When Dr. Morando Soffritti, a cancer researcher in Bologna, saw the results of his team's seven-year study on aspartame, he knew he was about to be injected into a bitter controversy over the sweetener, one of the most contentiously debated substances ever added to foods and beverages.

Aspartame is sold under the brand names NutraSweet and Equal and is found in popular products like Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi, Diet Snapple and Sugar Free Kool-Aid. About 200 million people consume it worldwide, according to the Calorie Control Council, a trade group for makers of artificial sweeteners.

Soffritti's study concluded that aspartame may cause cancer.

Read more on study findings related to aspartame at http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/02/12/business/sweet.php.