ASPARTAME: mentre la discussione continua e in attesa di dati conclusivi, Innovares precauzionalmente non utilizza aspartame nei suoi prodotti.

 

01/2011 Nuovi dubbi sull'aspartame. Se ne occuperà l'Efsa
Un nuovo studio dell'Istituto Ramazzini di Bologna ribadisce la tesi di una possibile cancerogenicità dell'aspartame e il dolcificante artificiale diventa oggetto di un'interrogazione parlamentare presentata alla Commissione europea. E l'Autorità europea per la sicurezza alimentare (Efsa) dovrà occuparsi di valutarne la sicurezza, dopo che si era già espressa a favore dell'aspartame con due pareri, nel 2006 e nel 2009. «Il risultato dello studio» spiega il professor Paolo Stacchini, responsabile del reparto sicurezza chimica nelle filiere alimentari dell'Istituto superiore di sanità (Iss) «non è una novità in assoluto. Non troppo tempo fa diverse ricerche, sempre dell'Istituto Ramazzini, condotte su animali in laboratorio, avevano rilevato evidenze di cancerogenicità in alcuni casi». Il gruppo Additivi dell'Authority aveva verificato l'attendibilità delle ricerche, concludendo che «non si evidenziavano problemi tali da dover rivedere l'attuale impiego dell'aspartame» e il Joint expert committee on food additives (Jecfa) di Fao/Oms, organismo omologo al gruppo Additivi era giunto ad analoghe conclusioni. A tranquillizzare sulla sicurezza dell'aspartame anche Assobibe, l'Associazione dei produttori italiani di bevande analcoliche, che afferma «l'aspartame è un ingrediente alimentare tra i più controllati tra quelli oggi in uso, approvato da più di 100 agenzie di regolamentazione in tutto il mondo, utilizzato in più di 100 paesi, da più di 30 anni per circa 6000 alimenti e bevande».

Drug Chem Toxicol. 2008;31(4):447-57.
Genotoxicity testing of low-calorie sweeteners: aspartame, acesulfame-K, and saccharin.
Bandyopadhyay A, Ghoshal S, Mukherjee A.
Centre of Advanced Study, Cell and Chromosome Research, Department of Botany, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India.
Low-calorie sweeteners are chemicals that offer the sweetness of sugar without the calories. Consumers are increasingly concerned about the quality and safety of many products present in the diet, in particular, the use of low-calorie sweeteners, flavorings, colorings, preservatives, and dietary supplements. In the present study, we evaluated the mutagenicity of the three low-calorie sweeteners in the Ames/Salmonella/microsome test and their genotoxic potential by comet assay in the bone marrow cells of mice. Swiss albino mice, Mus musculus, were orally administered with different concentrations of aspartame (ASP; 7, 14, 28, and 35 mg/kg body weight), acesulfame-K (ASK; 150, 300, and 600 mg/kg body weight), and saccharin (50, 100, and 200 mg/kg body weight) individually. Concurrently negative and positive control sets were maintained. The animals were sacrificed and the bone marrow cells were processed for comet assay. The standard plate-incorporation assay was carried with the three sweeteners in Salmonella typhimurium TA 97a and TA 100 strains both in the absence and presence of the S9 mix. The comet parameters of DNA were increased in the bone marrow cells due to the sweetener-induced DNA strand breaks, as revealed by increased comet-tail extent and percent DNA in the tail. ASK and saccharin were found to induce greater DNA damage than ASP. However, none could act as a potential mutagen in the Ames/Salmonella /microsome test. These findings are important, since they represent a potential health risk associated with the exposure to these agents.

 

Environ Health Perspect. 2008 Nov;116(11):1439-42. Epub 2008 Jun 30.
The limits of two-year bioassay exposure regimens for identifying chemical carcinogens.

