As far as “artificial” sweeteners go I avoid them, which is not hard to do as a never drink soda pop or similar fluids. I would rather just drink water. When I have tried artificial sweeteners, in my coffee for example, I find that they have relative to ordinary sugar, a peculiar and unpleasant taste and after taste. Since I don't have that much sugar in my diet anyway, as far as beverages go it's water (and more water, and yet more water), one glass of orange juice in the morning, milk on my cereal in the morning, and the occasional (in some weeks maybe 2-4 pints and in more none) beer if I am eating out. If people must substitute sweetened carbonated water for just plain water I don't see that artificial sweeteners are bad, in fact depending on how much they drink it may be better than those sweetened with sucrose or fructose.


However, such artificial sweeteners should be tested and approved for use in foods by a body, in the US it is the FDA, that is at least theoretically looking out for the public interest and not that of private companies looking to use them in products. That some chemical occurs naturally does not mean that it is safe or that its use in food should not be restricted. Aflatoxins occur naturally in all sorts of raw foods, but because of toxicity, including being an extremely potent carcinogen, at least in the US standards are set on maximum allowable amounts present.

Also when a chemical is labeled as a carcinogen and it's use is banned or maximum concentration levels are set this is almost always based on tests on animals that are exposed to very high concentrations over short periods. The results are extrapolated to obtain risk factors for humans at low concentrations over extended periods. It would be very difficult, take a lot of time, and cost a great deal to conduct experiments to establish the effects of long term exposure to humans over long times, actually near impossible to isolate the effects to just the one chemical.