Health concerns have been mounting for decades. Here’s what the research suggests.
When artificial sweeteners entered the U.S. market in the 1950s, food manufacturers made a big claim: That they could satisfy the American sweet tooth without the negative health effects — and calories — of sugar.
Today, artificial sweeteners and other sugar substitutes have become ubiquitous in the food supply, showing up in a slew of products including diet sodas, sliced bread and low-sugar yogurts — not to mention your morning coffee.
But questions about sugar substitutes have been swirling for decades, with scientists and public health officials suggesting they might come with certain health risks of their own.
The research on how sugar substitutes affect our bodies is preliminary, complex and sometimes contradictory.
“They haven’t been studied as much as they should be in humans,” said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and director of the Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts University.
That leaves us with many questions about how to weigh their potential benefits and risks. Here’s what we know.