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Quick answer: Coal tar carries the heavier risk profile. Coal tar is banned in the EU and allowed in the US; Advantame is — in the EU and — in the US.
| Property | Coal tar | Advantame |
|---|---|---|
| EU status | Banned | — |
| US status | Allowed | — |
| Risk level | high | — |
| Banned in | European Union | — |
| Restricted in | — | European Union (ADI 5 mg/kg body weight) |
| Category | cmr | additive |
| Where it hides | anti-dandruff shampoo, hair dye, psoriasis products | — |
Coal tar is a complex byproduct of coal processing used in dandruff and psoriasis products and dyes.
Advantame is the newest FDA-approved synthetic sweetener, approved in 2014. Like neotame, it is a structural derivative of aspartame but with a vanillin-derived substituent. It is approximately 20,000 times sweeter than sucrose — the most potent sweetener currently approved for food use in the US.
Coal tar: A known human carcinogen. Restricted in the EU (banned in hair dye); permitted in US OTC products.
Advantame: Advantame is the newest approved high-intensity sweetener with the least post-approval safety data. The FDA approval was based on extensive pre-market animal studies showing no significant toxicity, carcinogenicity, reproductive toxicity, or neurotoxicity at relevant doses. EFSA approved it for EU use in 2014, finding no safety concerns based on the submitted data. Like other synthetic sweeteners, advantame has not been studied for long-term effects in large human populations post-approval. The same gut microbiome and glucose tolerance concerns raised for other sweeteners (aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame K) have not been specifically studied for advantame, though the class-wide concerns are relevant. Given its 2014 approval date, independent long-term safety studies are still limited.
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