Widely used as an artificial sweetener since the 1980s, aspartame is used in diet drinks, chewing gum, gelatine, ice cream, dairy products such as yoghurt, breakfast cereal, toothpaste and medications such as cough drops and chewable vitamins.

Both the FDA and the EFSA have deemed BHT generally safe in low doses of around 0.11 mg per pound of body weight (0.25 mg per kg) ( 4). Beverages and drink mixes, such as Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Diet Snapple, Fanta Zero, Sprite Zero, Crystal Light and Wyler’s Light. https://health.gov/our-work/nutrition-physical-activity/dietary-guidelines/previous-dietary-guidelines/2015Two of the six, neotame and advantame, are derived from aspartame but have no calories and are much, much sweeter. While aspartame is approximately 200 times sweeter than sugar, neotame is up to 13,000 times sweeter and advantame is 20,000 times sweeter than sugar.

We often take the flavor, color, and shelf-life of our gum for granted. We assume that gum sold in stores wouldn’t contain questionable ingredients. But there is a wide variety of lab-derived chemicals used in mainstream gums to give us powerful flavors and colors. Synthetic preservatives are also used to keep gum from being degraded naturally by bacteria and fungi. Chewing sugar-free gum after meals for 20 minutes at a time helps to reduce tooth decay. This is primarily because it causes your mouth to produce more saliva. Research bears this out. One 2019 study by King’s College London found that people who regularly chew sugar-free gum develop about 28% fewer cavities than those who don’t — more so than for fluoride toothpaste.

Do the most popular gum brands contain aspartame?

Lorraine Wilde has been chewing gum since she could convince her parents to give it up at the age of five. She tries to learn as much as she can about the cutting edge of environmental science, technology, health, and conservation. When researching these brands, Lorraine evaluated the type and quality of the ingredients, the company’s research and development and their business ethics. In fact, one study found that chewing xylitol-sweetened gum reduced the amount of bad bacteria in the mouth by up to 75% ( 46).

Ashwell M, et al. (2020). Expert consensus on low-calorie sweeteners: Facts, research gaps and suggested actions. An early 2000s study by the Ramazzini Institute in Italy reported some cancers in mice and rats were linked to aspartame.

Harriet Burt, senior policy and international projects officer for World Action on Salt, Sugar & Health based at Queen Mary University of London, said the report emphasised the need for a new approach by food and drink manufacturers. However, the possible connection between aspartame and obesity needs to be further studied ( 13, 14). Titanium Dioxide, which is more commonly seen as the active ingredient in sunscreen, is potentially carcinogenic (cancer-causing), according to Hyman. The ADI in milligrams per kilogram body weight per day (mg/kg bw/d) for the sweeteners in the chart: More research is needed, but the researchers suggested that people who experience migraine might want to limit their gum chewing. Summary