Diet Drinks "Add Poison to Poison"? A Nutritionist's Viral Warning, Fact-Checked
An Egyptian clinical nutrition consultant says zero-sugar sodas are worse than regular ones and that 6-month milk is "stripped of benefit." Here is what he said — and what WHO, IARC and food science actually show.
* This article is for general information and is not medical advice. People with diabetes, allergies or other conditions should follow their doctor's guidance.
The short answer
- Diet drinks: WHO does advise against relying on sweeteners to lose weight. But regulators still call approved sweeteners safe within daily limits, and "addiction" is not proven.
- Long-life (UHT) milk: It loses a small share of some heat-sensitive vitamins. Its protein, calcium and fat stay largely intact — so "stripped of benefit" goes too far.
- Best everyday drink: Water, plain milk (fresh or UHT) and unsweetened drinks beat both sugary and diet sodas.
It's the kind of warning that spreads through family WhatsApp groups in minutes. On the Al-Nas channel's show "Al-Beit", clinical nutrition consultant Dr. Emad El-Din Fahmy told host Marwa Shatla that swapping sugar for "zero" or "diet" drinks is like "adding poison to poison." In the same interview, he said long-life boxed milk isn't toxic — but is "stripped of benefit."
Millions of families buy exactly these products every week. So we did what a headline can't: we put each claim next to the latest positions of the World Health Organization (WHO), its cancer agency IARC, the joint food-additives committee JECFA, and published dairy research.
What the nutritionist said about diet drinks
Dr. Fahmy's argument is simple: people think they're being smart by cutting cane or beet sugar — which he agrees is also harmful in excess — and replacing it with an artificial sweetener "prepared in labs." Because these sweeteners taste far sweeter than sugar, he says, they act on the brain's reward centers and push people into drinking more and more cans. That, in his view, makes diet drinks more harmful than regular ones.
He also rejected the idea of "one can a day" as a safe compromise, comparing it to asking how many cigarettes a teenager can smoke without coughing. His point: one can becomes two within a month, and then dependence sets in. In a separate appearance on Nile News, he repeated that diet drinks are more dangerous than regular sodas.
"Something harmful stays harmful, full stop."
Dr. Emad El-Din Fahmy, clinical nutrition consultant (translated from Arabic)Claim check: are diet drinks worse than sugary ones?
What about the aspartame cancer headlines?
In July 2023, IARC placed aspartame — a common diet-soda sweetener — in Group 2B, "possibly carcinogenic to humans," citing limited evidence. On the same day, JECFA reviewed the same data and kept the safe daily limit at 40 mg per kg of body weight. For a 70 kg adult, that means more than 9 to 14 cans a day, assuming no aspartame from other foods. The U.S. FDA publicly disagreed with IARC's classification.
Hazard vs. risk, in one sentence
IARC asks "can this cause cancer at all?", while JECFA asks "how much is safe to eat every day?" — which is why a substance can be "possibly carcinogenic" and still have an approved safe intake.
What he said about 6-month boxed milk
Asked whether long-life boxed milk is healthy for children, Dr. Fahmy was careful: it is not toxic and does not cause direct harm. His complaint is that it's "stripped of benefit." He said the heavy heat treatment kills both harmful and good bacteria, oxidizes the fat and damages natural protein — and then companies print "fortified with vitamin D and calcium" on the pack. "Why break the natural ingredients, then add them back from outside?" he asked.
He said mothers buy it to stock up for the month, while fresh milk spoils within about 3 days — which he calls a sign of life, not a flaw. His advice: fresh milk boiled at home from a trusted source, or pasteurized milk from the supermarket fridge. He made an exception for people with milk-protein allergy or digestive problems.
Claim check: is long-life milk really "stripped of benefit"?
Raw vs. pasteurized vs. UHT milk at a glance
| Raw milk | Pasteurized (fridge) | UHT (boxed) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heat | None | About 72°C for 15 seconds | Much higher, for a few seconds |
| Safety | Risky unless boiled | Safe | Safe |
| Protein & calcium | Full | Largely unchanged | Largely unchanged; more whey protein altered |
| Heat-sensitive vitamins | Full | Small loss | Slightly bigger loss |
| Storage | Fridge, days | Fridge, check the date | Cupboard for months until opened |
Where the doctor is right
His main message — eat and drink closer to nature, avoid excess, and buy fresh food from a trusted, safe source — lines up with mainstream nutrition advice. The disagreement is with the scary words, not the healthy direction.
What should your family actually drink?
How the sweetener debate got here
Frequently asked questions
Are diet drinks worse than regular soda?
No major health authority says so. WHO recommends cutting sugar and also not relying on sweeteners for weight loss. The healthiest swap for either drink is water or an unsweetened drink.
Does aspartame cause cancer?
IARC classes it as "possibly carcinogenic" (Group 2B) based on limited evidence. JECFA reviewed the same data and kept the safe limit of 40 mg per kg of body weight per day.
Is long-life (UHT) milk safe for children?
Yes. Even Dr. Fahmy said it is not toxic. It keeps most of milk's protein, calcium and fat, with slightly lower levels of some heat-sensitive vitamins than fresh pasteurized milk.
Is fresh milk better than UHT milk?
Fresh pasteurized milk keeps slightly more of some vitamins and tastes less "cooked." Nutritionally the gap is small, so convenience and storage can reasonably decide.
Can artificial sweeteners be addictive?
Addiction to sweeteners has not been established in people. Research on whether they increase appetite or sweet cravings is mixed.
The bottom line
Diet sodas won't make you slim, and water is still the better habit — on that, the doctor and WHO agree. But calling approved sweeteners "poison" and boxed milk "useless" goes further than the evidence. Plain milk, fresh or long-life, remains a solid source of protein and calcium for most families.
Sources
- WHO — guideline on non-sugar sweeteners (May 2023)
- WHO/IARC/JECFA — aspartame assessments (July 2023)
- Harvard T.H. Chan School — unpacking the WHO sweetener guideline
- European Journal of Clinical Nutrition — call to reconsider the WHO guideline
- Influence of ultra-heat treatment on milk proteins (review)
- Al-Dostor — Dr. Emad El-Din Fahmy interview report (Arabic)
Know someone who stopped buying boxed milk? Send them this.
