When you pop open a can of diet soda or choose the light version of your favorite cookie, do you wonder if the artificial sweetener in the products will harm you one day? Hundreds of studies cast doubt on man-made sweetening products like Sweet‘N Low, NutraSweet, and Splenda.

About four years ago, 28-year-old Amy Gehrt of Peoria said enough is enough. She started boycotting artificial sweeteners “because everyone I know says they’re bad for you and cause cancer. Anything that’s man-made can’t be good for you. At least not as good for you as natural substances,” Gehrt said.

Methodist Medical Center Registered Dietician Holly Miller said despite the studies condemning artificial sweeteners, all of the ones on the market today are safe. She said if you see a negative article about sweeteners, check the source. “I think a lot of times we’re searching for a cause, an answer to a disease. A lot of times there’s a correlation to when the product came out. It’s not always the case that the product caused the disease or the disability,” she said.

Miller said there are limits to how much is too much when it comes to sweeteners, but it’s close to impossible to reach them. Aspartame, more commonly known as NutraSweet, has a limit of 50 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day. A 130-pound person would have to drink 13 12-ounce cans of diet soda per day to reach the limit on aspartame. “What’s interesting about aspartame is it really does appear to be safe for most individuals. Aspartame, when it’s digested, is broken into several substances that are common in regular foods like milk and vegetables,” she said.

What about the newest sweetener, sucralose, more commonly known as Splenda? “You would probably have to sit down and pour a box of Splenda down your throat for a number of days to reach the limit. The FDA builds in safety factors,” said Miller.

You’ve probably seen the new Diet Coke with Splenda commercials. Many wonder if that’s a healthier option than Diet Coke flavored with NutraSweet because the advertisements say it’s made from a natural substance: sugar. “What’s interesting is their advertising is saying it was derived from sugar. The starting compound is sugar, but they’ve changed the chemical compound, so it’s really not sugar,” said Miller.

Miller said advertisers are really trying to convince people Splenda tastes more like sugar—not that it’s safer than other artificial sweeteners. She said it’s the only artificial sweetener that can be used in baking products without altering the taste.

Then there’s saccharine, more commonly known as Sweet‘N Low. It may be the reason some people are so hesitant about using artificial sweeteners in the first place. It was taken off the market shortly after it was approved because it was shown to cause cancer in rats. “In the 1970s, saccharine was reevaluated and restudied. In 2000, it was deemed safe again,” Miller said.

Still, people like Amy Gehrt aren’t convinced man-made substances won’t harm them. “I’m not going to take any chances. It’s not that hard to cut it out of your diet,” she said.

If you’re still worried about drinking products containing artificial sweeteners but don’t want to take in a lot of calories, Miller suggested water with lemon or unsweetened tea. TPW