By Laura Cooper and Andrea Petersen
Federal health officials have long advised Americans to limit sugary drinks. Now they are recommending consumers ditch artificial sweeteners, too.
The Trump administration's overhaul of federal dietary guidelines this month called for Americans to curb their consumption of sugar substitutes, which include aspartame, acesulfame potassium and sucralose. A government report released in conjunction with the guidelines cited research linking the sweeteners to conditions such as cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes.
The new guidance deals a blow to U.S. food and beverage makers, which for decades have used artificial sweeteners in response to calls to reduce sugar content. The American Beverage Association, a trade group representing soda, juice and energy drink makers, said that 60% of beverages sold in the U.S. have zero sugar, including water and ice tea.
Studies have found that diets high in added sugars are linked to an elevated risk of obesity and Type 2 diabetes. Meanwhile researchers are trying to get a better handle on the health effects of nonsugar sweeteners.
Some large scientific studies show a connection between consuming nonsugar sweeteners and certain health problems. Other research shows they can cause dysfunction in the gut microbiome.
But all the research on artificial sweeteners doesn't come to the same conclusions. Some studies don't find links with health problems. And some find that replacing sugar with other sweeteners leads to weight loss.
The American Beverage Association said the alternative sweeteners are safe. "Guidance that discourages sugar but dismisses safe, effective no sugar options is impractical and inherently contradictory," a spokesman said.
Representatives from Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Keurig Dr Pepper, which use alternative sweeteners in diet and zero-sugar beverages, declined to comment.
The Food and Drug Administration didn't comment. The agency has stated that its scientists don't have safety concerns when aspartame is "used under the approved conditions," a position that was current as of February 2025.
Rising pressure
The soft-drink industry is under pressure, with fewer Americans drinking traditional sodas. President Trump's health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has pushed companies to drop artificial ingredients in favor of natural ones. And in a number of states, food-stamp recipients will no longer be able to use their benefits to purchase beverages like soda.
Soft drinks like Diet Coke still have their fans. Trump enjoys the aspartame-sweetened soda so much he can request it by pressing a button on his desk in the White House.
A White House spokesman said Trump is focused on delivering his administration's Make America Healthy Again effort for all Americans. As for the president himself, the spokesman said he "has the constitution, testosterone and energy levels that most young people could only dream of having."
Sarah Hendrickson, a technology executive in the North Dallas, Texas, area, says she has two to three cans of Diet Coke each day. For Christmas, she said her daughters wrapped presents in Diet Coke-themed wrapping, underneath a tree with Diet Coke ornaments.
As for the new federal guidance, "it's not going to change how I drink Diet Coke," said Hendrickson, 51.
Sweetener scrutiny
A scientific report released with the new federal dietary guidelines included appendices, which cited several meta-analyses examining sweeteners' association with the risk of various health problems. The certainty of evidence was "moderate" for risk of Alzheimer's disease, according to the report, and "low" for cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes risk. It called for further studies.
Research by scientists in France was included in the meta-analyses considered in the report. In three recent studies, the scientists found that artificial sweeteners are linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and cancer.
Scientists found associations with health problems for aspartame, acesulfame potassium and sucralose, which are the most commonly consumed artificial sweeteners. They found that heavier consumers of aspartame, for example, had a 22% increased risk of breast cancer, compared with people who didn't consume the substance.
The studies involved more than 100,000 participants and followed them for up to 12 years. Participants reported everything they ate and drank, including product brand names, over several 24-hour periods. The studies are part of a larger project called the NutriNet-Santé cohort that is examining diet's effects on health.
Such observational research alone doesn't prove that artificial sweeteners cause health problems.
The answer isn't to go back to sugar, says Mathilde Touvier, research director at the National Institute of Health and Medical Research in France, who led the studies. "Try to lower exposure to sugary drinks but also artificially sweetened products," she said.
There is also a body of findings from randomized-controlled trials, where some people are given artificial sweeteners and others are given a placebo. Some trials show that the sweeteners can raise blood sugar, weaken blood-sugar control and cause dysfunction in the gut microbiome, the collection of bacteria and other microorganisms in the gut. Other studies, however, don't show these impacts.
These studies tend to be very short, often only a few weeks long, said Jotham Suez, an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who studies sweeteners. Negative health impacts may take longer to emerge, he said. His research has found that people's responses to sweeteners can vary widely.
Soft-drink defense
The beverage association said that the federal dietary guidelines' suggestions are based on weak science, relying heavily on observational research. The group said the guidelines ignored more than 50 clinical human trials showing that nonsugar sweeteners have no effect or a beneficial effect on body weight, blood glucose, blood pressure and other health markers.
The Calorie Control Council, a trade group representing low- and reduced-calorie food and beverage companies, said that aspartame is approved and used in over 115 countries, and that such products help people make healthier diet choices.
Diet and zero-sugar sodas have been moneymakers for soda giants like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. They accounted for nearly 30% of both companies' carbonated soft-drink sales volume in 2024, according to industry tracker Beverage Digest.
Diego Rose, a professor of nutrition at Tulane University, said it is likely most Americans are unaware of the government's updated dietary advice -- and if they are, they may not listen.
"The fact that the dietary guidelines changed doesn't mean that people are going to change," he said.
Write to Laura Cooper at laura.cooper@wsj.com and Andrea Petersen at andrea.petersen@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 23, 2026 12:00 ET (17:00 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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