Press Enquiries
For press enquiries, or to request an interview with
Prof Stephen Atkin, please contact Claire Mulley on 01482 466943
or 07809 585965.
Potential volunteers for the study should contact a
member of the clinical trial team on 01482 675372 or 01482 675387
from 9am to 5pm weekdays, or the Hull Royal Infirmary switchboard
on 01482 328541 out of hours.
Notes to Editors
This is a pilot study involving 100 volunteers; 50 of
them have complained of side-effects from aspartame and they will
be matched in gender and age by people who have no side
effects.
Prof Stephen Atkin will be available for interview on 21
and 22 Sept; contact Claire Mulley to request an interview
slot.
About Prof Stephen Atkin
Prof Stephen
Atkin is the Head of Diabetes and Endocrinology at the University
of Hull’s Postgraduate Medical Institute (PGMI).
He has a BSc Biochemistry and MD from Newcastle
University. Prof Atkin completed a PhD at Liverpool University
where he was also an MRC training fellow.
He was appointed in October 2005 as Professor of
Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism at Hull York Medical School
(HYMS).
He is based and leads the pharmaceutical and nutritional
clinical trials teams for these studies at the Clinical Research
Centre based at the Michael White Diabetes Centre at Hull Royal
Infirmary. The laboratory focusing on molecular and a cellular
research is based within the medical research unit at the
University of Hull.
Translational clinical trials for both the food and
pharmaceutical industry are a major focus of the work undertaken
and part of the overall research portfolio on modulation of insulin
resistance and cardiovascular risk in these conditions that are
associated with a high morbidity and mortality.
Read more about Hull York Medical School (HYMS).
Read more about the Food
Standards Agency.
External Coverage
BBC
The Daily Express
The Guardian
Times Online
Study to investigate alleged side effects of
aspartame
23 September 2009
The University of Hull is to
conduct an independent study, funded by the Food Standards Agency,
to assess whether the artificial sweetener aspartame causes
symptoms in those people who feel that they are sensitive to
it.
A
spartame is
150 times sweeter than sugar and is found in more than 4,000
products including diet soft drinks, cereal bars, yogurts and
chewing gum.
Advice from the Food Standards Agency and the
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) remains that aspartame
is safe to consume. However, a number of people have reported
sensitivity to the product including headaches, dizziness,
vomiting, diarrhoea and fatigue.
The Food Standards Agency has therefore
decided to commission a study to look at the alleged symptoms.
The national study will be carried out by
Professor Stephen Atkin at the University of Hull, in collaboration
with colleagues at the Hull York Medical School and Hull and East
Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust.
He explains: “This study is not to determine
whether aspartame can be consumed safely; this has already been
established by the FSA and EFSA, but rather to see whether certain
people are sensitive to it.
“We will look at the effects of eating a snack
bar which may or may not contain aspartame in people who say they
have a problem eating aspartame and people who normally consume
foods containing aspartame with no problems. The study is a double
blind placebo crossover, which is the gold standard of
studies.”
It is hoped that this study will help to
design a larger international study, which will provide the
information needed to inform governments and the European Union on
whether the consumption of aspartame is related to symptoms.
Andrew Wadge, Chief Scientist at the Food
Standards Agency said: ‘The study will address consumer concerns,
including anecdotal reports that have linked a range of conditions
to aspartame.
‘The Agency’s view remains that aspartame can
be consumed safely and we are not recommending any changes to its
current use. However, we know that some people consider that they
react badly to consuming this sweetener so we think it is important
to increase our knowledge about what is happening.’
The research is expected to take 18 months and
the results will be published as a report to be delivered to the
Food Standards Agency. A summary of this information will be
available on the FSA website.