A Dec. 30 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shared more than 200 times in six days shows a screenshot of a headline that reads, "Artificial Sweeteners Behind Spike in Sudden Deaths, Heart Attacks, 'Experts’ Claim."
The headline originally appeared above a Dec. 24 article by Slay News that describes a study recently published in The BMJ, a peer-reviewed medical journal. The article claims "countries all around the world are seeing soaring rates of heart attacks and sudden deaths, (but) 'experts' are now claiming that artificial sweeteners are to blame."
Many commenters were skeptical of the claim in the article's headline, asserting instead that COVID-19 vaccines are the real culprit – a claim USA TODAY has previously debunked.
"It was the vax, wasn't it?" reads a meme shared by one commenter.
Follow us on Facebook! Like our page to get updates throughout the day on our latest debunks
The study doesn't say what these posts claim it does. It concluded that "higher artificial sweetener consumption might be associated with increased risk of (cardiovascular diseases)," but it doesn't suggest any link to a purported "spike in sudden deaths." Two authors of the study refuted the claim, calling it a "misinterpretation of our study."
Charlotte Debras and Mathilde Touvier, two of the authors of the...
Judge found FBI affidavit flawed but not enough to return ballots Probe part of Trump administration effort to reexamine 2020 loss Fulton County argued FBI relied on discredited evidence WASHING...