The writer is a science commentator
The fizz may be about to go out of diet drinks. Next week, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a research arm of the World Health Organization, is expected to list aspartame, an artificial sweetener 200 times sweeter than sugar and a staple of low-calorie drinks, as “possibly carcinogenic to humans”.
On the same day, a separate WHO committee will rule on how much risk the additive — found in thousands of products from chewing gum to yoghurts — poses to human health. The dual announcement is meant to end decades of scientific controversy but may instead stoke confusion on whether artificial sweeteners are good or bad for us. Any lingering sense of public uncertainty will be welcomed by a food and drinks industry skilled at downplaying the risks of its products.