Artificals sweeteners may harm your health even no-calorie ones

A new research in Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism along with previous studies indicate that everyone should say goodbye to these no-calorie sweeteners for several important reasons you may not even realize.

What’s not so sweet about artificial sweeteners

If you believe no-calorie artificial sweeteners are safe and healthy, that they can help you lose weight or prevent you from gaining weight, and that they are good to use if you have diabetes, you would not be alone in these beliefs. However, a new study, as well as previous investigations, suggests quite the opposite.

Two thirds of Americans are either overweight or obese, so providing more products with artificial sweeteners should be a good thing, right? One area where consumption of diet products has risen steadily is diet drinks, with a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noting that diet beverage intake increased from 18 percent in 2000 to 21 percent in 2010 among women and from 14 percent to 19 percent among men during the same period.

However, drinking just one artificially sweetened beverage per day may increase your risk for a variety of health problems, including type 2 diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular disease. If you thought sugar-based drinks were associated with these same risks, you are right.

In fact, according to Susan E. Swithers of Purdue University, the author of a new study, the data to support claims that artificially sweetened drinks help with weight loss, weight gain prevention, and other benefits “are not very strong.” She also stated that “although it seems like common sense that diet sodas would not be as problematic as regular sodas, common sense is not always right.”

What might be considered common sense, however, is avoiding both artificially sweetened and sugar-sweetened beverages, since both types reportedly are associated with major health problems. The reason for this finding, according to the authors, seems to be that artificial sweeteners alter certain patterns in the brain’s pleasure regions, causing people who drink these beverages to not feel satisfied by the sweet taste.

In fact, when lab animals have been given artificial sweeteners, they have tended to highly desire more sweets. The result has been a tendency to overeat sugary, high-calorie foods and gain significant amounts of weight.

Thus the not-so-sweet news for anyone who has been consuming artificially sweetened beverages and foods is that “the intake of sugars needs to be expanded to limit intake of all sweeteners, not just sugars,” according to the study’s author. But there is more.

More health hazards from artificial sweeteners

Let’s look at some previous studies on artificial sweeteners and their potential hazards. Aspartame is a good place to begin, as there are reports that the chemical has a negative impact on brain function.

One new study from the Washington University School of Medicine looked at aspartame (e.g., Equal, NutraSweet) and its safety record. Investigators reported several concerns about aspartame:
Aspartame metabolizes into phenylalanine, aspartic acid, and methanol, and excess phenylalanine has an impact on serotonin and dopamine levels, which are hormones involved in the regulation of appetite, mood, and sleep.

One of aspartame’s metabolites, called diketopiperazine, has cancer-causing properties and plays a role in the development of tumors of the central nervous system. Thus use of foods and beverages that contain aspartame may pose a health hazard.

Other dangers of using artificial sweeteners relate to an increased risk of developing conditions associated with type 2 diabetes, including glucose resistance and insulin resistance. In particular, investigators at Washington University School of Medicine looked at Splenda (sucralose) and its impact on glucose and insulin resistance.

In the study, researchers evaluated the effect of artificial sweeteners among severely obese people who did not have diabetes and who did not use artificial sweeteners regularly. They found that use of an artificial sweetener “was related to an enhanced blood insulin and glucose response.”

A Danish study evaluated the impact of both sugar-based and artificially sweetened beverages on pregnant women. Overall the investigators discovered that high intake of both types of beverages is associated with an increased risk of preterm delivery.

A possible link between artificial sweeteners and cancer has long been debated, with scores of studies indicating an increased risk of various types of tumors in animal studies. Far fewer studies have examined the association in humans.

One example in the latter category is a study that was published in the December 2012 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The Boston-based researchers looked at the intake of artificially sweetened and sugar-based sodas and the risk of leukemia and lymphoma in adults.

The investigators reviewed data from the Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, spanning 22 years of information. They found an increased risk of non-Hodgkin lymphomas and multiple myelomas among men (but not women) who consumed at least one diet soda daily when compared with men who did not drink diet soda.

The bottom line is that much controversy and debate surround the use of artificial sweeteners. Scores of studies in animals suggest their use can cause a variety of cancers, allergic reactions, and even neurological problems, yet authorities such as the Food and Drug Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the European Food Safety Authority, among others, have continued to declare these synthetic products are safe for human consumption.

A number of health experts and consumer advocate groups, such as Dr. Andrew Weil and the Center for Science in the Public Interest, have pointed out the health dangers of artificial sweeteners. Weil, for example, explains in a Prevention article that these synthetic sweeteners have “never been shown to help anyone lose weight, and some of them are downright bad for you.”

Weil also warned that “aspartame, saccharin, and sucralose all have been shown to increase the risk of some health problems, including obesity, headaches, and some types of cancer.” Are these products you want to feed to your children and yourself?

