According to a CBN News report this morning, the World Health Organization (“WHO”) has announced that the artificial sweetener aspartame could cause cancer – particularly in the liver.
Since 1980, aspartame has been widely used in more than 5,000 sugar-free, diet and low-calorie foods or beverages, and can even be found in health products (e.g., toothpaste, cough drops).
The WHO’s recommendation notwithstanding, and in a rare move, the United States Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) publicly disagreed with the WHO’s classification of aspartame as a possible carcinogenic, citing significant shortcomings in the studies. In fact, the FDA stated that its scientists “do not have safety concerns.”
The CBN News report may be read HERE.
CBN News also reported earlier this year about the WHO’s recommendation to stop using non-sugar sweeteners for weight control. This CBN News report may be read HERE.
Complicating matters is an article by The Telegraph in the United Kingdom, which five days ago (7/13/2023) declared that the WHO found the use of aspartame in Diet Coke to be SAFE.
The Telegraph‘s article may be read HERE.
My brothers and sisters, as one who has diabetes, I’ve used non-sugar sweeteners regularly for many years now. This reminds me of the development of margarine, or the extensive (and now mostly curtailed) use of asbestos, or how enjoyable, fashionable and relaxing it was to smoke lots of cigarettes! I remember competing stories about coffee being horrible for us not that many years ago.
Well, as humans, we are far from perfect – even doctors, researchers and scientists. This, of course, doesn’t negate the concerns about man-made chemical sweeteners, food additives and genetically modified organisms (“GMOs”) within or replacing certain foods.
As a side note, GMOs have not only been used to enhance crop resistance to pests, they have been used in the development of life-saving medications, such as human insulin. The issue of morality in the development and use of GMOs is a tricky subject.
It seems the best course of action is to stay informed (but not afraid) and to seek the Lord whenever our conscience is pricked about these matters. There just doesn’t seem to be any hard, fast and consistent answers in the natural right now about aspartame. That said, let’s remember that naturally grown food has already been provided to us by God!
Luke 12:22-24 (NKJV)
“Then [Jesus] said to His disciples, ‘[t]herefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds?'”
Praise Jesus forevermore!