World Health Organization (WHO)

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 (ZFJ) — President Donald Trump moved to withdraw the United States from membership in the World Health Organization (WHO) in a Day 1 executive order. In the order, Trump said the withdrawal was due to the WHO’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and China’s influence over the United Nations global public health agency. “The United States noticed its withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2020 due to the organization’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic that arose out of Wuhan, China, and other global health crises, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states,” reads the order.

July 16 (ZFJ) — The World Health Organization’s cancer research agency categorized non-sugar sweetener aspartame as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” (group 2B) based on “limited evidence” for causing cancer in humans on Friday, July 14. A WHO joint panel did not change its acceptable daily limit of 40 mg/kg body weight. Aspartame is an artificial sweetener that has been widely used in foods and beverages since the 1980s as an alternative to sugar.