Swapping out sugar for artificial sweeteners is something many of us do, whether it be ditching full fat fizzy juice for the diet version or taking sweeteners in tea or coffee.
However, experts are warning that the lower calorie alternative poses potential health hazards. According to a new study, a chemical sucralose-6-acetate, found in a popular sweetener sucralose, can lead to DNA damage and in turn increase a person's risk of developing cancer.
The research team from North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel found that the chemical is "genotoxic", meaning it harms the genetic information of cells in the body.
The study, published in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, saw researchers expose human blood cells to sucralose-6-acetate. The process identified a breakdown in DNA due to the exposure, concluding a potential increase of health issues including cancer.
Sucralose-6-acetate is permitted in food and drink products, however, the researchers warn that just a single serving of the chemical - for example drinking a beverage with a high content of the chemical - may be enough to damage DNA.
Additional experiments raised further concerns over the impact of the chemical on the overall health of a person, finding that intake increased activation of genes associated with inflammation, oxidative stress, and cancer.
The scientists also found that the chemical can cause gut issues. Sucralose-6-acetate - and sucralose itself - damages junctions that hold together cells in the lining of human intestines, in turn causing a leaky gut.
A leak in the gut can allow microbes and molecules to move from the gut into the body. This includes bacteria that would usually be passed out of the body in faeces.
This increases the risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) as well as being a contributing factor to chronic liver disease, the experts state.
Author of the study and adjunct professor in the joint department of biomedical engineering at North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Susan Shiffman, told Medical News Today: “The most compelling finding was that a contaminant and metabolite of sucralose could damage DNA in human blood cells and express genes in human gut epithelium that can induce inflammation and even cancer.”
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) does consider artificial sweeteners safe.
The International Sweeteners Association argue sucralose has undergone extensive and thorough testing programmes on its safety, and plays an important role in providing options for low or no calorie diets, and to manage blood glucose levels.
A Spokesperson added: "This particular publication focuses on tests related to sucralose-6-acetate. This is minor impurity that may form during the manufacture of sucralose, the levels of which are tightly controlled by robust manufacturing processes
and limited under the regulatory specifications set for sucralose."
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