Ask Mary

Aspartame, the artificial sweetener (Equal, Nutra-Sweet), has passed numerous safety evaluations over the past 25 years.  Its safety has been documented in more than 200 objective scientific studies and it has been confirmed by regulatory agencies in over 100 countries. In the American Dietetic Association's 2009 position on the use sweeteners, they reaffirmed the conclusion that long-term consumption of aspartame is safe and is not associated with any adverse health effects.  A few years ago, aspartame's safety was questioned by Italian researchers who found a statistically significant increase in blood cancer rates in laboratory rats fed aspartame over the course of a lifetime, but that study needs to be analyzed by other scientists.