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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Caroline Flint):

I welcome the debate secured by the hon. Member for Brecon and Radnorshire (Mr. Williams). He obviously feels passionately about this issue. He cited a number of scientists and experts who have a particular view about aspartame. I will go through the procedures that we have in the European Union, which are outside whatever the United States does, for confirming and granting the status and use of additives in our foods, and I will discuss safety in the food chain in relation to the issue. This is not a status quo issue; as any new evidence comes forward, it is important that all these issues are examined afresh. I link to that the latest study to which the hon. Gentleman refers.

I will give an overview. We take the safe use of artificial sweeteners and all additives in food seriously. We are all aware that food additives may be added to food, usually at very low concentrations, for a variety of reasons. Those include restoring colours lost during processing, providing sweetness in low sugar products and preventing deterioration during storage. As the Minister with responsibility for public health, I am always advocating that people have a healthy diet, which I hope would include more of the fresh foodstuffs that are available in our stores. That is why we support the five-a-day programme.

The use of artificial sweeteners can be beneficial, particularly for those who seek a low calorie alternative to a certain food. That is especially true given our current debate on how we tackle the increasing problem of obesity in this country. Despite that, the important issue is consumer safety, regardless of whether the additive comes from a natural source or is man made. The question of safety is central to the decision as to whether or not an additive should be permitted in our food.

The use of food additives is strictly controlled by laws that are negotiated at European level, which list those additives that are approved for food use, the types of food in which the additives may be used and the maximum amounts that may be used. Before an additive is approved it must go through an extensive safety evaluation undertaken by independent experts. In the EU, that is now carried out by the independent scientific committees that advise the European Food Safety Authority. The manufacturer of the additive must submit a detailed dossier of research into the safety of that substance in order for it to be evaluated. That research must include toxicological tests to determine whether the substance is harmful. Such tests are designed to give information on any possible effects of exposure to the additive, including whether it may have any potential to cause cancer.

As far as I am advised, aspartame is not known to cause cancer in humans and the evidence does not indicate the potential for it to do so. Most studies in animals showed that it did not cause cancer. It is important for experts to examine the data to see why the Ramazzini study is different. I will come to that matter later and go into more detail.

I shall say something about the difference between aspartame and Sudan 1. Sudan 1 is an industrial dye that has never been approved for use in food and its presence in food is therefore illegal. When it became clear that the substance was being used in foodstuffs-Worcester sauce is one example-we had to act quickly to take those substances off the market. The data from the scientific literature suggests that Sudan 1 is genotoxic in that it damages DNA, but there is no suggestion that aspartame is genotoxic. I make that clear because Sudan 1 should never have been in food products.

The applicant has to justify the technological need for the additive; the process of evaluation can often take years before safety can be assured and even after approval it will be subject to continued monitoring. I am sure the Committee agrees that that is absolutely right.

We need to ensure that consumers can make choices about the foods they eat and European Community labelling regulations require the additive to appear clearly in the ingredient list on food labels. It must be identified by one of a number of category names specified in the regulations, such as sweetener or colour, followed either by the specific name of the additive or by its E number.

Aspartame has been used in soft drinks and other low-calorie or sugar-free foods throughout the world for more than 25 years. Questions have been asked about the safety of the product and I shall outline the conclusions that have been drawn from the large body of research investigating its safety.

In 2001, the Food Standards Agency pressed the European Commission to revisit its previous safety assessment of aspartame published in 1988. As a result of that request, the European Commission's independent Scientific Committee on Food reviewed more than 500 research papers published in the scientific literature between 1988 and 2001 on the safety of the product. The papers included studies that considered the toxicity of the substance, and the research was conducted by independent researchers. The SCF also took into account the outcome of a review published in 2002 of the safety of aspartame, which was carried out by the French Agency for Food, Health and Safety. The review by that agency concluded that there was no evidence of a link between the consumption of aspartame and the development of brain tumours. Following that extensive exercise in December 2002, the SCF concluded that there was no evidence to suggest the need to revise the conclusion previously drawn by the committee that aspartame was safe for use in food.

More recently, in July this year, Worcester at the Ramazzini Foundation in Italy published the findings of new research on the safety of aspartame, suggesting that rats may develop tumours when given doses of aspartame equivalent to the acceptable daily intake amount for humans. However, I understand from the study that the full data has yet to be published and the UK's independent committee on the carcinogenicity of chemicals in foods has reviewed initial data from the study published in July. At this stage they are not convinced by the Worcester interpretation of the data.

However, the Committee agreed that the full data set should be reviewed, and that will be carried out by the European Food Safety Authority. Of course, the findings from the study will need to be considered in the light of the extensive body of existing data on the safety of aspartame. I hope that reassures the hon. Gentleman that we are also open to any new evidence that comes to light but it is important that the full evidence is explored and examined.

The researchers from the Italian institute have been asked to make available all the data from the study in order for the assessment to be carried out. When we have advice from the European Food Safety Authority, the Food Standards Agency and its independent scientific advisory committees will study EFSA's opinion carefully and consider whether it needs to revise its advice on consuming aspartame. The current advice from the Food Standards Agency remains in place, namely that aspartame is safe for use in food.

The hon. Gentleman mentioned methanol and formaldehyde. Those substances are naturally present in the body and, as far as I understand, studies have shown that they are not increased by aspartame. Those substances are toxic at high doses, but not at the levels released from aspartame.

I understand that the hon. Gentleman has asked the Food Standards Agency for information to assist him in his investigations. I hope that he agrees that the FSA and its officials have tried to respond in good faith and in a transparent way with the information that he has asked for. That includes information on how scientists and others developed the acceptable daily intake, or ADI, for aspartame.

As I understand it, the intakes are defined for both adults and children, and are set at a very conservative, low level to cover the maximum levels that people might consume. As part of that work, issues were explored, particularly to do with children, the sort of food and drink products that they might use, and the maximum amount of foods containing aspartame that they might consume in a day. That was cross-referenced with the levels of aspartame that children might acquire if they really went all out to consume as many products containing aspartame as possible. When that was done, the study showed that that was still below the accepted daily maximum level.

I recognise the concerns raised in this debate, and I hope that I have assured the hon. Gentleman that we take the issue seriously. Our procedure in the European Union is to continue to keep an open mind about any new evidence that comes forward. However, we should not lose sight of the fact that additives are approved only if they are of benefit to consumers and are shown to be safe at the levels used in foods.

Source: Hansard

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