UK - British experts have cast doubt on the safety of an artificial sweetener used in thousands of products including big brand diet soft drinks from Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Academics at the University of Sussex claim that an EU food watchdog assessment giving a clean bill of health to ASPARTAME, a calorie-free sugar alternative, was seriously flawed. Professor Erik Millstone, who has been a long-time critic of the additive, argues that there are many scientific studies that raise legitimate safety questions together with circumstantial evidence of neurological harm. As a result, he is calling for the suspension of authorisation to sell or use aspartame in the EU pending an independent investigation. According to all leading health authorities in the world, as well as Cancer Research UK and Diabetes UK, low- and no-calorie sweeteners are safe.