According to reports, the sweetener aspartame, which is found in a variety of foods and carbonated beverages, will soon be classified as "possibly carcinogenic" to humans.

The label frequently leads to confusion because it does not indicate whether the potential risk is significant or negligible. Other substances that are "possibly carcinogenic" include aloe vera, diesel, and pickled Asian vegetables.

On July 14, the International Agency for Cancer Research (IARC) is anticipated to make an announcement. Aspartame is 200 times sweeter than sugar, therefore it provides the same flavor without the calories.

You can find it on the ingredient list of many diet or sugar-free goods, such as diet drinks, chewing gum, and certain yogurts. Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Pepsi Max, and 7 Up Free are notable beverages that contain aspartame, but the sweetener is present in approximately 6,000 culinary products.

The sweetener has been used for decades and has been approved by food safety organizations, but there has been a whirlwind of controversy surrounding the ingredient.

IARC, the World Health Organization's cancer research branch, has reviewed approximately 1,300 studies on aspartame and cancer. According to sources close to the process cited by Reuters, aspartame will be classified as "possibly carcinogenic"; however, what does this classification entail?

IARC and a separate expert committee on food additives are expected to make official pronouncements alongside a publication in the Lancet Oncology medical journal on July 14. Kevin McConway, a professor of statistics at the Open University, explains that the IARC categorization won't tell them anything about the actual risk posed by aspartame because that's not what IARC categorizations signify.

IARC informs them of the strength of the evidence, not the health hazard posed by a substance.

When there is "limited" evidence in humans or data from animal experiments, "possibly" is used. It consists of diesel, silica on the perineum, nickel, aloe vera, Asian pickled vegetables, and numerous chemical compounds. Prof. McConway emphasized that the evidence that these substances may cause cancer is insufficient, or they would have been placed in groups 1 or 2A.

In the past, the IARC classifications have caused confusion and have been criticized for creating unwarranted alarm. The classification of processed red meat as carcinogenic led to reports comparing it to smoking. But the risk of giving 100 individuals an additional 1.7 ounces (50 grams) of bacon per day for the rest of their lives would result in one case of bowel cancer.

The Expert Committee on Food Additives of the Joint World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization is expected to report in July.

Since 1981, its position has been that a daily ingestion of 40 milligrams per kilogram of body weight was safe. Depending on the precise ingredients, this equates to between 12 and 36 diet drinks per day for a 60 kg (nine and a half stone) adult.

Rick Mumford, the UK's Food Standards Agency's deputy chief scientific adviser, stated that the agency would thoroughly examine the reports. According to their assessment, however, the safety of this sweetener has been evaluated by a number of scientific committees, and the permitted use levels are deemed secure. An early 2000s study linked it to cancer in rodent and rat experiments, but the findings were criticized, and other animal studies have found no cancer risk.