Reuters reported on the 29th that, according to two insiders, aspartame, one of the world's most common artificial sweeteners, may be classified as "possibly carcinogenic to humans" by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization (WHO) next month. Currently, many food and beverage products labeled "sugar-free" on the market actually use sweeteners like aspartame. IARC classifies carcinogenic factors into five categories based on the likelihood of causing cancer: Group 1: carcinogenic to humans; Group 2A: probably carcinogenic to humans; Group 2B: possibly carcinogenic to humans; Group 3: not classifiable as to its carcinogenicity to humans; Group 4: probably not carcinogenic to humans. According to media reports, IARC will list aspartame as "Group 2B," meaning it is possibly carcinogenic to humans.

As early as May this year, the World Health Organization issued a new guideline on non-sugar sweeteners, recommending that most people should avoid consuming non-sugar sweeteners such as acesulfame potassium, aspartame, saccharin, sucralose, and stevia. The WHO stated in the guideline that there is evidence that using non-sugar sweeteners does not provide any long-term benefit in reducing body fat in adults or children. Furthermore, long-term use of non-sugar sweeteners may have potential adverse effects, such as increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and mortality in adults.

International Beverage Association: More comprehensive review still ongoing

On the evening of the 29th, media reported that in response to foreign media reports that IARC plans to classify the sweetener aspartame as "possibly carcinogenic," the International Council of Beverages Associations (ICBA) issued a statement on its official website. Its executive director, Kate Loatman, said that public health authorities should be cautious about this opinion because it contradicts decades of high-quality scientific evidence. Conclusions drawn from low-quality scientific research may mislead consumers, and they look forward to a broader and more comprehensive food safety review of aspartame.

Two hundred billion yuan sugar-free beverage market facing logic subversion?

In recent years, with the health consumption concept of sugar control and sugar reduction gradually becoming a social consensus, sugar-free and low-sugar have become the new global standard for healthy eating. In this context, the sugar-free beverage industry has developed rapidly. According to the "2023 China Sugar-Free Beverage Industry Research and Consumer Insight Report" released by iiMedia Research, the market size of China's sugar-free beverage industry grew year by year from 2015 to 2022, soaring from 2.26 billion yuan to 19.96 billion yuan. It is expected to continue to grow from 2023 to 2027, with the market size expected to reach 74.89 billion yuan. The ever-growing sugar-free beverage market has also driven the performance growth of upstream non-sugar sweetener manufacturers. However, if the conclusions in the WHO guideline are ultimately fully confirmed, the sugar-free beverage industry, which primarily uses non-sugar sweeteners, may face the risk of having its logic overturned.

Two beverage companies respond

On the 29th, Genki Forest, represented by its "sugar-free" beverage products, publicly stated that all its products do not contain aspartame. In addition, a person in charge of Nayuki Tea said that in November 2022, Nayuki Tea announced that all its products would use the upgraded natural sweetener "monk fruit sugar."

Experts: Natural sweeteners are relatively safer with lower risks

Hua Xiao, a professor at the School of Food Science and Technology at Jiangnan University, believes that both natural and artificial sweeteners are food additives. If used in accordance with national food additive standards, they can be considered safe. "But in the case of long-term intake, natural sweeteners can be considered healthier because they have existed in nature for a long time, and their structures are more easily metabolized in various metabolic pathways, so they do not accumulate in the human body."

Hua Xiao introduced that natural sweeteners are generally extracted from plants. Currently, there are three main types that have achieved commercial production. The most widely used natural sweetener in the world is steviol glycosides, which are natural substances extracted from the leaves of a plant in the Asteraceae family native to South America. China is the world's largest grower of stevia and producer of steviol glycosides. In addition, mogrosides from monk fruit and glycyrrhizic acid from licorice are also natural sweeteners, but these two sweeteners are relatively expensive due to planting area and production costs, and have not been widely promoted.

For consumers purchasing food or beverages containing sweeteners, Hua Xiao suggests prioritizing products with natural sweeteners. "The raw materials of natural sweeteners are plants, and they have a long history of consumption. For example, steviol glycosides can be fermented and metabolized by microorganisms in the human large intestine. Artificial sweeteners, on the other hand, are synthesized through chemical reactions, and the human body generally cannot metabolize them, so there are some safety concerns."

Source: China Economic Net WeChat comprehensive CCTV Network, China Business Journal WeChat