The discovery wasn’t intentional — just sloppy safety practices. Chemist James M. Schlatter was hunting for an anti-ulcer drug in his lab in 1965 when he licked his finger to pick up some paper. Astonished by an intense sweetness on his tongue, he soon traced the substance back to a beaker full of aspartic acid and phenylalanine, two naturally occurring amino acids.阿斯巴甜的发现并非蓄意而为，而是只是安全操作上的无心之举。1965年，化学家詹姆斯·M·施拉特在实验室里寻找一种抗溃疡药物时，用手指舔了一下纸张。舌头上强烈的甜味令他大吃一惊，很快他就追溯到一个装满天冬氨酸和苯丙氨酸的烧杯中，这是两种天然存在的氨基酸。As Schlatter studied the mixture further, he found that methanol, which is a simple alcohol also found in fruits and vegetables, seemed to be a key to the powder’s sweetness — and aspartame as a sugar substitute was born.随着施拉特对这种混合物的进一步研究，他发现甲醇（一种存在于水果和蔬菜中的单醇）似乎是这种粉末产生甜味的关键，作为糖替代品的阿斯巴甜由此诞生。By 1973, aspartame joined the growing artificial sweetener market.到1973年，阿斯巴甜进入了兴起的人造甜味剂市场。Aspartame is a non-nutritive sweetener, meaning it contains an extremely tiny or zero amount of carbohydrates and doesn’t provide the body with energy — or calories — as sugar does. However, unlike some artificial sweeteners that are excreted from the body nearly unchanged, aspartame is metabolized and has about 4 calories per gram.阿斯巴甜是一种非营养性甜味剂，这意味着它含有极少量或零度的碳水化合物，不能像糖一样为人体提供能量或热量。然而，阿斯巴甜不像某些人工甜味剂那样几乎没有任何反应就排出体外，而是经过新陈代谢，每克含有约4卡路里的热量。Aspartame is one of six non-nutritive sweeteners approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.阿斯巴甜是美国食品和药物管理局批准的六种非营养性甜味剂之一。Sweeteners can be purchased for use in restaurants and homes, but manufacturers often combine a variety of each into their diet drinks and foods to develop a unique taste, according to the American Beverage Association, an industry association that has published an extensive report on aspartame.美国饮料协会称，甜味剂可在餐馆和家庭中使用，但生产商通常会将各种甜味剂混合到他们的减肥饮料和食品中，以开发出独特的口味，该行业协会已发布了一份关于阿斯巴甜的详细报告。
A number of studies have found correlations between artificial sweeteners and various health issues, such as migraines, depression, heart disease, cognitive, behavioral and developmental issues, and the development of dementia, diabetes and cancer.许多研究发现，人工甜味剂与各种健康问题存在关联，如头痛、抑郁症、心脏病、认知、行为和发育问题，以及痴呆症、糖尿病和癌症。However, the Expert Committee on Food Additives, a joint advisory committee of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization, concluded in 2013 there is no convincing evidence from experimental, animal or human studies that aspartame has adverse effects after ingestion — as long as levels are within the acceptable daily intake of 40 milligrams per kilogram of body weight.然而，联合国粮食及农业组织和世界卫生组织的联合咨询委员会食品添加剂专家委员会于2013年得出结论认为，没有实验、动物或人体研究证据表明摄入阿斯巴甜后会产生不良影响，只要阿斯巴甜不超过40mg/kg体重的可接受每日摄入量。The same conclusion was reached in a recent review of more current studies, all of which showed conflicting results on potential toxic effects of aspartame, said Dr. Francesco Branca, director of WHO’s Department of Nutrition and Food Safety Department in a news briefing.世卫组织营养与食品安全司司长Francesco Branca博士在一次新闻发布会上说，最近对更多最新研究的审查也得出了同样的结论，所有这些研究都表明阿斯巴甜潜在毒性影响方面相互矛盾的结果。Animal studies in the 1980s showed no cancer-causing effects from aspartame, even in high doses, and no damage to DNA. Studies over the years, however, have raised a red flag on a potential link to cancer, prompting a new review by WHO.20世纪80年代的动物实验表明，阿斯巴甜即使在高剂量下不会致癌，也不会损伤基因。然而，多年来的研究揭示了阿斯巴甜与癌症的潜在联系，促使世卫组织进行新一轮审查。In 2023, for the first time, WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) announced that aspartame should be categorized as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” due to a potential link to liver cancer.2023年，世卫组织国际癌症研究机构首次宣布，由于阿斯巴甜与肝癌的潜在联系，应将其归为“可能会对人类致癌”之列。Observational studies in humans — which cannot show a direct cause and effect — saw an association between aspartame and liver, breast and lymphoma cancers. But much more research needs to be done to draw a direct link, Branca said.对人类中进行的观察性研究不能表明阿斯巴甜与肝癌、乳腺癌和淋巴瘤之间直接的因果关系。Branca说，但要得出直接联系还需要进行更多的研究。
- sloppy [ˈslɑːpi]：懒散的，草率的; 稀薄的
- carbohydrate [ˌkɑːrboʊˈhaɪdreɪt]：碳水化合物; 糖类
- excrete [ɪkˈskrit]：排除; 排泄; 分泌; 排出
- carcinogenic [ˌkɑrsɪnəˈdʒenɪk]：致癌的
翻译：Shaw Henry
