Aspartame is safe in limited amounts, say experts after cancer warning

Up to 14 cans of diet drink a day considered safe for 70kg person, as WHO says sweetener is possibly' carcinogenic in larger amounts

A widely used artificial sweetener deemed a possible" cause of cancer is safe in limited quantities, such as consuming fewer than nine to 14 cans of soft drink a day, experts have said.

The sugar substitute aspartame, used in thousands of products including diet fizzy drinks, ice-cream and chewing gum, was classified as possibly carcinogenic to humans" in a report released on Thursday by the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).