Were there differences in the relationship between aspartame and cancer by racial group, ethnicity, age, or gender?
Researchers examined the relationship between aspartame and lymphoma, leukemia, and malignant brain cancers by different races and age groups and also in men and women separately, and found no difference from the overall finding. However, it should be noted that the study included older adults who were mostly whites. • Do animal studies of aspartame show the same results as human studies? The NIH-AARP study findings match those of previous animal studies by the FDA and coincide with the conclusion of an earlier study on childhood brain cancers (Gurney et al. 1997). Shortly before this most recent study of aspartame and cancer was published, the European Food Safety Authority reviewed the recent animal data and urged caution when interpreting results (The European Food Safety Authority 2006): “The increased incidence of lymphomas/leukemias reported in treated rats was unrelated to aspartame, given the high background incidence of chronic inflammatory changes in the lungs and the lack of
