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Scientists at the North Carolina State University found that a chemical compound produced through the digestion of a common artificial sweetener causes damage to DNA. The research is published in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part B.
Growing research on adverse effects of artificial sweeteners
Warnings around the health impact of consuming sugar has led many people to replace it in their diets with low calorie artificial sweetener alternatives, also known as non-sugar sweeteners (NSSs). However, a growing number of studies in the scientific literature are suggesting that there may be a cost behind this seemingly “healthy” swap.
Recent research on artificial sweeteners In May, the World Health Organization (WHO) published new guidance on the use of non-sugar sweeteners (NSS), in which it recommends they are not to be used to control body weight or reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases (NCD). A few days later, researchers from the Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich published new data demonstrating that even an “average” NSS intake can affect immune cells in the blood. A 2022 study of >100,000 adults suggested that artificial sweeteners are associated with an increased risk of cancer.
A team of researchers led by Dr. Susan Schiffman, adjunct professor in the joint department of biomedical engineering at North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, published new data demonstrating that a chemical formed when we metabolize a commonly used sweetener – sucralose – is genotoxic.
What does genotoxic mean? Agents that are genotoxic can directly or indirectly cause damage to DNA. This is achieved through the agent adversely affecting enzymes that are key to DNA replication processes.
Sucralose-6-acetate breaks DNA strands
Previous research by Schiffman and colleagues identified that, when sucralose is ingested in rats, several fat-soluble compounds are produced in the gut, including sucralose-6-acetate. The team were concerned, as compounds that easily dissolve in fat are more likely to “stick around” in the body. This contradicts the reported findings of studies that were presented to gain regulatory approvals for sucralose, which claimed that it was not broken down in the body.
The new study involved a series of in vitro experiments where human blood cells were exposed to sucralose-6-acetate to assess genotoxicity markers using a high-throughput screening tool and a micronucleus test.