Aspartame-sweetened foods and beverages are safe, according to a definitive new finding issued jointly by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The WHO and FAO Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) reviewed decades of high-quality evidence and real-world consumption data, establishing an Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) at which aspartame can be safely consumed daily over the course of an entire lifetime.

Following last year’s announcement that it was removing aspartame from its Diet Pepsi brand in favor of a blend of sucralose and acesulfame potassium (Ace-K), Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo Inc. will be bringing the artificial sweetener back to its portfolio, according to media reports.

Obesity rates have more than doubled in adults and children since the 1970s, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Approximately 78.6 million adults are overweight or obese, with 12.7 million children and adolescents in the same category.

Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo Inc. announced that it has reformulated its Diet Pepsi brand, making the product aspartame free.

In recent years, consumer concerns about sugar intake have created a macrotrend of healthier beverages. As a result, the beverage industry has seen natural sweeteners like stevia evolve and become more widely used.

In the ballad “The Sweetest Thing,” the pop rock band U2 sang about how love is the sweetest thing, but when it comes to the beverage market, the sweetest thing also is the biggest thing. Across 13 ingredient categories, sweeteners accounted for 85 percent of the 46.4 million tons of ingredients used in beverages in 2011, according to an April 2013 report by Chicago-based Euromonitor International titled “Beverage Ingredients: Trends and Influences.”

Whether it’s to enhance flavor profiles, reduce calories or to mask the off-notes of added vitamins and minerals, beverage manufacturers continue to turn to sweeteners to help produce products that appeal to consumers’ taste preferences.