Aspartame (E951)
- Food Caution
What is Aspartame (E951)?
Aspartame is a sweetener about 200 times sweeter than sugar, used in diet drinks and sugar-free foods. European, US and WHO food safety experts consider normal amounts safe; the WHO's cancer agency calls it a 'possible' risk, meaning the evidence is weak, not proven. People with the rare inherited condition PKU must avoid it.
What is Yasno’s verdict on Aspartame?
Yasno’s verdict on Aspartame: Caution. Some evidence of a concern, it depends on the amount, or it is genuinely worth knowing. A Caution always has a specific, sourced reason.
Is Aspartame allowed in the EU?
EU status of Aspartame: Permitted as a food additive. Conditions and limits come from the regulation cited below. Yasno summarises them and does not replace the legal text.
| Where | EU | US |
|---|---|---|
| Food | Permitted as a food additive | Regulated as a food additive by the US FDA |
What else is it called?
- Nutrasweet
- Asp-phe-ome
- Aspartam
Sources
- EU Food Additives Register — POL-FAD-IMPORT-3293, European Commission (DG SANTE), 2024
- Scientific Opinion on the re-evaluation of aspartame (E 951) as a food additive, European Food Safety Authority, 2013
- EFSA assessment of aspartame exposure and aspartame released from E 962, European Food Safety Authority, 2026
- Summary of findings: Aspartame, International Agency for Research on Cancer, 2023
Always check the physical label. Yasno describes evidence and regulatory status. It never says a product is free of an allergen or safe for you, and it is not medical advice.
Yasno reads the whole label from a photo and explains every ingredient like this. It is coming soon to the App Store.