Artificial sweetener aspartame declared `safe to drink`

London – European Food Safety Authority has ruled out any ‘potential risk of aspartame’, claiming that the artificial sweetener is safe and poses no threat to health.

The EFSA said breakdown products of aspartame, which is used in many foods and soft drinks, are safe for human consumption at current levels of exposure, the BBC reported.

For most products containing aspartame, consumption would need to be exceptionally high and regular over a person’s lifetime, in order to exceed the ADI.

Dr Alicja Mortensen, who chaired the EFSA’s aspartame review panel, said that this study is a step forward in strengthening consumer confidence in the scientific underpinning of the EU food safety system and the regulation of food additives.