Discovered in 1965 by American chemist James Schlatter, aspartame is about 200 times sweeter than regular table sugar. One group of experts, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), said aspartame is a "possible carcinogen". For aspartame, this limit is 40 milligrams of aspartame per kilogram of body weight per day. Aspartame's use in food products has been debated for decades and has also prompted some companies to remove the compound from their products. PepsiCo (PEP.O) removed aspartame from Diet Pepsi in 2015 but brought it back a year later.

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Persons: James Schlatter, Gunter Kuhnle, Mills, Yoplait, JECFA, Elissa Welle, Savyata Mishra, Deborah Sophia, Caroline Humer, Catherine Evans Organizations: World Health, U.S . Food, Drug Administration, WHO, International Agency for Research, Cancer, FAO, United Kingdom's University of Reading, PepsiCo, Pepsi, FDA, IARC, National Library of Medicine, Thomson Locations: Diet, saccharin, United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy, Denmark, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, New York, Bengaluru