Skip to content
Search
AI Powered
Latest Stories

WHO warns against using artificial sweeteners

WHO warns against using artificial sweeteners
Photo: iStock
Getty Images/iStockphoto

Artificial sweeteners, used to replace sugar in a vast range of products, do not help in losing weight and can have serious health effects, according to the World Health Organisation.

The United Nations' health agency released new guidelines on Monday advising against using so-called non-sugar sweeteners or NSS.


A systematic review of available evidence "suggests that use of NSS does not confer any long-term benefit in reducing body fat in adults or children", the WHO said.

In addition, results from the review "suggest that there may be potential undesirable effects from long-term use of NSS, such as an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and mortality in adults".

Sweeteners are consumed by millions of people every day in products like diet soda or to sweeten coffee, partly as a way to avoid weight gain from sugar. But how healthy these substitutes are has long been a matter of controversy.

The WHO's director for nutrition and food safety, Francesco Branca, stressed that replacing ordinary sugar with artificial sweeteners "does not help with weight control in the long term".

"People need to consider other ways to reduce free sugars intake, such as consuming food with naturally occurring sugars, like fruit or unsweetened food and beverages," he said.

"NSS are not essential dietary factors and have no nutritional value. People should reduce the sweetness of the diet altogether, starting early in life, to improve their health."

The WHO said its new recommendation applied to everyone except individuals with pre-existing diabetes.

It includes all synthetic and naturally occurring or modified sweeteners not classified as sugars found in manufactured foods and beverages or sold on their own to be added to products by consumers.

Likely to 'cause confusion'

Among the most widely used sweeteners are acesulfame K, aspartame, advantame, cyclamates, neotame, saccharin, sucralose, stevia and stevia derivatives, it said.

Meanwhile, the UN health agency emphasised that its guidelines were considered conditional since it remained difficult to draw firm conclusions due to the diversity of participants and complexity of NSS-use seen in the studies it had examined.

Some nutrition experts pointed out limitations in the WHO report, which was largely based on observational studies that cannot directly establish a causal link between sweeteners and weight or disease.

Nita Forouhi, a nutrition and epidemiology specialist at Cambridge University in the UK, emphasised that "using sweeteners can be part of interventions to manage weight in the short term".

"The key takeaway is that for longer-term weight management and for chronic health conditions such as the development of future type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, the use of NSS is not advisable," she told the Science Media Centre.

Tom Sanders, professor emeritus of nutrition and dietetics at King's College London, said the review did not consider the impact of replacing sugary drinks with artificially sweetened drinks.

Sanders said he thought the advice would "likely cause a lot of confusion in the public health arena", particularly in the UK, where a tax on sugar has led to drink manufacturers replacing sugar with artificial sweeteners.

He added that the quality of evidence for any link between sweeteners and disease was rated as "low".

More for you

C-store body warns of 'inflation-busting increase in wage costs'
Woman Holding British Pound
Getty Images/iStockphoto

C-store body warns of 'inflation-busting increase in wage costs'

Convenience store body Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) today (30) has warned the Chancellor about the negative effects of the new National Living Wage (NLW) increase, a day after the Chancellor announced a pay rise for over 3 million workers next year, with NLW rates rising by 6.7 perc cent.

From April 2025, the NLW will increase from £11.44 to £12.21 while 18-20 National Minimum Wage will rise by £1.40 per hour to £10 - the largest increase on record, marking the first step towards a single adult rate.

Keep ReadingShow less
Bacup Wine and Convenience shop, 34 Burnley Road, Bacup.

Bacup Wine and Convenience shop, 34 Burnley Road, Bacup.

Robbie MacDonald via LDRS

Shop’s licence bid rejected over illegal vapes and ‘no regard’ for children’s safety

A Rossendale shop has had a licence bid rejected after repeatedly selling vapes to children and having illegal products on its premises.

Management at the Ibra Superstore at 34 Burnley Road, Bacup, have shown ‘no regard’ for children’s protection and safety, and have insufficient controls for licensing, Rossendale councillors have ruled.

Keep ReadingShow less
SPAR retailer hits target to secure £100,000 free stock from James Hall

SPAR retailer hits target to secure £100,000 free stock from James Hall

SPAR North of England retailer Dara Singh Randhawa’s family store has been awarded £100,000 of free stock after hitting all his targets since moving to the symbol.

Dara and his family, who have their SPAR store in Patrington in the East Riding of Yorkshire, joined SPAR through its association with James Hall & Co. Ltd in August 2023 having taken the decision to maximise the store’s potential.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pound Sterling bank notes
iStock

National Living Wage to increase to £12.21 in April 2025

The government has on Wednesday announced its acceptance of the Low Pay Commission’s (LPC) recommendations on the rates of the National Minimum Wage (NMW), including the National Living Wage (NLW).

The rates which will apply from 1 April 2025 are as follows:

Keep ReadingShow less
Food inflation eases as retailers treat customers to spooky season deals

iStock image

Food inflation eases as retailers treat customers to spooky season deals

October saw shop prices fall marginally further into deflation for the third consecutive month with food inflation eased, particularly for meat, fish and tea along with chocolate and sweets as retailers treated customers to spooky season deals, shows industry data released today (29).

According to British Retail Consortium (BRC), shop price deflation was at 0.8 per cent in October, down from deflation of 0.6 per cent in the previous month. This is below the 3-month average rate of -0.6 per cent. Shop price annual growth was at its lowest rate since August 2021.

Keep ReadingShow less