Recently, it was disclosed that the World Health Organization (WHO) is considering reclassifying artificial sweetener aspartame as a ‘possible’ carcinogen, reigniting long-standing rumors and conspiracy theories about its safety. However, more than 60 scientific bodies worldwide and thousands of studies maintain aspartame’s safety for human consumption, barring those with phenylketonuria.

The confusion arises from the complexities of risk research and the misunderstanding of the difference between ‘hazard’ and ‘risk’. The WHO’s classification system is focused on hazard potential, not actual risk, and this prospective reclassification of aspartame does not assert it as a definitive cancer-causing agent.

Despite ongoing debates, current evidence still firmly supports that aspartame’s consumption levels in humans pose no cancer risk.