EU Clears Aspartame
Scientists and nutritionists may have to revise their thinking about Aspartame, the artificial sweetener that came under fire when researchers discovered an increase in cancers in rats that had eaten the chemical. According to this post on Yahoo! News, the European Union’s Food Safety Agency re-examined the initial study and didn’t find any cause for concern. The rats got cancer, but the compound wouldn’t affect humans in the same way.
This decision might be politically motivated, but animal experimentation does sometimes produce results that wouldn’t happen in humans. We share most metabolic features with other mammals, but we often differ in important ways.
Who’s right in this debate? No one knows yet, but I’m sure diet soft drink producers are dancing in the streets after this news.
