Artificial sweeteners used in place of sugar may raise the risk of cancer, French researchers have warned.
A study published yesterday, based on data from more than 100,000 French adults, found a 13 per cent higher risk of cancer in people consuming larger amounts, compared with non-consumers.
Charlotte Debras of the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research (Inserm) and Sorbonne Paris Nord University, who led the research, said that it was in line with earlier studies, adding: “These findings provide novel information for the re-evaluation of these food additives by health agencies.”
The study used data on 102,865 French adults participating in the NutriNet-Santé study, who reported medical history, sociodemographic, diet, lifestyle and health data. The research team compared data from 24-hour dietary records with cases of cancer in the cohort, taking into account factors like age, sex, education, physical activity, smoking, body mass index, height and weight, diabetes, family history of cancer and other types of food and drink. The artificial sweeteners aspartame and acesulfame-K seemed particularly linked to higher rates of cancer. When looking at specific cancers, breast cancer and those linked to obesity had higher risks.
The authors said: “Our findings do not support the use of artificial sweeteners as safe alternatives for sugar in foods or beverages and provide important and novel information to address the controversies about their potential adverse health effects.”
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However, because the study was observational, it could not prove a causal relationship because those consuming higher amounts of sweeteners could have differed in other significant ways from non-consumers.
The team added: “These results need to be replicated in other large-scale cohorts and underlying mechanisms clarified by experimental studies.”
Dr Michael Jones, senior staff scientist in genetics and epidemiology at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, who was not involved in the research, urged caution. He said: “The current consensus, according to the US National Cancer Institute, is that there is no clear evidence that artificial sweeteners cause cancer in humans, although there is frequent re-evaluation of the available evidence by food safety health authorities.”
Dr Duane Mellor, a registered dietitian and senior teaching fellow at Aston Medical School, said: “This study does not prove or even suggest that we should go back to sugar and turn our backs on artificial sweeteners or diet drinks. It does however, suggest that artificial sweeteners are not a perfect replacement for sugar, they come with their own potential risks, as does sugar.
“The ideal answer is probably to move away from both, however that may be unappealing to many, who like a little sweetness in their life so ditching the regular or diet soft drink for water may not be a well received health message. So, maybe a stepwise approach could be better, maybe looking to steadily reduce sugar and if need be use small amounts of sweeteners only as a short term measure or stepping stone to ultimately reducing intakes of both sugar and sweeteners.”
