Yapay Tatlandırıcı Aspartamın Karsinojenisitesinin Değerlendirilmesi

Abstract

Sweeteners are generally less caloric food additives than sugar, which are preferred as an alternative to sugar and provide the desired sweetness sensation in foods. Sweeteners are classified as natural sweeteners, sugar alcohols and artificial sweeteners. Natural sweeteners are obtained from various parts of plants. Sugar alcohols are carbohydrate derivatives naturally found in fruits and vegetables, but they are also produced chemically from mono and disaccharides. Artificial sweeteners have a high sweetening power, and their calories and glycemic index are close to zero. However, scientific studies show that there is no clarity about their effects on our health. Recent studies on sweeteners have found that artificial sweeteners are a risk factor for diseases such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified aspartame as "probably carcinogenic" (Group 2B) in humans based on limited evidence regarding cancer in humans in 2023. The aims of the present thesis are to evaluate the relationship between aspartame and cancer, to examine its possible carcinogenic effects and to analyze the safety of aspartame as a sweetener in the light of scientific data to be obtained by scanning the current literature.