WHO Set to Name Popular Artificial Sweetener as a Possible Carcinogen

Diet soda drinkers everywhere might want to reconsider their go-to beverage options. The World Health Organization (WHO), long regarded as the global authority on public health, is expected to name aspartame, one of the world's most popular artificial sweeteners, as a cancer-causing compound.

According to Reuters, WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) will announce aspartame's carcinogen status in the coming weeks. Because of the limited evidence linking aspartame to cancer, it's been assigned the lowest possible level in the IARC's classification system. The other two levels are "probable carcinogen," which includes things like glyphosate herbicide, and "carcinogenic to humans," reserved for dangers like tobacco smoking and asbestos.

“[IARC] has assessed the potential carcinogenic effect of aspartame,” the WHO said in a statement to Fortune of the forthcoming report. “Following this, the Joint [Food and Agriculture Organization]/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) will update its risk assessment exercise on aspartame, including the reviewing of the acceptable daily intake and dietary exposure assessment for aspartame." The results of those evaluations will be released on July 14.

Aspartame is used in countless food and drink items from Diet Coke and Crystal Light to Dannon Activia yogurt and sugar-free chewing gum. You can even find it in some medicine including cough drops. These are just a few of the products that advertise to be healthier options because they use artificial sweetener instead of real sugar.

Although the final report has yet to come out, the International Sweeteners Association is getting ahead of the news, saying it has "serious concerns with preliminary speculation about the IARC opinion." The body counts conglomerates like PepsiCo and candy giant Mars Wrigley among its members.

“IARC is not a food safety body," Frances Hunt-Wood, secretary general of the International Sweeteners Association, declared in a statement. “No conclusions can be drawn until both reports are published. Aspartame is one of the most thoroughly researched ingredients in history, with over 90 food safety agencies across the globe declaring it is safe."

The International Council of Beverages Associations similarly blasted the initial findings. "This leaked opinion contradicts decades of high-quality scientific evidence and could needlessly mislead consumers into consuming more sugar rather than choosing safe no- and low- sugar options—all on the basis of low-quality studies," the group said in a statement.

Turns out artificial sweeteners might not be so sweet after all.