Consuming the artificial sweetener aspartame contained in drinks such as Diet Coke is safe, a World Health Organisation committee has concluded, The Times (£) reported. Although one arm of the WHO said the sweetener should be added to a list of potentially cancer-causing substances, another has said there was “no convincing evidence” of adverse effects from consumption.
The Financial Times (£) takes a different angle and says that the World Health Organization has classified aspartame, an artificial sweetener commonly found in carbonated drinks, as “possibly carcinogenic”, elevating the risk of a consumer backlash for beverage giants such as PepsiCo and Coca-Cola.
The company behind Sensodyne toothpaste, Centrum vitamins and Panadol painkillers plans widespread layoffs in the UK and around the world a year after being spun off from Britain’s second-biggest drugmaker GSK, according to The Guardian. The papers reports that Haleon, which has 24,000 staff across 170 countries, intends to cut hundreds of roles in the UK and potentially thousands worldwide.
A consultation started on Wednesday and will close next month. Some employees will be offered other roles with the company while others are set to leave in September, The Times (£) reports in a follow-up.
A spokesman said that the company had ‘announced internally a number of changes across our global business this week’ to make Haleon ‘more agile’ (The Mail).
A feature in The Guardian examines how Prime became “a highly desirable, totally notorious drink”. “The brand was launched last year by influencers Logan Paul and KSI, and has ridden a wave of controversy to generate $250m of sales. Ultraprocessed and unpalatable - what is its secret?”
Britain’s biggest pizza delivery chain has hired a long-time company insider to become its new boss after a nine-month search (The Times £). Andrew Rennie will start as chief executive of Domino’s Pizza Group next month, having previously acted as the European boss for the Sydney-listed Domino’s Pizza Enterprises.
America’s oldest craft brewery Anchor Brewing is to shut after 127 years in business (The Telegraph). The San Francisco-based company, known for its steam lager, is the self-proclaimed oldest craft brewery in the US and has survived earthquakes, prohibition and two world wars – but the current downturn has proved too much.
Marks & Spencer chairman Archie Norman says, in an editorial column in The Financial Times (£), that the bond between British business and society has eroded. “We need to kickstart a system of connections for shareholders in our digital age,” he writes.
The EU will lift remaining controls on Japanese food imports imposed after the 2011 Fukushima disaster, in a boost for Tokyo as it faces international pressure over other measures related to the nuclear plant (The Financial Times £).
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