For years, artificial sweeteners were promoted as a healthier alternative to table sugar. But several studies over the past few years have suggested that the sweeteners may not necessarily be good for your health.
On Thursday, after assessing the popular artificial sweetener aspartame, the World Health Organization (WHO) found that it’s “possibly carcinogenic to humans,” meaning it could cause cancer, while also reaffirming that the current acceptable daily intake of aspartame — 40 mg per kilograms of body weight per day (roughly 12 cans of Diet Coke for a 130-pound person) — is still safe to consume. The FDA reportedly disagrees with WHO’s assessment of the sweetener, however, saying in a statement that “‘possibly carcinogenic to humans’ does not mean that aspartame is actually linked to cancer.”
Aspartame isn’t the only controversial artificial sweetener. In a May 2023 study published in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part B, researchers conducted lab-based experiments on the impact of sucralose (an artificial sweetener marketed as Splenda) and sucralose-6-acetate (a form of sucralose that occurs after your body breaks down the sweetener) on human tissue and made several concerning findings.
The researchers discovered that sucralose-6-acetate is genotoxic, which means that it can damage DNA. The chemical also caused intestinal cells to activate genes linked with inflammation and cancer.
The researchers noted that sucralose can damage the cells that line the wall of the gut, leading to leaky gut. Leaky gut syndrome, in case you’re not familiar with it, is a theory that when your gut “leaks,” it releases elements that would normally be removed in feces into the bloodstream, where they can cause inflammation.
“Overall, the toxicological and pharmacokinetic findings for sucralose-6-acetate raise significant health concerns regarding the safety and regulatory status of sucralose itself,” the researchers wrote.
The study comes shortly after the WHO warned that using artificial sweeteners for weight control could potentially contribute to health issues.
Given how popular sucralose and other artificial sweeteners are, it’s understandable to have questions about their safety. Here’s what you need to know.
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Is it safe to use artificial sweeteners?
While the latest study findings are concerning, experts say you shouldn’t stress about using artificial sweeteners just yet. “‘Genotoxic’ means that a substance can potentially damage your DNA,” Jamie Alan, an associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology at Michigan State University, tells Yahoo Life. “Keep in mind that we are always receiving DNA insults from the environment. It’s the cumulative effect that is concerning.”
Registered dietitian Scott Keatley, co-owner of Keatley Medical Nutrition Therapy, tells Yahoo Life that it’s tough to draw too many conclusions from the latest study. “The real difficulty is telling how these substances will interact with a complete system like the human body and not cells in a beaker, which is what this new research did, more or less,” he says.
However, Deborah Cohen, an associate professor in the Department of Clinical and Preventive Nutritional Sciences at Rutgers University, tells Yahoo Life that for now, “the evidence is compelling,” adding: “I would recommend that people significantly limit their consumption of artificial sweeteners and sugar substitutes or avoid them entirely.”
She has concerns about the link between artificial sweeteners and gut issues, something that other experts echo. “So much of our body processes happen in the gut, and as our gut microbiome changes, it affects other functions happening in the body,” registered dietitian Jessica Cording, author of The Little Book of Game Changers, tells Yahoo Life.
Cording recommends that her patients keep artificial sweetener use “to a minimum.” Among other things, she notes that these products taste incredibly sweet — sucralose is about 600 times sweeter than table sugar, for example — and says that can cause people to crave sweet things more than they would if they hadn’t used artificial sweeteners.
But Colleen Rauchut Tewksbury, a registered dietitian and adjunct associate professor at Penn Medicine, tells Yahoo Life that there’s still a lot we don’t know about how artificial sweeteners impact the body. “For now, the science is too early and not much in humans yet to answer whether or not these are safe and in what amount,” she says. “These types of sweeteners are generally recognized as safe, so if someone enjoys them and they help them achieve their health goals, they can be a great option. If someone is concerned specifically about gut health, it may be a good idea to limit consuming nonnutritive sweeteners.”
Keatley agrees, saying you don’t need to avoid artificial sweeteners entirely, but that it’s a good idea to pay attention to how much you’re consuming. “Just like anything else, these substances should be used in moderation,” he says.
