Scientists have studied the role of sweeteners in the process of DNA damage
The study showed that a sucralose-related substance can damage DNA and disrupt the intestinal barrier in laboratory experiments. However, subsequent studies and the assessment of European regulators have significantly complicated the picture: the data obtained do not prove that regular consumption of sucralose causes the same changes in humans. The information that scientists have found out about the popular sweetener is in the "Izvestia" article.
What scientists have found in sucralose
The researchers studied sucralose-6-acetate— a chemical compound associated with the artificial sweetener sucralose. This is not sucralose itself, but a substance that can form during the manufacturing process and remain an impurity in the finished product. In a 2023 study, scientists found it in some commercial sucralose samples at concentrations of up to 0.67%.
Previous work by the same research group, published in 2018, showed the presence of fat-soluble compounds in the biomaterials of rats given sucralose. Then the researchers suggested that the sweetener could change chemically in the body. Later, sucralose-6-acetate became one of the compounds that attracted their attention.
Susan Schiffman, lead author of the study
Our new work establishes that sucralose-6-acetate has a genotoxic effect. We also found that trace amounts of sucralose-6-acetate can be found in marketed sucrolose even before it is consumed and metabolized.
However, later the assumption that sucralose-6-acetate is necessarily formed in the body during digestion was questioned. The European Food Safety Agency noted that the compounds found in rats could already be present in the sucralose used as impurities. Therefore, their presence in biomaterials does not in itself prove that they were formed as a result of sweetener metabolism.
How the sweetener affected DNA and intestines
To test the potential harm of sucralose-6-acetate, the scientists exposed human blood cells grown in the laboratory to this substance. These were experiments in vitro, that is, outside the human body. The results are published in the journal Science Daily.
The researchers found signs of genotoxicity, the ability to damage genetic material. The analysis showed changes corresponding to DNA strand breaks.
Susan Schiffman
In short, we found that sucralose-6-acetate is genotoxic and effectively destroys DNA in cells exposed to this chemical.
At the same time, the authors of the material emphasize the fundamental difference between detecting a potentially dangerous effect in laboratory cells and proving a real risk to humans. If the cells are directly exposed to a chemical, this allows you to identify a possible danger, but it does not yet show whether the human body receives the same amount of the substance during normal consumption of the product and whether similar damage occurs.
The researchers also examined the effects of sucralose and sucralose-6-acetate on a model of human intestinal tissue. Both substances violated the integrity of the intestinal barrier in the laboratory.
Susan Schiffman
When we exposed the intestinal epithelial tissues-the tissues lining the intestinal wall-to sucralose and sucralose—6—acetate, we found that both chemicals cause intestinal hyper permeability syndrome.
The scientists also found an increase in the activity of genes associated with oxidative stress, inflammation, and carcinogenicity.
However, such changes in gene activity do not mean that the development of cancer has been proven during the experiment. Similarly, increasing the permeability of a laboratory model of intestinal tissue does not prove that regular consumption of a sweetener causes intestinal disease in humans.
Why the results caused controversy
Researchers in 2023 stated that the discovered effects require a review of the safety of sucralose. One of the arguments was to compare the amount of sucralose-6-acetate in a sweetened drink with the threshold of toxicological concern for genotoxic substances set by the European Food Safety Agency.
However, this threshold is used as a conservative tool for the preliminary assessment of substances for which there is insufficient data on toxicity. Exceeding this indicator does not automatically mean that a particular drink causes DNA damage or disease. In addition, it differs from the permissible daily allowance set directly for sucralose.
In February 2026, the European Food Safety Agency completed a large-scale reassessment of sucralose. The experts maintained the permissible daily intake at 15 mg per kg of body weight per day and concluded that the estimated intake of sweetener from food remains below this value for the studied population groups. The regulator also found no reason to consider the permitted use of sucralose to be a problem in terms of genotoxicity.
Additional data appeared in August 2026. A study of commercial sucralose using several genotoxicity tests in cells and animals in most cases found no signs of mutations or damage to chromosomes. One of the methods did reveal signals of DNA damage in some tissues, but the authors pointed out difficulties in interpreting these results and generally did not consider them evidence of genotoxicity.
However, the new study tested commercial sucralose rather than isolated sucralose-6-acetate, so its results cannot be directly compared with the 2023 experiment as completely identical.
What remains unknown so far
Separate studies have investigated other possible effects of sucralose that are not directly related to DNA damage. In one 2025 randomized trial involving 75 young people, sucralose—laced drinks increased subjective hunger and blood flow in the hypothalamus, an area of the brain involved in appetite regulation, compared with sugar. However, it was about short-term reactions, not evidence of sustained weight gain.
A systematic review of 23 randomized trials published in 2026 also examined the effects of sucralose on metabolic rates in healthy adults. The results regarding the regulation of blood sugar levels turned out to be ambiguous: in some studies, adverse changes were noted, in others— no effect was found.
There is also a separate issue related to the heating of sucralose. European experts have pointed out the uncertainty regarding compounds that can form with prolonged exposure to high temperatures. Therefore, the safety of expanding the use of sucralose in some types of baking has not been confirmed. This question concerns substances that can form when heated, and does not confirm the results of the sucralose-6-acetate 2023 study.
Thus, the available data do not allow us to conclude that the usual use of permitted sucralose damages human DNA. Laboratory experiments have indeed revealed the potentially significant effects of individual compounds, but subsequent studies and safety assessments indicate the need to take into account the specific substance, its quantity and exposure conditions.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
