38% urban Indians consume artificial sweeteners every month, survey finds

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

World Health Organization (WHO) stating aspartame to be categorized as “possibly carcinogenic to humans”, a recent survey by Local Circles found that 38 per cent urban Indians consume artificial sweeteners every month. As many as 11,342 people responded to the question of which 38 per cent people confirmed their consumption of artificial sweeteners in food every month. Aspartame is a popular artificial sweetener used in food products like diet soda, sugar-free gums, etc. Apart from this, the Indian food regulatory body, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), has allowed the use of five other artificial sweeteners. These include saccharin sodium, aspartame, acesulfame potassium, sucralose, neotame, and isomaltulose. The survey which received as many as 23,000 responses found that 1 in 3 urban Indians consuming artificial sweeteners, consume diet soda or chewing gum. Several respondents of the total of 4,310 consumers who responded to this query indicated consumption of these sweeteners in more than one food product. Besides diet soda and chewing gum, both being consumed by 32 per cent of the respondents, other food products were also found to be in rising trends. As many as 26 per cent people indicated consumption of energy drinks, while 18 percent consume sugar free chocolates. Meanwhile, 18 per cent of consumption was recorded for sugar free ice creams, 5 per cent for energy bars and 37 per cent indicated other foods and drinks.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), WHO’s cancer research arm, has not ruled that there is conclusive proof of a link between aspartame and liver cancer, as suggested by some research papers. In May 2023, the global health body, WHO