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Consideration of issues concerning aspartame. Submission to the Health Select Committee, 20 November 2007

Opening statement by New Zealand Food Safety Authority

The New Zealand Food Safety Authority thanks the Committee for the opportunity to assist it in its consideration of the issues concerning aspartame that have been raised by Abby Cormack.

We would point out at the outset that assessments of the safety of food additives such as aspartame are made by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ). FSANZ has considered aspartame and has assessed it as safe for Australian and New Zealand consumers. NZFSA supports this assessment and the outcome of it is reflected in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code. It is the role of NZFSA to provide input to the assessment process and then to implement and enforce the standards in the Food Standards Code. Under the Code, all food containing aspartame must be labelled to ensure consumers can make an informed purchase and consumption choice.

We are pleased to hear of the good progress Abby’s health has made. While we understand her concern, the problem we have is that when we apply the recognised science to situations such as hers, there is no evidence to support the belief that aspartame toxicity was the cause of any problems.

NZFSA has nonetheless considered her evidence as far as it is known to us and we have compared that with what we know of the toxicity of aspartame.

There is a very large amount of robust toxicity data for aspartame generated over the past forty years in both animal and human trials. The data from internationally-accepted scientific peer reviewed studies does not show a potential to cause illness such as the one described. In fact, the recognised scientific evidence shows no such toxicity sustained for aspartame.

Like our colleagues in the Ministry of Health, we believe that aspartame has a place in the diet of New Zealanders who wish to reduce their intake of sugar, either because they are diabetic or are concerned about their weight, but still enjoy a sweet taste. Organisations such as the New Zealand Nutrition Foundation and the Dietetic Association support our stance in this regard.

The New Zealand and Australian position, in continuing to permit aspartame in the food supply, is no different from that of other food authorities around the world, including the European Food Safety Authority, the United Kingdom Food Standards Agency, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and the United States Food and Drug Agency. These agencies are all official Government bodies committed to protecting consumers in their countries and have found aspartame to be a safe and useful product. We have tabled fact sheets from some of these agencies and others can be provided.

Concern has also been raised about the potential of aspartame to cause cancer. There are at least five properly conducted studies on this possibility. All five have been thoroughly reviewed by the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) which is a panel of experts convened regularly by the World Health Organisation and the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation to consider the safety of additives, based on science. JECFA concluded that aspartame demonstrated no such potential.

Two recent studies undertaken by the Ramazzini Institute of Italy claim to show carcinogenic potential. A major review of the first of these was undertaken by the European Food Safety Authority which concluded the methodology and conduct of the studies demonstrated several flaws and it was determined that the results did not show any such potential nor did they change previous conclusions. We understand a review of the second study is also underway. Our toxicologists share the EFSA view.

The current acceptable daily intake as assessed by JECFA is 40 mg/kg body weight. Current New Zealand aspartame intakes are much lower than this (estimated after surveys by FSANZ at 2 mg/kg body weight on average, and even for a high consumer, they are less than 10 mg/kg body weight). This ADI takes into account the varying weights of adults and children and is conservative.

There are many studies on the potential for aspartame to produce changes in DNA. Again none of them demonstrates any such potential.

There are also several human trials reported in the scientific literature, in which people of all ages from one year-olds and older received aspartame at various doses and for varying lengths of time (up to 24 weeks at an average of 75 mg/kg body weight – nearly twice our New Zealand ADI) and no health effects were seen.

It is our conclusion that while Abby’s health effects appear to have been serious, such anecdotal and partial accounts do not counter the extensive weight of evidence supporting the safe use of aspartame or provide sufficient basis for any regulatory changes. We believe the health benefits of such a safe, low calorie alternative to sugar are considerable but we will continue to monitor international work in this area and to advise consumers of any valid concerns raised in future.

Related links

Aspartame – what it is and why it’s used in our food