Coca-Cola stocks nosedive after report says WHO set to identify Aspartame sweetener as possible carcinogen

A new study by WHO is set to classify Aspartame as a 'possible carcinogen', going beyond the notion that diet sodas and other sugar-related products are merely detrimental to your health. It suggests that these products can potentially lead to the development of cancer.

What

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the cancer research arm of the World Health Organization (WHO), will soon list Aspartame, an artificial non-saccharide sweetener as "possibly carcinogenic to humans" for the first time in July, reports Reuters. 

Aspartame is used in various products, ranging from Coca-Cola diet sodas to Mars' Extra chewing gum and certain Snapple drinks.

According to Reuters, this ruling by the IARC, which was concluded earlier this month, followed a gathering of external experts and aims to evaluate whether Aspartame poses a potential hazard based on existing published evidence.

However, IARC will not publish the safe consumption levels of Aspartame by individuals. It will be provided by a separate expert committee on food additives called JECFA (Joint WHO and Food and Agriculture Organization's Expert Committee on Food Additives), in conjunction with determinations made by national regulators, who are still analysing Aspartame. 

This study which began earlier this month, will be made public on July 14.

Previously labelled safe

• Weirdly enough, since 1981, JECFA has consistently said that Aspartame is safe for consumption within the established daily intake limits.
• For instance, an adult weighing 60 kg would need to consume between 12 and 36 cans of diet soda per day, depending on the Aspartame content in each beverage, to potentially pose a risk.
• This perspective has been widely endorsed by national regulatory bodies, including those in the United States and Europe.

Now, this study is set to prove this wrong. 

[READ MORE: Why is sugar so bad for our health? Hear from the experts]

Aspartame: The controversial substance

Aspartame has been extensively studied for years.

Pepsico, the soft drink giant, removed Aspartame from its sodas in 2015, bringing it back a year later, and went on to remove it again in 2020. 

The snowball effect begins

Soon after Reuters published its report, both Pepsico and Coca-cola, saw a fall in their stock value: 

Previously, Cristiano Ronaldo’s gesture for people to drink water instead of Coke at a Euro 2020 press conference cost the soda company $4 billion in market value. 

Ronaldo Coca Cola protestosundan sonra #Ronaldo #sad pic.twitter.com/BTpAy3ZXp4

— Giks (@Sehriya17243044) June 22, 2023

In the month of June, WHO also published a study claiming that sugar substitutes do not help in long-term weight control. 

[READ MORE: Sugar substitutes do not help in long-term weight control, finds WHO study]