Aspartame Controversy Sparked as FDA Rejects WHO Report (2)

Debates over aspartame’s safety sprung up after a World Health Organization unit classified the artificial sweetener as a possible carcinogen while another agency cleared the substance for consumption at common levels.

Aspartame was labeled Friday as a possible cause of cancer in a report from the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer, based on limited evidence. A joint committee between the WHO and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations said the same day that the safety of aspartame isn’t a major concern at current levels of recommended consumption.

The controversy escalated when the US Food and ...