Therefore, aspartame is not recommended for use in recipes requiring lengthy heating or baking. It may, however, be added at the end of the cooking cycle in some recipes. If a food containing aspartame is inadvertently heated, it would still be safe, but would simply not provide the desired sweetness. As a governmental agency charged with safeguarding the American food supply, the FDA has concluded that aspartame is safe for the general public, including diabetics, pregnant and nursing women, and children. These persons are diagnosed at birth by a blood test performed on all babies.
Products sweetened with aspartame carry a statement on the label that they contain phenylalanine.
The ADI represents an intake level that if maintained each day throughout a person's lifetime would be considered safe by a wide margin. The FDA monitors the amount of aspartame that Americans consume through ongoing dietary surveys. The average daily intake of Americans who consume aspartame has remained fairly constant since July 1984, averaging less than 2 percent of the FDA guideline for acceptable consumption. Because of children's small size, they consume proportionately larger amounts of all food ingredients than adults in relation to their body weight. Tests with humans consuming much greater levels of aspartame than the ADI have shown no adverse side effects.