 

Huff J, Jacobson MF, Davis DL.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA.
BACKGROUND: Chemical carcinogenesis bioassays in animals have long been recognized and accepted as valid predictors of potential cancer hazards to humans. Most rodent bioassays begin several weeks after birth and expose animals to chemicals or other substances, including workplace and environmental pollutants, for 2 years. New findings indicate the need to extend the timing and duration of exposures used in the rodent bioassay. OBJECTIVES: In this Commentary, we propose that the sensitivity of chemical carcinogenesis bio-assays would be enhanced by exposing rodents beginning in utero and continuing for 30 months (130 weeks) or until their natural deaths at up to about 3 years. DISCUSSION: Studies of three chemicals of different structures and uses-aspartame, cadmium, and toluene-suggest that exposing experimental animals in utero and continuing exposure for 30 months or until their natural deaths increase the sensitivity of bioassays, avoid false-negative results, and strengthen the value and validity of results for regulatory agencies. CONCLUSIONS: Government agencies, drug companies, and the chemical industry should conduct and compare the results of 2-year bioassays of known carcinogens or chemicals for which there is equivocal evidence of carcinogenicity with longer-term studies, with and without in utero exposure. If studies longer than 2 years and/or with in utero exposure are found to better identify potential human carcinogens, then regulatory agencies should promptly revise their testing guidelines, which were established in the 1960s and early 1970s. Changing the timing and dosing of the animal bioassay would enhance protection of workers and consumers who are exposed to potentially dangerous workplace or home contaminants, pollutants, drugs, food additives, and other chemicals throughout their lives.

 

Roberts HJ.
Overlooked Aspartame-Induced Hypertension.
South Med J. 2008 Aug 11.
PMID: 18708962

 

Dermatitis. 2008 May-Jun;19(3):E10-1.
Formaldehyde, aspartame, and migraines: a possible connection.
Jacob SE, Stechschulte S.
Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.
Aspartame is a widely used artificial sweetener that has been linked to pediatric and adolescent migraines. Upon ingestion, aspartame is broken, converted, and oxidized into formaldehyde in various tissues. We present the first case series of aspartame-associated migraines related to clinically relevant positive reactions to formaldehyde on patch testing.

 

Soffritti M.
Carcinogenicity of aspartame: Soffritti responds.
Environ Health Perspect. 2008 Jun;116(6):A240. No abstract available.
PMID: 18560503

 

Magnuson B, Williams GM.
Carcinogenicity of aspartame in rats not proven.
Environ Health Perspect. 2008 Jun;116(6):A239-40; author reply A240. No abstract available.
PMID: 18560494

 

 

Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2008 May;17(5):1295-6.
Aspartame and incidence of brain malignancies.
Davis DL, Ganter L, Weinkle J.

 

Basic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol. 2008 Feb;102(2):118-24.
Consequences of exposure to carcinogens beginning during developmental life.
Soffritti M, Belpoggi F, Esposti DD, Falcioni L, Bua L.
Cesare Maltoni Cancer Research Center, European Ramazzini Foundation of Oncology and Environmental Sciences, Bologna, Italy. crcfr@ramazzini.it The increased incidence of cancer over the last 50-60 years may be largely attributed to two factors: the ageing of the population and the diffusion of agents and situations presenting carcinogenic risks. Today, we have entered into a new era in which populations are ever-increasingly exposed to diffuse carcinogenic risks, present not only in the occupational, but also in the general environment. We must now also consider an additional factor in the carcinogenic process, that is, the age in which exposure to carcinogenic risks begins. Apart from the paradigmatic cases of diethylstilboestrol and ionizing radiation, the available epidemiological data concerning the adult consequences of developmental exposure to carcinogens is very limited. However, important data have been provided by long-term experimental carcinogenicity bioassays conducted using rodents. This paper reports a selection of studies conducted in the laboratories of the Cesare Maltoni Cancer Research Center of the European Ramazzini Foundation in which exposure to the chemical agents vinyl acetate monomer, ethyl alcohol and aspartame was started during developmental life and continued into adulthood. The results of these studies provide supporting evidence that lifespan exposure to carcinogenic agents beginning during developmental life produces an overall increase in the carcinogenic effects observed. Moreover, when comparing prenatal and postnatal exposure, the data demonstrate that the development of cancers may appear earlier in life.

 

Eur J Clin Nutr. 2008 Jan 30.
Aspartame effects on the brain.
Fernstrom JD.
1Department of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.

