http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartame that was approved when Donald Rumsfeld
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2004/05/07/aspartame_gate_when_donald_rumsfeld_was_ceo_of_searle.htm decided to call in his political markers to override the FDA's scientific doubts, seems to be nearing the end of its 'useful' life span. Not only are consumers getting increasingly angry - once they find out what causes their ills and they get off the poison - but threatening black scientific and legislative clouds are lining the horizon as well.
Italian study
A large multi-year study of a private Italian health research foundation has acutely confirmed what studies in the 1980s had already found: brain tumors and other unsavory effects of aspartame consumption. The study, which used laboratory animals to test the cancer hypothesis, has been published by Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP), a monthly journal of peer-reviewed research and news on the impact of the environment on human health. The article is available on the EHP website
http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2005/8711/abstract.html.
The study's authors said that previous studies on aspartame were too short to show the cancer causing potential of the substance: "In our opinion, previous studies did not comply with today's basic requirements for testing the carcinogenic potential of a physical or chemical agent, in particular concerning the number of rodents for each experimental group (40 - 86, compared to 100 - 150 in the current study) and the termination of previous studies at only 110 weeks of age of the animals." The study has made headline news, but most countries are wary to take a first step - the FDA is held in high esteem, although opinions might be changing after recent scandals involving painkillers and the effects of psychiatric drugs approved by the agency. Consumer complaints Consumer complaints about aspartame were collected by the FDA and in a rare slip, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in February of 1994 released a listing of adverse reactions. There are some 92, listing can be found in Aspartame the BAD news!
http://www.dorway.com/badnews.html . Apparently aspartame accounted for more than 75% of all adverse reactions reported to the FDA's Adverse Reaction Monitoring System. The FDA is in a very unenviable position. It has approved a neurotoxic carcinogen to be used as an artificial sweetener and complaints are piling up to where they are difficult to hide. But once the sweetener was approved it became almost impossible for the agency to admit wrongdoing, without unleashing a scandal the likes of which has not been seen since the thalidomide
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalidomide disaster.
New Mexico
Against this background, there is now action in the New Mexico legislature to hear evidence about aspartame's health effects. Heaven forbid that there should be hearings, Ajinomoto, the principal manufacturer of aspartame, has hit the ceiling. Lawyers hired by Ajinomoto
http://www.freemarketnews.com/WorldNews.asp?nid=2331 descended on legislative committees to argue why the FDA's approval should prevent any independent hearings from taking place. The Calorie Control Council, a group close to industry, was called in to help. They dutifully attempted to demolish
http://search.ivanhoe.com/channels/p_channelstory.cfm?storyid=12568&channelid=CHAN-100017 the Italian study saying it did not follow the guidelines of the National Toxicology Program, the United States government toxicology initiative administered by the National Institute of Environmental and Health Sciences. The people pressure against aspartame comes from a network of former 'addicts' who have kicked the diet habit and from doctors who have seen the damage and halted or reversed it in their patients. Books have been written (look at the Amazon ads in the side bar - hint, hint) that condemn the sweetener and document its ill effects, aspartame detoxification programs and aspartame help groups exist, a video Sweet Misery: A Poisoned World
http://store.yahoo.com/yhst-61637171248923/sweetmiserydvd.html documents some the history of aspartame's approval and some of its egregious side effects. A tireless lady by the name of Betty Martini, who founded Mission Possible
http://www.dorway.com/possible.html is arguably the most well known among the aspartame opponents, although hers is not a lonely crusade. Aspartame users (mostly ex, to be sure) and doctors in some 30 countries are involved. They swear they won't rest until the poison has been removed from the food supply and those responsible for overriding science and covering up the side effects are brought to justice. It is Betty Martini
http://www.wnho.net/bio-bmartini.htm who wrote the following two letters, one to the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board and another, more recent one, to the Governor and the Attorney General of New Mexico. While her tone reflects her frustration of seeing official inaction in the face of an obvious catastrophe, we should not make light of what she has to say. The comments and documentation go well beyond the immediate issue of the New Mexico hearings. Anyone serious about understanding what the aspartame controversy is all about would do well to read her letters. That includes any health officials who might be reading this article - especially! I have added some links to the references in the letters, to make it easier for those interested to arrive at the documents... (12/1/2005 9:50:11 PM)
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"Do not let either the medical authorities or the politicians mislead you. Find out what the facts are, and make your own decisions about how to live a happy life and how to work for a better world." - Linus Pauling
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Informant: Scott Munson
