Currently, the NutriNet-Santé cohort study (2022) on aspartame enjoys high media attention. This study has been known since 2022 and has already been widely discussed in the media (RTL, Bild). At that time, we already informed about it via social media. Also various international experts. We have never used aspartame, as it has been controversially discussed for many years.

Specifically, the NutriNet-Santé study, which the WHO uses for the assessment:

• The NutriNet-Santé study has been criticized in expert circles for poor quality, bias & confounding. For example, a recent US study (2022) that appeared in the prestigious journal Nutrients analyzed the association between sweetener use and overall cancer risk. The study is based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey with 30 years of data and concludes that there is no association between sweeteners and overall cancer risk
  • First, the unrepresentative and highly biased random sample was criticized
    • The sample included mostly female subjects who smoked and also consumed sugar-sweetened beverages in addition to sweeteners. The socio-demographics were also not cleanly worked with
  • On the other hand, the non-inclusion of inconsistent and contradictory statistical results was advised

    • Overall, "low consumers" were found to have a higher risk of cancer than "high consumers." This is contradictory. If sweeteners causally increased cancer risk, then the higher the consumption, the higher the risk.

    • Sucralose was found to have a lower risk in "high consumers" than in "nonconsumers."

The re-recording of the NutriNet-Santé study more than a year after its publication and public discussion is surprising. Moreover, the conclusion of the WHO is questionable. Already before, the WHO was publicly criticized for its conclusion on sweeteners in connection with obesity and type II diabetes, since the studies on which it relied did not support its conclusion.

International experts have already announced via social media to comment on the headlines. We will do everything we can to clarify and explain in a comprehensible way that and why the assessment is not comprehensible.

This YouTube video by Dr. Layne Norton on the NutriNet-Santé study explains the points of criticism in detail.