What Is Aspartame Poisoning?

Aspartame was discovered by accident in 1965. Today, it's a common artificial sweetener. There's a lot of controversy over it use, however. Most concerns are about whether aspartame can cause cancer.

What is Aspartame?

• Aspartame is made up of two basic ingredients, aspartic acid and phenylalanine . Both are natural amino acids, which your body needs. In fact, phenylalanine is considered an essential amino acid because your body can't make it---it has to come from your diet.

Claims

• Most warnings focus on methanol, produced when your body metabolizes aspartame. It's a wood alcohol that---when taken in excessive amounts---can be poisonous. It's worth noting that tomato juice and grape juice contain much higher amounts, yet are considered safe.

Research

• According to a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) article, more than 100 scientific studies have looked into aspartame's safety. The agency hasn't seen any scientific evidence that would cause it to rescind its 1996 approval of aspartame for use in all foods.

Caution

• Aspartame is not without legitimate concerns though. It contains phenylalanine, which can be dangerous for people with a rare hereditary condition known as phenylketonuria (PKU). Any food containing aspartame must therefore carry a warning label.

Alternatives

• In addition to aspartame, the FDA has approved several other artificial sweeteners such as saccharin and sucralose, found in the popular sweeteners Sweet'N Low and Splenda, respectively.