I wonder if you have been screened by Aspartame's hot search these two days? Food additives are also common in our daily life. Food additives are substances put into food to increase the color and flavor of food. One of the additives is called aspartame. The latest report from Reuters: WHO may make a new statement on the carcinogenic grade of aspartame next month! So what exactly is aspartame? Why is it classified as "possibly carcinogenic"? What foods do we usually eat? Next, let's take a closer look.

First of all, what is aspartame?

Aspartame, the scientific name of aspartame, is an important sweetener. It is widely used in pharmaceutical processing and food processing, and its safety is very important. Although some sweeteners in the market have been replaced by sweeteners with relatively high safety such as aspartame, they are still widely used, especially excessive use, which may affect people's life safety.

1. Aspartame is an artificial sweetener, which is mainly used in food and belongs to a food additive. Aspartame is sweeter than ordinary sugar and can improve the sweetness of food, but not as high as sucrose, so it has been widely used in food, such as cakes, biscuits, drinks, ice cream, etc., and it is also used in zero-degree Coca-Cola.

2. Aspartame is mainly composed of aspartic acid and phenylalanine, so Aspartame can be absorbed quickly in the body like protein. Aspartame has passed the safety tests in more than 70 countries since its development. This also shows that aspartame is a sweetener, but its safety is high, so it has been widely used.

There are many kinds of food sweeteners, but aspartame is one of the most widely used sweeteners. However, excessive intake of sweets will also have a bad effect on the body, so not only ordinary sucrose or sweeteners, but also friends should pay attention to moderate consumption!

2. Why is aspartame classified as "possibly carcinogenic"?

Since aspartame was discovered, its safety has not been affirmed by most countries. People evaluate the safety of aspartame from five aspects: acute toxicity, genotoxicity, reproductive and developmental toxicity, neurotoxicity, chronic toxicity and carcinogenicity. The results show that:

① The acute toxicity grading standard of aspartame is actually non-toxic.

② The results of genotoxicity test showed that aspartame had no adverse effects on the pregnancy rate and early or late embryo mortality in rats, and had no abnormal effects on the chromosomes of bone marrow cells and spermatogonia in rats.

③ The results of reproductive toxicity test showed that high dose aspartame had no embryotoxicity and teratogenic effect on rats, rabbits and chicken embryos.

④ The study on the neurotoxicity of aspartame found that the intake of aspartame had no obvious relationship with neurobehavioral diseases and symptoms.

⑤ The study of chronic toxicity and carcinogenicity found that there was no causal relationship between aspartame intake and brain tumor.

In short, there is no need to panic about aspartame causing cancer. After all, aspartame is allowed to be used in more than 90 countries around the world, and it has also passed the food safety assessment of the US Food and Drug Administration, the European Food Safety Agency and the WHO Food Additives Committee. The evaluation results show that it is safe to use in a reasonable range.

Although the official evaluation shows that aspartame has no carcinogenic effect on animals, the United Nations Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives evaluated the safety of aspartame in 1980 and 1993 respectively, and set its daily allowable intake limit at 40 mg/kg, which was recognized by the European Food Science Committee. It is understood that each can (335 ml) of low-calorie drinks generally contains about 180 mg of aspartame. In other words, it is safe for adults weighing 50 kg to drink 10 cans of aspartame every day. However, consumers are advised not to eat too much food containing aspartame.

3. Which foods we usually eat have aspartame?

Today, I arranged some snacks containing aspartame in my daily life. When you buy it, you can also look at the ingredient list of the outer packaging, including potato chips and chewing gum. , plum, soda? Among the four categories, aspartame has the most content and can be mined by itself.

1, puffed potato chips

Puffed food is a kind of snack food with crisp texture, fragrant smell and different styles, which is made of cereals, potatoes or beans by baking, frying, microwave or extrusion. Aspartame is included in the ingredient list of potato chips, such as Xerox potato chips, potato wish, yam potato, cheese pea crisp and Pepsi potato chips.

2, carbonated soda

Carbonated drinks are made by filling liquid drinks with carbon dioxide. Their main ingredients are sugar, pigments, spices and so on. And they have no nutrition except calories. Carbonated drinks are an essential food in people's daily life. In the hot summer, people often use it to relieve summer heat and reduce fever, and it is also a necessary item on the table. They are popular with the public because of their sweetness. For example, there are aspartame in carbonated drinks such as Coca-Cola, Xianbadi, Dayao and Pepsi.

3. Sweet fudge

Chewing gum is a kind of sugar based on natural gum or glycerin resin, mixed with syrup, mint, sweetener, etc., and pressed in the mouth for people to chew. This is a kind of sugar that is very popular with people all over the world. You can eat and play, which is very popular with children and young people. At the same time, dressing up cool and fashionable has become the new favorite of most young people. For example, chewing gum such as Green Arrow, Mentos and Xuanmai all contain aspartame.

4. Juice drinks

Fruit juice beverage is a fruit juice product obtained by physical methods such as squeezing, centrifugation and extraction. , generally refers to pure fruit juice or 100% fruit juice. Fruit juice is divided into clear fruit juice and cloudy fruit juice according to its morphology. For example, Huiyuan orange juice, Pan Pan honey, Youzhen apple vinegar and fragrant ingredients list all contain aspartame.

5. Snack cookies

Cookies are a common snack. As a snack or an added diet, it is convenient to eat and carry, and has become an indispensable leisure snack product in daily life. For example, the ingredients list of toast banana cake, casual pancake, herbal essence and Chu Ji protein bar all contain aspartame.

6.candied plums

Sweet and sour candied fruit can be said to be a fashion item regardless of age and time. Candied fruit has been a snack to relieve cravings since childhood, and now it is also a daily necessity. If you are sleepy, you will have one to refresh yourself. Take one by car to prevent carsickness; Take one tablet before meals to help appetizer; Take one tablet after meals to promote digestion; You can also make all kinds of appetizers. For example, the ingredient lists of Jiabao Han, Laiyifen and Huaweiheng also have aspartame.

7. Lactic acid drinks

Lactic acid beverage can be divided into two types: fermented beverage and blended beverage. Fermented lactic acid beverage is made of fermented milk and belongs to fermentation type. The mixed lactic acid beverage is made of milk, water, sugar, citric acid or lactic acid without fermentation. Lactic acid drinks contain little protein and calcium, and most of them are made of lactic acid bacteria, flavoring agents and trace elements. For example, there are aspartame in the ingredient list of Mengniu Fruit, Wei Gang Strawberry, Yuedongli and Youleduo.

8. Other foods

Other foods such as dog tooth crispy rice, hi-eater, canned family fun, AGF fast food and other ingredients list also contain aspartame.

I don't know. I don't know. I was shocked when I checked. Most of the snacks and drinks we usually eat contain aspartame, but what if we hoard potato chips and soda at home? You can still eat, don't worry too much. What snacks do you want to eat in the future? Check the ingredient list with "sugar check" first to avoid unnecessary additives! I hope everyone can buy healthy snacks.

These are some knowledge of aspartame. In short, we don't have to be overly alarmed about whether aspartame causes cancer. By any measure, everything is toxic. Play hooligan. Alcohol? , betel nut, processed meat? (Sausage, ham, bacon) and so on are all things that cause ai, but it's not so terrible if you don't drink or eat less, but it's still not recommended that you eat too much artificial sweeteners!