Does aspartame have side effects?

France

Aspartame is an artificial sweetener, which contains two amino acids - aspartic acid and phenylalanine. It is 180 -200 times sweeter than sucrose and is used as a low calorie sweetening ingredient, for example in soft drinks, dairy products, chewing gum, chocolate and ice cream. Aspartame is classed as a food additive under European Food legislation, which means that it underwent rigorous safety evaluation by the Scientific Committee for Foods (SCF) before its approval in 1981. Once an additive has been approved as safe across the European Union, it is assigned an E-number and Aspartame carries the number E-951. It concluded from biochemical, clinical, and behavioural research that the daily intake of aspartame remained entirely safe for the general public - including diabetics, pregnant and nursing women and children – but not for people with phenylketonuria.

Read also:

British Medical Journal Vol.329 (October 04), page 755-756
http://www.aspartame.info/opinion/pdfs/bmj%20aspartame.pdf

and Food Today No 15: Much Ado about Nothing - Aspartame?
http://www.eufic.org/gb/food/pag/food15/food152.htm