You may have heard of a class of food additives called "sweeteners" such as the most common saccharin and aspartame. But you probably don't know their origins. In fact, some of the science men who did not follow the laboratory procedures inadvertently discovered or invented them: in 1879, a Russian chemist poured the bottles and cans in the laboratory without washing their hands. When I went home to eat, I found that eating glutinous rice was sweet. "Sweet" was discovered. In 1965, a chemist named Schlett accidentally took a finger at the time of synthesizing drugs. The famous sweetener "Aspa Sweet" came out.
　　
Sweetener can not cure people can save people
The birth of sweeteners is a great news for the food industry because their sweetness is hundreds of times more than sucrose, which can greatly reduce costs. For consumers, this is also good news, because they provide much less calories than sucrose, even negligible, so you can satisfy your desire for sweets and avoid obesity caused by excessive energy intake. Chronic diseases such as diabetes.
Rumors about Aspartame
Since the FDA approved Aspartame in 1976, various rumors, conspiracy theories, interest kidnappings, and even lengthy legal proceedings have never been interrupted. The EFSA assessment results were denied for the various “health hazards†of the legendary aspartame on the Internet. They combined a large number of studies to conclude that aspartame does not damage the brain and nerve tissue, nor does it affect human behavior and cognitive function, including children. For pregnant women, aspartame does not affect the development of the fetus at the current safe intake (except for pregnant women with phenylketonuria). Based on sufficient research evidence from animals and humans, EFSA also ruled out the carcinogenic potential of aspartame, which is consistent with the information of the International Agency for Research on Cancer. I did not see it on the list of carcinogens.
About the safety of aspartame
The safety of aspartame is almost universally recognized by authorities around the world, and the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) of the World Health Organization evaluates its safety twice. Experiments on animals have shown that there is no adverse reaction (NOAEL) per kilogram of body weight of 4000 mg, taking into account various uncertainties, setting a 100-fold insurance factor, and finally establishing 40 mg/kg body weight for safe intake (ADI) ). More than 100 countries have approved it as a food additive, including Europe, which has traditionally been known for its conservativeness and harshness.
Recently, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has issued a “safety certificate†for Aspartame, saying “again†because they have already concluded in 2011 that “aspartame is safe†. EFSA has reorganized and carefully studied the existing evidence and finally determined that for the general population, the intake level of 40 mg per kilogram of body weight is very safe, which is equivalent to a 60 kg body weight adult eating 2.4 per day. Gram, it’s okay to eat for a lifetime.
Phenylketonuria should pay attention
Concerns about the safety of aspartame also come from its metabolites, which degrade into phenylalanine, aspartic acid and methanol in the body. Is methanol not toxic? In fact, fruits and vegetables will naturally contain a small amount of methanol. For example, in the production of fruit juice, the hydrolysis of pectin will produce methanol, and the content of methanol in fresh juice can reach more than 100 mg per liter. Methanol can reach hundreds of milligrams per liter or more, while aspartame in a liter of sugar-free beverage produces up to tens of milligrams of methanol. So the overall conclusion of EFSA is that the degradation products of aspartame are “drizzy†compared to the same substances we eat normally every day. Of course, EFSA also pointed out that patients with "phenylketonuria" should avoid ingesting aspartame because of phenylalanine.
After reading the above explanation, I believe that everyone understands the mystery of the Coca-Cola additive aspartame. After the World Health Organization's Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), it evaluates its safety twice and everyone can drink it with peace of mind.