One of the world’s most common artificial sweeteners is set to be declared a possible carcinogen.
(Edit- Question from OP: downvoters, do you not want me to post stories like this, or are you expressing disagreement with some of the people in the report?)
I actually am.
Everyone has been saying it is for years, but I was never able to find any hard evidence despite it being the subject of numerous studies.
I feel kind of naive now.
That’s because there hasn’t really been any hard evidence. From the article itself:
“Probably carcinogenic” is thus the least supported one one can make a ruling with.
Then it all depends on the studies themselves too. Like one study on sunscreens found that oxybenzone caused endocrine disruptions in mice; when force-fed unrealistic amounts of it. Like what does that even tell us? Don’t compulsively eat sunscreen, you could get sick?
The chemical was prohibited nonetheless, because generally a “better safe than sorry” approach is taken. These corporations don’t want to face massive class-action lawsuits, so you can expect aspartame to be phased out.
gonna go ahead and assume you meant “possibly” carcinogenic?
Ack, good catch! Thank you!
Thanks for the explanation!
There are circumstances where the precautionary principle is good to apply. But overuse of it has really bad cumulative consequences.
I think that would depend on magnitude if probability was low or indeterminate?
It’s worth pointing out that red meat is one step higher on the list as a probable carcinogen (Class 2A vs Class 2B), as is drinking liquids above 65 C.
One step higher in Class 1 is, among others things, the pill.