[7][8] Reviews by over 100 governmental regulatory bodies found the ingredient safe for consumption at the normal acceptable daily intake limit.

[10] The sweetness of aspartame lasts longer than that of sucrose, so it is often blended with other artificial sweeteners such as acesulfame potassium to produce an overall taste more like that of sugar.

This makes aspartame undesirable as a baking sweetener and prone to degradation in products hosting a high pH, as required for a long shelf life.

In products that may require a longer shelf life, such as syrups for fountain beverages, aspartame is sometimes blended with a more stable sweetener, such as saccharin.

[6][10] In a report released on 10 December 2013, the EFSA said that, after an extensive examination of evidence, it ruled out the "potential risk of aspartame causing damage to genes and inducing cancer" and deemed the amount found in diet sodas safe to consume.

[11] As of 2017,[update] reviews of clinical trials showed that using aspartame (or other non-nutritive sweeteners) in place of sugar reduces calorie intake and body weight in adults and children.

[29][30][31] A 2017 review of metabolic effects by consuming aspartame found that it did not affect blood glucose, insulin, total cholesterol, triglycerides, calorie intake, or body weight.

[32] In 2023, the World Health Organization recommended against the use of common non-sugar sweeteners (NSS), including aspartame, to control body weight or lower the risk of non-communicable diseases, stating: "The recommendation is based on the findings of a systematic review of the available evidence which suggests that use of NSS does not confer any long-term benefit in reducing body fat in adults or children.

Results of the review also suggest that there may be potential undesirable effects from long-term use of NSS, such as an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and mortality in adults.

[35] As with methanol and aspartic acid, common foods in the typical diet, such as milk, meat, and fruits, will lead to ingestion of significantly higher amounts of phenylalanine than would be expected from aspartame consumption.

[42][43][44] The lead investigator of the IARC report stated that the classification "shouldn't really be taken as a direct statement that indicates that there is a known cancer hazard from consuming aspartame.

[6][10][12] A 2019 policy statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics concluded that there were no safety concerns about aspartame in fetal or childhood development or as a factor in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

The drawback of this technique is that a byproduct, the bitter-tasting β-form, is produced when the wrong carboxyl group from aspartic acid anhydride links to phenylalanine, with desired and undesired isomer forming in a 4:1 ratio.

[56] A process using an enzyme from Bacillus thermoproteolyticus to catalyze the condensation of the chemically altered amino acids will produce high yields without the β-form byproduct.

Schlatter had synthesized aspartame as an intermediate step in generating a tetrapeptide of the hormone gastrin, for use in assessing an anti-ulcer drug candidate.

[60] In 1975, prompted by issues regarding Flagyl and Aldactone, an FDA task force team reviewed 25 studies submitted by the manufacturer, including 11 on aspartame.

[61] In 1980, the FDA convened a Public Board of Inquiry (PBOI) consisting of independent advisors charged with examining the purported relationship between aspartame and brain cancer.

[9][63] As of May 2023, the FDA stated that it regards aspartame as a safe food ingredient when consumed within the acceptable daily intake level of 50 mg per kg of body weight per day.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) reported in 2006 that the previously established Acceptable daily intake (ADI) was appropriate, after reviewing yet another set of studies.

[64] Under the brand names Equal, NutraSweet, and Canderel, aspartame is an ingredient in approximately 6,000 consumer foods and beverages sold worldwide, including (but not limited to) diet sodas and other soft drinks, instant breakfasts, breath mints, cereals, sugar-free chewing gum, cocoa mixes, frozen desserts, gelatin desserts, juices, laxatives, chewable vitamin supplements, milk drinks, pharmaceutical drugs and supplements, shake mixes, tabletop sweeteners, teas, instant coffees, topping mixes, wine coolers, and yogurt.

[77][78] In June 2010, an appeals court reversed the decision, allowing Ajinomoto to pursue a case against Asda to protect aspartame's reputation.

[86] They left the sweetener industry in 2006, because "global aspartame markets are facing structural oversupply, which has caused worldwide strong price erosion over the last five years", making the business "persistently unprofitable".