HEALTH MINISTER STEPHEN Donnelly has said he is not seeking to reverse a tax on sugar after the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced it was to declare Aspartame – a commonly used artificial sweetener – a possible carcinogen.

When asked if the sugar tax would continue, despite a trend towards possible dangerous artificial sweeteners, the health minister replied: “Yes, yes it is.”

While acknowledging “measures can have unintended consequences”, he said the sugar tax is “an important measure” against the scourge of “childhood obesity”.

He welcomed the WHO’s position and is to engage with the Chief Medical Officer next week on the issue, adding: “The reality is we have a childhood obesity issue in this country, we are high consumers of processed sugar – that is not a good thing.”

Aspartame is commonly used in thousands of products including diet fizzy drinks, ice cream and chewing gum.

It will be listed as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” from next month based on the findings of the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

The IARC is preparing to label the sweetener as “possibly carcinogenic to humans”, Reuters reported based on “two sources with knowledge of the process”.

This would mean that there is some evidence linking aspartame to cancer, but that it is limited.

The IARC has two more serious categories, “probably carcinogenic to humans” and “carcinogenic to humans”.

The IARC safety review was conducted to assess whether or not aspartame is a potential hazard, based on all the published evidence, but does not take into account how much of a product a person can safely consume, according to reports.

Aspartame has been widely used since the 1980s as a table-top sweetener, and in products such as diet fizzy drinks, chewing gum, breakfast cereals and cough drops.

The International Sweeteners Association (ISA) said “no conclusions” could be drawn until both reports were released.

Additional reporting by PA