Types of Cancer Related to Sugar Substitutes

People often use artificial sweeteners or sugar substitutes to reduce their overall calorie intake and to aid in weight loss. Diabetics may use a sugar alternative because it adds a sweet taste to food without increasing blood sugar levels. The possibility that sugar substitutes may cause cancer has been the subject of numerous studies over the last three decades. However, the National Cancer Institute says there's no concrete evidence that any of the sugar substitutes cause cancer.

What Are Sugar Substiutes?

• The chemicals or natural ingredients found in artificial sweeteners provide the sweetness of sugar with a fraction of the calories. Since the flavor in sugar substitutes is more concentrated that real sugar, a much smaller amount is required to imitate a taste equivalent to sugar.

FDA-Approved Sweeteners

• The Food and Drug Administration has approved saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame potassium, sucralose, and neotame in the use of low-calorie sweeteners. The FDA has also put into place an "accepted daily intake" (ADI) for each sugar substitute. The ADI is the maximum daily intake considered to be safe without posing any potential health risks.

Saccharin and Cancer

• According to the National Cancer Institute, studies of laboratory rats that took place in the early 1970s positively linked saccharin with the development of bladder cancer. Due to the results of the research, Congress ordered further studies of saccharin and mandated that all food containing saccharin contain a warning that stated use of the product may be hazardous to your health.

  The NCI says follow-up studies in rats have shown when taken at high doses saccharin can increase the chance of urinary bladder cancer, especially among male rats.

  But, the NCI says further research that specifically looked at how a substance works in the body indicates that the saccharin-bladder connection applies only to rats, not humans.

Aspartame and Cancer

• The FDA approved aspartame as a sugar substitute in 1981 after multiple tests showed that it did not cause cancer or other health issues in laboratory animals.

  But according to the NCI, questions regarding the safety of aspartame resurfaced 15 years later when a report suggested that there may be a connection between a rise in the number of human brain tumors in the U.S. since aspartame hit the market.

  Further analysis of statistics provided by the NCI found that brain and central nervous system cancers were on the upswing eight years before aspartame was approved by the FDA.

  The NCI says another laboratory study conducted in 2005 concluded that rats given very high doses of aspartame (equal to drinking up to 2,000 cans of diet pop per day) were more apt to suffer from lymphoma and leukemia.

  But, upon further examination of its data, the NCI determined that a high consumption of beverages containing aspartame was not associated with the development of brain cancer lymphoma or leukemia.

Acesulfame Potassium, Sucralose and Neotame

• The FDA reviewed more than 100 safety studies on each of these sugar substitutes, including the possible cancer risks, before approving their use for human consumption. The findings of the mountains of research concluded that there is no evidence that these sweeteners cause cancer or any other conditions, and therefore are safe for use by the general population.