Report of preliminary meeting of national experts on aspartame

Following thorough safety assessments, aspartame has been authorised as a sweetener in foods for many years in many countries. In 2006, EFSA adopted an opinion reconfirming the safety of aspartame. Nevertheless, public concerns have remained, and this preliminary meeting was part of an initiative that hopes to address them.

On 2-3 April EFSA held a preliminary meeting of national experts with scientific knowledge relevant to aspartame, nominated by their Member States. 18 experts attended the meeting from 10 countries. The meeting was part of an initiative by EFSA, together with its Advisory Forum, which is made up of representatives of the risk assessment bodies in the EU Member States.

The meeting provided an opportunity to take stock of work in progress on this issue in preparation for a further meeting of national experts in November 2009. The experts reviewed the work prepared by the organising team comprising of EFSA staff and nominated experts, who have been considering the published literature and other data made available as a result of an EFSA call for data in 2008. The experts provided input and advice to the organising committee on how best to approach the available data, offered further sources of scientific literature and points to consider in the development of the draft report for the meeting in November.

The role of anecdotal case histories linking aspartame to adverse health effects was also discussed by the experts. The meeting supported work by EFSA and the organising team to develop a database of such reported effects for further analysis, in addition to consideration of the peer-reviewed literature and scientific data.

The attendees agreed on next steps which will include finalisation of a draft report for consideration at the meeting of national experts in November. It was also agreed that there will then be a public consultation, so that interested parties will have the opportunity to see and comment on the report and any conclusions and recommendations. The experts report, together with a summary of the consultation feedback, will then be presented to the EFSA Advisory Forum in early 2010.