Last July, Dr. Morando Soffritti, European Ramazzini Foundation of Oncology and Environmental Sciences director, of Bologna, Italy, published research findings linking aspartame to lymphoma, leukemia and cancer in rats. Dr. Soffritti's study alarmed many people who use artificial sweeteners, and sparked a controversial debate among scientists and consumers. Dr. Soffritti's study involved 1,900 rats that had been given daily doses of the sweetener equivalent to four to five 20-ounce bottles of diet soda for a 150-pound person. Part of the reasoning behind the new study to examine the findings of Dr. Soffritti's original study, is that he allowed rats in his study to live three years, as opposed to the normal two years research rats live. Two rat years is equivalent to 53 human years. His argument for studying rats an additional year, is that cancer is a disease striking most people in the third part of life. In all fairness, the controversy regarding the safety of aspartame began years ago, and evokes strong debate, and conflicting evidence, on both sides of the aspartame argument. The new study will be published in the United States later this year. Do you think artificial sweeteners are safe?