 

Eur J Clin Nutr. 2008 Apr;62(4):451-62. Epub 2007 Aug 8.
Direct and indirect cellular effects of aspartame on the brain.
Humphries P, Pretorius E, Naudé H.
[1] 1Department of Anatomy, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa [2] 2Department of Anatomy, University of the Limpopo, South Africa. The use of the artificial sweetener, aspartame, has long been contemplated and studied by various researchers, and people are concerned about its negative effects. Aspartame is composed of phenylalanine (50%), aspartic acid (40%) and methanol (10%). Phenylalanine plays an important role in neurotransmitter regulation, whereas aspartic acid is also thought to play a role as an excitatory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system. Glutamate, asparagines and glutamine are formed from their precursor, aspartic acid. Methanol, which forms 10% of the broken down product, is converted in the body to formate, which can either be excreted or can give rise to formaldehyde, diketopiperazine (a carcinogen) and a number of other highly toxic derivatives. Previously, it has been reported that consumption of aspartame could cause neurological and behavioural disturbances in sensitive individuals. Headaches, insomnia and seizures are also some of the neurological effects that have been encountered, and these may be accredited to changes in regional brain concentrations of catecholamines, which include norepinephrine, epinephrine and dopamine. The aim of this study was to discuss the direct and indirect cellular effects of aspartame on the brain, and we propose that excessive aspartame ingestion might be involved in the pathogenesis of certain mental disorders (DSM-IV-TR 2000) and also in compromised learning and emotional functioning. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2008) 62, 451-462; doi:10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602866; published online 8 August 2007.

 

Review raises questions over aspartame and brain health. By staff reporter (FoodQuality news.com)
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03-Apr-2008 - Excessive intake of aspartame may inhibit the ability of enzymes in the brain to function normally, suggests a new review that could fan the flames of controversy over the sweetener. The review, by scientists from the University of Pretoria and the University of Limpopo and published recently in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, indicated that high consumption of the sweetener may lead to neurodegeneration. Aspartame is made up of phenylalanine (50 per cent), aspartic acid (40 per cent) and methanol (10 per cent). It is commonly used in food products for the diet or low calorie market, including soft drinks and chewing gums. It was approved for use in foods in the US and EU member states in the early 1980s. The sweetener has caused much controversy amid suspicions on whether it is entirely safe, with studies linking the ingredient and cancer in rats. It has also previously been found that aspartame consumption can cause neurological and behavioural disturbances in sensitive individuals. Symptoms that have been reported include headaches, insomnia and seizures. Despite strong concerns being raised from some quarters over the sweetener, both the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have not changed their guidelines regarding the safety of the ingredient or intake advice. The new review also challenges finding published last year in the journal Critical Reviews in Toxicology (Informa Healthcase) that considered over 500 studies, articles and reports conducted over the last 25 years - including work that was not published, but that was submitted to government bodies as part of the regulatory approvals process. The earlier review concluded: "The weight of existing evidence s that aspartame is safe at current levels of consumption… No credible evidence was found that aspartame is carcinogenic, neurotoxic, or has any other adverse effect on health when consumed even at quantities many times the established ADI [acceptable daily intake] levels."

 

New review
Writing in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a Nature journal, the scientists behind the new review state: "The aim of this study was to discuss the direct and indirect cellular effects of aspartame on the brain, and we propose that excessive aspartame ingestion might be involved in the pathogenesis of certain mental disorders, and also in compromised learning and emotional functioning."
The researchers found a number of direct and indirect changes that occur in the brain as a result of high consumption levels of aspartame, leading to neurodegeneration.
They found aspartame can disturb the metabolism of amino acids, protein structure and metabolism, the integrity of nucleic acids, neuronal function and endocrine balances. It also may change the brain concentrations of catecholamines, which include norepinephrine, epinephrine and domapine.
Additionally, they said the breakdown of aspartame causes nerves to fire excessively, which can indirectly lead to a high rate of neuron depolarisation.
The researchers added: "The energy systems for certain required enzyme reactions become compromised, thus indirectly leading to the inability of enzymes to function optimally.
"The ATP stores [adenosine triphosphate] in the cells are depleted, indicating that low concentrations of glucose are present in the cells, and this in turn will indirectly decrease the synthesis of acetylcholine, glutamate and GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid)."
Furthermore, the functioning of glutamate as an excitatory neurotransmitter is inhibited as a result of the intracellular calcium uptake being altered, and mitochondria are damaged, which the researchers said could lead to apoptosis (cell death) of cells and also a decreased rate of oxidative metabolism.
As a result of their study, the researchers said more testing is required to further determine the health effects on aspartame and bring an end to the controversy.
Source: European Journal of Clinical Nutrition
2008, doi: 10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602866
"Direct and indirect cellular effects of aspartame on the brain"
Authors: P. Humphries, E. Pretorius, H. Naude

 

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