Questions about elevated cancer risks associated with the consumption of artificial sweeteners have lingered for a good while, based on research conducted in Italy on rats exposed to aspartame. This latest Italian study of more than 3,000 patients, however, may not dampen much of the controversy.

For the record, scientists collected and compared data on sweetener consumption between 1991-2004 on 230 patients with stomach cancer, 326 patients with pancreatic cancer and 454 patients with endometrial cancer, and 2,000 healthy control patients.

After adjustments for "various confounding factors," researchers concluded patients who used saccharin, aspartame or other artificial sweeteners didn't increase their cancer risk.

No doubt, debate will continue about this latest outcome, considering these results were confined to Italian patients and the three cancers identified in the previous study (leukemia, lymphoma and breast cancer) weren't considered in the newer study.

Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, Vol. 18, No. 8. pp. 2235-2238. August 2009

NutraIngredients-USA August 12, 2008