American Dietetic Association affirms aspartame safe during pregnancy

The American Dietetic Association position paper, "Nutrition and Lifestyle for a Healthy Pregnancy Outcome," was published in this month's Journal of the American Dietetic Association. In the section on "Sweeteners and Other Ingredients," it states: "Use of sweeteners and other ingredients that are classified as Generally Recognized as Safe are acceptable in moderation during pregnancy. Risk assessment considers any potential toxicity during pregnancy. Consumption of acesulfame potassium, aspartame, sucralose, and neotame within acceptable daily intakes is considered safe during pregnancy." (Journal of the American Dietetic Association, March 2008, 108(3): 553-560.)

New Zealand officials dismiss the aspartame-formaldehyde link
21 August 2007

"There are many foods where formaldehyde is naturally produced as part of normal digestion.Tomatoes and citrus fruits produce far more than aspartame. It's normal and not at all harmful in the levels produced," says New Zealand Food Safety Authority expert toxicologist John Reeve.

"If these reports didn't get taken seriously by some people they would be laughable. However, people could be put off artificial sweeteners in favour of sugar, with its associated known contribution to obesity, diabetes and similar."

"Furthermore, claims saying that aspartame leads to unsafe levels of formaldehyde in people are just ridiculous."

Read original statement in full:
http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/publications/media-releases/2007/aspartame-and-formaldehyde.htm