Do Artificial Sweeteners Cause Health Problems?
Artificial sweeteners have been accused of causing cancer, hair loss, depression, dementia, headaches, autoimmune diseases, and behavioral disturbances. However, the scientific consensus is that they are acceptable in the diet and safe. (One notable exception is for the use of aspartame for people with a rare condition called phenylketonuriaPKU.) A level of skepticism about their safety should be maintained because there are a few people who do react adversely to these chemicals, research on their safety is far from complete, and financial vested interests have undoubtedly tainted the truth. Furthermore, by combining many different sweeteners in a food, manufacturers can assure their products do not exceed potentially toxic levels of a single sweetener. Whether or not these chemicals potentiate each others toxic and cancer-causing effects has not been adequately studied. Beginning in the 1970s, animal studies found an excess of bladder cancer risk in rodents treated with extremely high
