Aspartame (E951): what it is and why it's flagged

How it appears on a label

Depending on the market, the same additive is written as Aspartame (E951), as the bare code E951, or under a common name with no code at all. EU labels favour the E-number; US labels usually spell the additive out. The scanner reads the parsed additives taxonomy, so all three forms resolve to the same flag.

How much weight it carries in a score

Additives are one of four inputs to the 0–100 score, alongside nutrition quality, NOVA processing level and organic status. A single flagged additive does not sink a score. What moves a score is additive load — several contested additives together, which in practice almost always means an ultra-processed product, and the processing is scored too.

What this page does not claim

That aspartame (e951) will harm you. Every additive here has passed a regulatory approval; the disagreement is about long-term exposure and about where the burden of proof sits, not about acute safety. Olive Detective reports what is in the product and why the ingredient is contested, then leaves the decision with you.