§ Mr. SymsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent research his Department has(a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the health effects of the use of aspartame in food; and if he will make a statement. [153905]
§ Ms Stuart[holding answer 15 March 2001]: Neither the Food Standards Agency (FSA) nor the Department has commissioned research into the health effects of aspartame in food. Aspartame (E951) has been approved in the United Kingdom since 1983 and full independent reviews of its safety have been carried out by the European Commission Scientific Committee on Food (SCF) and in the UK the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT).
The Food Advisory Committee—one of the independent expert committees which advises the FSA—recently discussed aspartame in view of the concerns expressed by some consumers about its safety. The Committee noted that many papers on aspartame have 762W been published in the scientific literature since the last full reviews. It asked the FSA to assess this additional literature and decide whether further detailed evaluation was warranted. If so, the SCF should be asked to conduct a formal review of the new data. The FSA is completing its assessment and will be writing shortly to the SCF.