MILWAUKEE - Researchers have strengthened a link between aspartame - a common sweetener in diet sodas, medicines and sugar-free candies - and cancer in rats.

The chemical is sold under the brand name NutraSweet.

The study, conducted by a team of Italian scientists, demonstrates that aspartame is particularly potent when animals are exposed in utero and during development. The rats were exposed to the sweetener at levels above and below the recommended daily maximums for people.

The research was published online this month in Environmental Health Perspectives, a U.S. government sponsored, peer-reviewed journal.

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