Evidence against the safety of artificial sweeteners continues to build, despite resistance from food industry manufacturers and others with a financial interest in their remaining on the market. Perhaps it’s time for everyone who is concerned about their health to say goodbye to artificial sweeteners.

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Origins of the Codex Alimentarius

ANCIENT TIMES

Evidence from the earliest historical writings indicates that governing authorities were already then concerned with codifying rules to protect consumers from dishonest practices in the sale of food. Assyrian tablets described the method to be used in determining the correct weights and measures for foodgrains, and Egyptian scrolls prescribed the labelling to be applied to certain foods. In ancient Athens, beer and wines were inspected for purity and soundness, and the Romans had a well-organized state food control system to protect consumers from fraud or bad produce. In Europe during the Middle Ages, individual countries passed laws concerning the quality and safety of eggs, sausages, cheese, beer, wine and bread. Some of these ancient statutes still exist today.

A SCIENTIFIC BASE

The second half of the nineteenth century saw the first general food laws adopted and basic food control systems put in place to monitor compliance. During the same period, food chemistry came to be recognized as a reputable discipline and the determination of the "purity" of a food was primarily based on the chemical parameters of simple food composition. When harmful industrial chemicals were used to disguise the true colour or nature of food, the concept of "adulteration" was extended to include the use of hazardous chemicals in food. Science had begun providing tools with which to disclose dishonest practices in the sale of food and to distinguish between safe and unsafe edible products.

Report of the First Meeting of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Nutrition, 1950 - an extract

"Food regulations in different countries are often conflicting and contradictory. Legislation governing preservation, nomenclature and acceptable food standards often varies widely from country to country. New legislation not based on scientific knowledge is often introduced, and little account may be taken of nutritional principles in formulating regulations."

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS

In the Austro-Hungarian Empire between 1897 and 1911, a collection of standards and product descriptions for a wide variety of foods was developed as the Codex Alimentarius Austriacus. Although lacking legal force, it was used as a reference by the courts to determine standards of identity for specific foods. The present-day Codex Alimentarius draws its name from the Austrian code.

Milestones in the evolution of food standards

ANCIENT TIMES
- Attempts are made by early civilizations to codify foods

EARLY 1800s
- Canning is invented

MID-1800s
- Bananas are first shipped to Europe from the tropics

1800s
- The first general food laws are adopted and enforcement agencies established
- Food chemistry gains credibility and reliable methods are developed to test for food adulteration

LATE 1800s
- A new era of long-distance food transportation is ushered in by the first international shipments of frozen meat from Australia and New Zealand to the United Kingdom

EARLY 1900s
- Food trade associations attempt to facilitate world trade through the use of harmonized standards

1903
- The International Dairy Federation (IDF) develops international standards for milk and milk products. (IDF was later to be an impor-tant catalyst in the conception of the Codex Alimentarius Commission)

1945
- FAO is founded, with responsibilities covering nutrition and associated international food standards

1948
- WHO is founded, with responsibilities covering human health and, in particular, a mandate to establish food standards

1949
- Argentina proposes a regional Latin American food code, Código Latino-Americano de Alimentos

1950
- Joint FAO/WHO expert meetings begin on nutrition, food additives and related areas

1953
- WHO's highest governing body, the World Health Assembly, states that the widening use of chemicals in the food industry presents a new public health problem that needs attention

1954-1958
- Austria actively pursues the creation of a regional food code, the Codex Alimentarius Europaeus, or European Codex Alimentarius

1960
- The first FAO Regional Conference for Europe endorses the desirability of international - as distinct from regional - agreement on minimum food standards and invites the Organization's Director-General to submit proposals for a joint FAO/WHO programme on food standards to the Conference of FAO

1961
- The Council of the Codex Alimentarius Europaeus adopts a resolution proposing that its work on food standards be taken over by FAO and WHO

1961
- With the support of WHO, the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Council of the Codex Alimentarius Europaeus, the FAO Conference establishes the Codex Alimentarius and resolves to create an international food standards programme

1961
- The FAO Conference decides to establish a Codex Alimentarius Commission and requests an early endorsement by WHO of a joint FAO/WHO food standards programme

1962
- The Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Conference requests the Codex Alimentarius Commission to implement a joint FAO/WHO food standards programme and to create the Codex Alimentarius

1963
- Recognizing the importance of WHO's role in all health aspects of food and considering its mandate to establish food standards, the World Health Assembly approves establishment of the Joint FAO/WHO Programme on Food Standards and adopts the statutes of the Codex Alimentarius Commission

TRADE CONCERNS

The different sets of standards arising from the spontaneous and independent development of food laws and standards by different countries inevitably gave rise to trade barriers that were of increasing concern to food traders in the early twentieth century. Trade associations that were formed as a reaction to such barriers pressured governments to harmonize their various food standards so as to facilitate trade in safe foods of a defined quality. The International Dairy Federation (IDF), founded in 1903, was one such association. Its work on standards for milk and milk products later provided a catalyst in the establishment of the Codex Alimentarius Commission and in the setting of its procedures for elaborating standards.

