Salt of aspartame-acesulfame (E962)

Salt of aspartame-acesulfame is the sweetener the food industry lists as E962. In our table it is moderate risk: it takes 15 points off the additive subscore, a third of a product's score (about 5 of the 100).

What Salt of aspartame-acesulfame does to a score

A packaged food's additive subscore starts at 100 and loses points for each additive on the label; that subscore is a third of the final score. Salt of aspartame-acesulfame takes 15 points off the additive subscore, a third of a product's score (about 5 of the 100). Scan the pack in Sito and the score you get is the one for your own child's age, with this additive named in the reasons. How we score has the whole method.

What the sources found

Every classification in our table comes from the citations below, and nothing else. Each finding is our one-line summary of what the source concluded, with the source and reference beside it.

• IARC Monographs Volume 134 (2023), aspartame — applied to the aspartame moiety of E 962
  Aspartame is classified Group 2B, possibly carcinogenic to humans; E 962 dissociates to aspartame and acesulfame K, so the 2B hazard travels with the aspartame moiety.
• EFSA Call for data on genotoxicity data on sweeteners, 2021-06-30 (efsa.europa.eu/en/call/call-data-genotoxicity-data-sweeteners)
  Salt of aspartame-acesulfame (E 962) is one of the nine sweeteners named as having identified genotoxicity information needs; no re-evaluation opinion for E 962 has been published (Europe PMC EFSA Journal check, 2026-08-10).
• EFSA Journal 2025;23(4):9317 (acesulfame K) and EFSA Journal 2013;11(12):3496 (aspartame)
  Both constituent moieties have current ADIs with no exposure exceedance reported in any age group (ace-K 15 mg/kg bw/day, 2025; aspartame 40 mg/kg bw/day, 2013), so the deduction rests on the IARC hazard classification, not on intake.

Why this class

IARC Group 2B; or an EFSA re-evaluation that flagged genotoxicity data gaps, found safety could not be assessed on the available data, or cut the ADI citing child exposure; or an EU harmonised classification of the substance as a reproductive or developmental hazard; or an EU withdrawal of one authorised food use while others remain; or an OEHHA/Proposition 65 listing; or membership of the Southampton-six colourants.

Our confidence in this row's classification is medium. Medium or low does not mean the evidence is weak; it means something about the row is still being pinned down, usually a regulatory status confirmed from one source rather than two.

Questions parents ask

Is Salt of aspartame-acesulfame (E962) safe for kids?

Moderate risk. In Sito it takes 15 points off the additive subscore, a third of a product's score (about 5 of the 100). The finding we rely on: Aspartame is classified Group 2B, possibly carcinogenic to humans; E 962 dissociates to aspartame and acesulfame K, so the 2B hazard travels with the aspartame moiety (IARC Monographs Volume 134 (2023), aspartame, applied to the aspartame moiety of E 962).

What is E962?

E962 is the E number for Salt of aspartame-acesulfame, a sweetener. Open Food Facts tags it en:e962.

Next to it on the label

The E numbers either side of E962 in our table, then the closest sweeteners by number.

• Sucralose (E955), low risk
• Steviol glycosides (E960), low risk, flagged for young children
• Neotame (E961), low risk
• Maltitol (E965), moderate risk
• Xylitol (E967), moderate risk
• Erythritol (E968), high risk, flagged for young children