阿斯巴甜可能致癌：每天摄入多少最安全？

The International agency for research on Cancer (IARC), which is the specialized cancer agency of the World Health Organization, has declared aspartame may be a possible carcinogenic hazard to humans.

世界卫生组织的专门癌症机构国际癌症研究机构(IARC)已经宣布，阿斯巴甜可能是对人类有致癌风险。

Another branch of the WHO, the Joint WHO and Food and Agriculture Organization's expert Committee on Food Additives, has assessed the risk and developed recommendations on how much aspartame is safe to consume. They have recommended the acceptable daily intake be 0 to 40mg per kilo of body weight, as we currently have in Australia.

世界卫生组织的另一分支机构，世界卫生组织(世卫组织)和粮食及农业组织(粮农组织)食品添加剂联合专家委员会评估了阿斯巴甜对健康影响的风险，并制定了安全食用阿斯巴甜的建议。他们建议可接受的每日摄入量为每公斤体重0至40毫克，，目前澳大利亚的标准也是如此。

A hazard is different to a risk. The hazard rating means it's an agent that is capable of causing cancer; a risk measures the likelihood it could cause cancer.

危险不同于风险。危险等级表示它是一种能够致癌的物质;而风险则衡量它这种物质能致癌的可能性。

So what does this hazard assessment mean for you?

那么，这个危险评估对您意味着什么呢?

Firstly, what is aspartame?

首先，什么是阿斯巴甜?

Aspartame is an artificial sweetener that is 200 times sweeter than sugar but without any kilojoules.

阿斯巴甜是一种人工甜味剂，甜度是糖的200倍，但没有任何热量。

It's used in a variety of products, including carbonated drinks such as Coke Zero, Diet Coke, Pepsi Max, and some home brand offerings. You can identify aspartame in drinks and foods by looking for additive number 951.

它被用于各种产品，包括零度可乐、健怡可乐、百事可乐Max等碳酸饮料，以及一些家用品牌产品。您可以通过查找添加剂编号951来辨别饮料和食品中是否含有阿斯巴甜。

Food products such as yogurt and confectionery may also contain aspartame, but it's not stable at warm temperatures and thus not used in baked goods.

酸奶和糖果等食品也可能含有阿斯巴甜，但它在高温下不稳定，因此不用于烘焙食品。

Commercial names of aspartame include Equal, Nutrasweet, Canderel, and Sugar Twin. In Australia, the acceptable daily intake is 40mg per kilo of body weight per day, which is about 60 sachets.

阿斯巴甜的商业名称包括Equal、Nutrasweet、Canderel和Sugar Twin。在澳大利亚，每天可接受的摄入量为每公斤体重40毫克，约为60小包。

In America, the acceptable daily intake has been set at 75 sachets.

在美国，每天可接受的摄入量设定为75小包。

What evidence have they used to come to this conclusion?

他们用了什么证据得出这个结论?

IARC looked closely at the evidence base from around the world – using data from observational studies, experimental studies, and animal studies.

They found there was some limited evidence in human studies linking aspartame and cancer (specifically liver cancer) and limited evidence from animal studies as well.

IARC仔细研究了来自世界各地的证据，包括观察性研究、实验研究和动物研究的数据。他们发现在人体研究中阿斯巴甜与癌症(特别是肝癌)的联系证据有限，动物研究的证据也有限。

They also considered the biological mechanism studies which showed how cancer may develop from the consumption of aspartame.

他们还考虑了生物机制研究，这些研究表明了阿斯巴甜摄入可能导致癌症的方式。

Usually, these are lab-based studies which show exactly how exposure to the agent may lead to a cancer. In this case, they found there was limited evidence for how aspartame might cause cancer.

通常，这些是基于实验室的研究，准确地显示了接触该物质如何导致癌症。在这种情况下，他们发现关于阿斯巴甜可能引起癌症的证据有限。

There were only three human studies that looked at cancer and aspartame intake. These large observational studies used the intake of soft drinks as an indicator of aspartame intake.

只有三项人体研究调查了癌症与阿斯巴甜摄入的关系。这些大规模的观察性研究以饮用软饮料作为阿斯巴甜摄入的指标。

All three found a positive association between artificially sweetened beverages and liver cancer in either all of the population they were studying or sub-groups within them. But these studies could not rule out other factors that may have been responsible for the findings.

这三项研究都发现，人工甜味饮料与肝癌的发生存在正相关关系，无论是在他们研究的所有人群中还是其子群体中。但这些研究不能排除其他可能导致这些结果的因素。

A study conducted in Europe followed 475,000 people for 11 years and found that each additional serving of diet soft drink consumed per week was linked to a 6 percent increased risk of liver cancer. However, the scientists did conclude that due to the rarity of liver cancer, they still had small numbers of people in the study.

在欧洲进行的一项研究对475,000人进行了长达11年的跟踪调查，发现每周额外饮用一份低糖饮料与肝癌风险增加6%有关。然而，科学家们也确实得出结论，由于肝癌的罕见性，他们的研究中参与者人数较少。

In a study from the US, increased risk of liver cancer was seen in people with diabetes who drank more than two or more cans of a diet soda a week.

在一项来自美国的研究中，糖尿病患者每周饮用两罐或更多的无糖汽水，会增加患肝癌的风险。

The third study, also from the US, found an increase in liver cancer risk in men who never smoked and drank two or more artificially sweetened drinks a day.

同样来自美国的第三项研究发现，从不吸烟的男性每天饮用两罐或更多的人工甜味饮料，会增加患肝癌的风险。

From this, they have decided to declare aspartame as a Group 2b "possible carcinogen". But they have also said more and better research is needed to further understand the relationship between aspartame and cancer.

据此，他们决定宣布将阿斯巴甜归类为2B类“可能致癌物质”。但他们也表示，需要更多和更好的研究来进一步了解阿斯巴甜与癌症之间的关系。