Dive Brief:
- Researchers have released a scathing report on the effects of artificial sweeteners on human health.
- The report, led by a scientist at Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science and published in the journal Nature, outlines a series of disturbing events associated with the consumption of saccharin, sucralose, and aspartame.
- Among the problems that may be caused by sweeteners: Four of the 10 human subjects developed glucose intolerance, a condition tied to diabetes, after just one week of consuming artificial sweeteners.
Dive Insight:
The research report is worth noting on multiple levels ... particularly the news that the microbia that live in the digestive systems of people who eat artificial sweeteners are "noticeably different" from those that live in other people. But these results need to be confirmed in a study with more people, the scientist said.
If there's good news for the industry here it's that the study didn't look at any of the newer, and more natural, forms of sweeteners, such as stevia.