 4). Artificial Sweeteners: Is Aspartame Safe? Retrieved from

sciencebasedmedicine.org: https://scienebasedmedicine.org/are-artificial-sweeteners-safe/

Institute, N. C. (2016, August 10). Artificial Sweetners and Cancer. Retrieved from About

Cancer: https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/rishk/diet/artificial-

sweetener-fact-sheet

Mercola. (2011, November 6). Aspartame: BY Far the Most Dangerous Substance Added to

Most Foods Today. Retrieved from articles.mercola.com:

https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/11/06/aspartame-most-dangerous-

substance-added-to-most-foods-today

Novella, S. (2010, September 15). Aspartame - Truth vs Fiction. Retrieved from Science-Based

Medicine: Exploring issues & Controversies in Science & Medicine:

sciencebasedmedicine.org

Society, T. A. (2014, May 28). What is Aspartame? Retrieved from cancer.org:

https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/aspartame.html
CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING ASPARTAME 7

Wikipedia. (2014, January 12). Aspartame. Retrieved from Retrieved from Wikipedia:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartame
CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING ASPARTAME 8