Growing Concerns Over Possible Carcinogenic Aspartame in F&B Products
Key Highlights :
Food and beverage (F&B) companies are growing increasingly concerned over the World Health Organization's (WHO) possible classification of artificial sweetener aspartame as a carcinogen, company officials said Sunday. Aspartame is one of the most popular artificial sweeteners used to make zero-sugar beverages, chewing gum, yogurt drinks, and makgeolli, or rice wine, here. According to Reuters, Thursday, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) under WHO is set to declare aspartame as "possibly carcinogenic to humans."
In the domestic market, "Pepsi Zero," distributed by Lotte Chilsung Beverage, contains aspartame. Lotte imports the soft drink directly from PepsiCo's headquarters in New York and only bottles them. Its recipe is also a trade secret according to the American manufacturer. "Aspartame has been used by F&B companies around the world for a long time. It is not an issue of an individual company but rather that of the whole related industry, globally. We are currently discussing the matter with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) and will wait to see what they have to say," a Lotte Chilsung Beverage official said.
If the artificial sweetener is classified as a cancer-causing agent, Lotte will fall vulnerable to considerable economic damage as the company is currently enjoying good sales of Pepsi Zero. Its sales in the whole soft drink business increased 14.6 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of this year thanks to the well-performing zero-sugar cola beverage. Aspartame is also included in almost all makgeolli products. Seoul Jangsoo, one of the country's largest makgeolli producers, said it will review recalling all of its rice wine products with the artificial sweetener if the MFDS becomes clear on the classification of aspartame as carcinogenic to humans.
Consumers are also concerned about purchasing sugar-free drinks. "I drink a lot of sugar-free beverages due to my health concerns and I feel betrayed that many of them contain possible cancer-causing substances. Furthermore, people including myself do not know which drinks contain aspartame. The government should take action to clarify the drinks containing it to consumers," a 58-year-old housewife surnamed Kong said.
The WHO's possible classification of aspartame as a carcinogen has caused a stir in the F&B industry. Companies are now waiting for the MFDS to give a statement on the matter and decide how to act accordingly. In the meantime, consumers are left in the dark about which drinks contain aspartame and which do not. The government should take action to provide clarity to the public on this issue.
