Are the dangers of Aspertame real?

Question

I've heard that it can cause brain tumors, but I haven't seen any good studies.

Answer 1

There seems to be a lot of finger-pointing here in the sense that pro-aspartame groups say that this is a "controversy" manufactured by sugar producers. There are allegations that sugar producers fund groups and individuals who bring up a potential issue of aspartame.

This is information from Wikipedia: Aspartame is an ester that is hydrolyzed in the body to form phenylalanine, aspartic acid and methanol (wood alcohol), and it is the phenylalanine product of aspartame which then builds up in the person with PKU. The amounts produced by aspartame are an incredibly low risk factor however, as far larger quantities of the amino acid would be obtained through simply consuming any protein at all with phenylalanine content, which would include all complete proteins, as phenylalanine is an essential amino acid.

What this means is that unless you have PKU, aspartame risk is *most likely* very low. It is highly unlikely that you have PKU, especially if you were born in the US, as all babies born in hospitals are tested for PKU at birth. Also, you would have serious issues by now if you did have PKU as you would have ingested large amounts of food that will produce phenylalanine in your body.

Where there is some controversy is to what happens when diet soda is left in long-term storage with hot temperatures. Unfortunately there is little good research in this area.

Answer 2

Check out the link and have a read of it...it's well worth the effort!