When FAO and WHO were founded in the late 1940s, there was heightened international concern about the direction being taken in the field of food regulation. Countries were acting independently and there was little, if any, consultation among them with a view to harmonization. This situation is reflected in the observations of international meetings of the time.

CONSUMERS' CONCERNS

In the 1940s, rapid progress was made in food science and technology. With the advent of more sensitive analytical tools, knowledge about the nature of food, its quality and associated health hazards also grew quickly. There was intense interest in food microbiology, food chemistry and associated disciplines, and new discoveries were considered newsworthy. Articles about food at all levels flourished and consumers were bombarded with messages in popular magazines, in the tabloid press and on the radio. Some were correct, some incorrect - but all were intended to absorb interest and many were overly sensational.

Despite the questionable quality of some of the information disseminated, however, the outcome was an increase in the public's food consciousness and, consequently, knowledge about food safety gradually grew.

At the same time, as more and more information about food and related matters became available, there was greater apprehension on the part of consumers. Whereas, previously, consumers' concerns had extended only as far as the "visibles"- underweight contents, size variations, misleading labelling and poor quality - they now embraced a fear of the "invisibles", i.e. health hazards could not be seen, smelled or tasted, such as micro-organisms, pesticide residues, environmental contaminants and food additives. With the blossoming of well-organized and informed consumers' groups, both internationally and nationally, there was growing pressure on governments worldwide to protect communities from poor-quality and hazardous foods.

The problem of food additives

In 1955, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Nutrition recorded that:

"... the increasing, and sometimes insufficiently controlled, use of food additives has become a matter of public and administrative concern."

The Committee also noted that the means of solving problems arising from the use of food additives may differ from country to country and stated that this fact:

"... must in itself occasion concern, since the existence of widely differing control measures may well form an undesirable deterrent to international trade."

A DESIRE FOR LEADERSHIP

Food regulators, traders, consumers and experts were looking increasingly to FAO and WHO for leadership in unravelling the skein of food regulations that were impeding trade and providing mostly inadequate protection for consumers. In 1953, WHO's governing body, the World Health Assembly, stated that the widening use of chemicals in food presented a new public health problem, and it was proposed that the two organizations should conduct relevant studies. One such study identified the use of food additives as a critical factor.

As a result, FAO and WHO convened the first joint FAO/WHO Conference on Food Additives in 1955. From that Conference eventuated the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) which, more than 40 years after its inception, still meets regularly. JECFA's work continues to be of fundamental importance to the activities of the Codex Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants as well as to the Codex Commission's deliberations on standards for food additives.

The development of food commodity standards in the 1950s*

- Stresa Convention - Introduced the practice of naming and specifying the composition of particular cheeses
- ECE Committee on Inland Transport - Set quality standards for fresh fruits and vegetables moving in trade in Europe
- FAO and ECE - Set requirements and analytical procedures for determining the purity of fruit juices
- ECE - Set standards for quick-frozen fruits and vegetables
- IDF - Set standards and labelling requirements for milk and milk products

*All the activities listed here have since been taken up by the Codex Alimentarius Commission.

INTEGRATING NON-GOVERNMENTAL ACTIVITIES

While FAO and WHO furthered their involvement in food-related matters, a variety of committees set up by international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) also began working in earnest on standards for food commodities. In time, the work of those NGO committees was either assumed by or continued jointly with the appropriate Codex Alimentarius commodity committees and, in some cases, the non-governmental committees themselves became Codex committees.

A demonstrated need for harmonization

The Codex Alimentarius came into being in response to a widely recognized need. It did not just happen. It was the product of a long evolutionary process involving a wide cross-section of the global community. Many people representing many interests and disciplines were involved in the process, and it is not unreasonable to suppose that, as long as the need perceived by those people remains, so the Codex Alimentarius will remain.

INTERNATIONAL CONSULTATION AND COOPERATION

Two landmark years in the foundation of the Codex Alimentarius were 1960 and 1961. In October 1960, the first FAO Regional Conference for Europe crystallized a widely held view when it recognized:

"The desirability of international agreement on minimum food standards and related questions (including labelling requirements, methods of analysis, etc.) ... as an important means of protecting the consumer's health, of ensuring quality and of reducing trade barriers, particularly in the rapidly integrating market of Europe."

The Conference also felt that:

"... coordination of the growing number of food standards programmes undertaken by many organizations presented a particular problem."

Within four months of the regional conference, FAO entered into discussions with WHO, ECE, OECD and the Council of the Codex Alimentarius Europeaus with proposals that would lead to the establishment of an international food standards programme.

In November 1961, the Eleventh Session of the Conference of FAO passed a resolution to set up the Codex Alimentarius Commission.

In May 1963, the Sixteenth World Health Assembly approved the establishment of the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme and adopted the statutes of the Codex Alimentarius Commission.

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