Food app Yuka has joined forces with charities to launch what it calls an “unprecedented mobilisation” across Europe to try to ban the artificial sweetener aspartame.
The petition, which has received more than 10,000 signatures in its first morning, marks World Cancer Day and follows a raft of studies linking the artificial sweeteners with health risks including cancer.
Yuka, which has three million users in the UK and 45 million across Europe, said it planned to use consumer power to force the hand of governments across Europe and the UK.
It said there was growing danger that despite evidence of the dangers, aspartame was still used as a sugar substitute in over 2,500 low-fat or sugar-free products in Europe, especially in soft drinks, including products such as Coca-Cola Zero, Pepsi Max and Sprite Zero.
It is also used in several energy drinks and chewing gums.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the WHO (World Health Organization) classified the sweetener aspartame as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” in July 2023.
It has also been linked in studies to an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
Yuka, the French League Against Cancer, and the NGO Foodwatch have launched the petition in 11 European countries, include the UK, urging EU member states and the UK to take action.
Julie Chapon, co-founder of Yuka, told The Grocer she hoped “consumer power” could convince governments across Europe as well as drinks companies to take action.
“Aspartame has been classified as potentially carcinogenic to humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and has been associated with an increased risk of breast cancer and obesity-related cancer,” she said.
“With Yuka, we are finding that a lot of our users don’t want products with aspartame any more.
“For many years we’ve heard that aspartame is only dangerous if you consume a lot of it, but because recent studies have shown it’s dangerous even when consumed in very small amounts.
“Studies show that consuming even les than half a can of soda per day can cause a cancer risk. A lot of people drink a lot more than that every day.”
Camille Dorioz, campaigns director at Foodwatch France, said: “There’s no time to lose. The inaction of states and Europe over the past year-and-a-half is intolerable. An additive with so many risks has no place in our food or drinks. By highlighting the potential cancer risks of aspartame, the WHO has sent a clear warning about its danger to our health. European leaders must protect us.”
However, the International Sweeteners Association accused the campaign of setting out to “confuse and mislead consumers”.
Laurent Oger, director general of the ISA, said aspartame has been the subject of an “overwhelming” number of scientific studies and has been thoroughly researched and approved for global use.
He said food safety authorities including the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) of the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) had reviewed aspartame and found that its use is safe.
”In 2013, EFSA re-confirmed the safety of aspartame after undertaking the most comprehensive risk assessment of aspartame to date,” he said.
He added IARC was not a food safety body and its classification did not consider intake levels and actual risk, making it less comprehensive than other reviews.
Oger also pointed to a WHO press release from 2023 which found “the evidence of an association between aspartame consumption and cancer in humans is not convincing”.
He added: “As part of an overall healthy diet and lifestyle, aspartame can be used to further public health objectives on sugar intake reduction and ultimately assist in weight and diabetes management, as well as with dental health.”
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