The European Food Safety Authority said Tuesday, that artificial sweetener aspartame is safe for humans to consume, but only at the levels currently used in diet soft drinks.
According to Reuters, European food safety officials said aspartame poses no actual health risk amd officials have ruled out any "potential risk of aspartame causing damage to genes and inducing cancer."
"The Panel concluded that aspartame was not of safety concern at the current aspartame exposure estimates," the EFSA said in its summary of the report.
Aspartame is approximately 200 times sweeter than sugar and is also known under the brand name NutraSweet. The discovery is seen as a victory for company's that use aspartame in their soft drinks such as Coca-Cola Co, who uses the product in Diet Coke and Coke Zero.
Coca Cola Co., recently launched an advertising campaign to drive off customers fears about their products. Studies have suggested that aspartame might be dangerous and has linked it to potential health risks, such as cancer and premature birth. The studies have been blamed for the a drop in sales of diet soda.
Parma, Italy-based EFSA has reportedly found no evidence that proves aspartame is considered a safety concerns. Parma stated that an "acceptable daily intake level for aspartame of 40 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) of body weight."
"This opinion represents one of the most comprehensive risk assessments of aspartame ever undertaken," Alicja Mortensen, chairwoman of EFSA's Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources Added to Foods (ANS Panel), said in a statement. "It's a step forward in strengthening consumer confidence in the scientific underpinning of the EU food safety system and the regulation of food additives."
Another study suggested that artificial sweeteners can play a role in weight gain and risk for obesity, Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
