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By Jim Earles
Section of article on aspartame:
The FDA has approved 5 non-nutritive sweeteners: aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame K, sucralose and neotame.2,3 The most widely used non-nutritive sweetener is aspartame, scientifically known as 1-aspartyl 1-phenylalanine methyl ester.4 It was discovered by accident in 1965 by Mr. James Schlatter, a scientist who was working on new drugs to treat ulcers, when he licked his fingers to pick up a piece of paper and accidentally tasted the intense sweetness of the compound he had created.
Aspartame is 180 times sweeter than sucrose (common table sugar).6 According to the ADA: "Demand for aspartame in the United States rose from 8.4 million pounds in 1986 to 17.5 million pounds in 1992, a figure that represents more than 80 percent of the world demand. Although soft drinks account for more than 70 percent of aspartame consumption, this sweetener is added to more than 6,000 foods, personal care products, and pharmaceuticals.
Aspartame is approved for use in more than 100 nations.7 It has been sold around the world under various brand names including NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonfuls, Canderel, Bienvia, NatraSweet and Miwon. Its widespread usage has left an extensive trail of complaints and documentation of its negative side effects. Consequently, there is a great deal to be said on the subject of aspartame.
In 1974 the Food and Drug Administration gave its first halting approval to aspartame, then a product of pharmaceutical giant G.D. Searle & Company. Searle owned the original patent on aspartame and did the original laboratory studies on its safety. These studies turned out very badly and remain as some of the most damning evidence against aspartame’s safety.8 Two of Searle’s own scientists, concerned about the safety of the new product, filed a formal objection to try to keep aspartame from coming to the market.9 A team from the FDA conducted its own study of Searle’s data and on the corpses of aspartame-poisoned mice, and issued a scathing document called the Bressler Report.10 This report, however, did not spell the end for aspartame.
Following the issuance of the Bressler Report came a period of thickening political intrigue and red tape, wherein two key figures at the FDA failed to press forward with further investigations, only to leave the FDA for jobs with Searle’s law firm, Sidley & Austin. Higher authorities in the FDA quietly consigned the Bressler Report to the archives, and only made it public later, through a Freedom of Information Act Request.11 While the public remained ignorant, Searle & Co had maneuvered to bring in Donald Rumsfeld, previously the Chief of Staff in the Ford Administration and the then Secretary of Defense, as their new CEO. According to a former Searle employee, Rumsfeld told them that "no matter what, he would see to it that aspartame would be approved. . . "12
Searle re-applied for FDA approval of aspartame on the very same day that Ronald Reagan took office in 1980. There were plenty of favors to be called in from within the new Administration, and significant clout was also to be wielded by Robert Shapiro and Utah Senator Orrin Hatch. Senator Hatch has been an outspoken advocate for the sweetener, possibly due to his holdings in Twin Lab, a health supplement company that has used aspartame in a number of their products.13
Between 1981 and 1985, Rumsfeld and Searle began seeing the payoff for their newly-formed subsidiary, the NutraSweet Company. Amidst ongoing controversy, aspartame was slowly but surely given full FDA approval. Dr. Michael Friedman, then the acting head of the FDA, later accepted a high-level position at Monsanto, the corporation which was to purchase the NutraSweet Company from Searle in 1985.14 Monsanto has also brought the world such atrocities as Agent Orange, PCBs, dioxins, Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH), Round-Up herbicide and a host of genetically modified foods.15
The company has made a fortune off aspartame, at the expense of those who purchase and consume it, and at the hazard of those who actually do the work of producing and handling it. The Material Safety Data Sheet on aspartame (CAS# 22839-47-0) says that to work with the sweetener, one should wear chemical goggles, protective gloves to prevent skin exposure, a chemical apron and a NIOS/MSHA approved air purifying dust or mist respirator.16 Whatever else one may say about refined white sugar, at least one doesn’t have to wear chemical goggles to work with it!
Problems associated with aspartame consumption are neatly summarized in Nourishing Traditions. "Aspartame. . . is a neurotoxic substance that has been associated with numerous health problems including dizziness, visual impairment, severe muscle aches, numbing of extremities, pancreatitis, high blood pressure, retinal hemorrhaging, seizures and depression. It is suspected of causing birth defects and chemical disruptions in the brain.
"Researchers at Utah State University found that even at low levels aspartame induces adverse changes in the pituitary glands of mice. The pituitary gland is the master gland upon which the proper function of all biochemical processes depend.
" When aspartame is digested it breaks down into the amino acids phenylalanine and aspartic acid, plus methanol. Methanol, or wood alcohol, is a known poison. Methanol is also found in fruit juices, and our regulatory agencies have seized upon this fact to assure us that the methanol by-product of aspartame is not harmful. They fail to point out that the methanol content of a diet soft drink is 15 to 100 times higher than that of fruit juices."17
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines the "safe consumption level" of methanol at 7.8 milligrams per day. One liter of a beverage sweetened with aspartame may contain as much as 56 milligrams of methanol.18 Other sources also link aspartame consumption with Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease and the Gulf War Syndrome experienced by U.S. soldiers after serving in Iraq during Operation: Desert Storm.19
According to Dr. Christine Lydon, an accomplished aspartame researcher: "Aspartame’s breakdown products, or metabolites, are even scarier than its components. Phenylalanine decomposes into diketopiperazine (DKP) a known carcinogen, when exposed to warm temperatures or prolonged storage. Even if products are consistently kept at cooler temperatures we are not safe. At cold temperatures, methanol will spontaneously give rise to a colorless toxin known as formaldehyde. Independent studies have shown formaldehyde formation, resulting from aspartame ingestion, to be extremely common. It accumulates within the cells, and reacts with cellular proteins such as enzymes and DNA. This cumulative reaction could spell grave consequences for those who consume aspartame-laden diet drinks and foods on a daily basis."20
Supporters of aspartame claim that the levels of methanol are not high enough to be worrisome and that phenylalanine and aspartic acid are of only limited concern. But there is no argument about the fact that phenylalanine, the largest component of aspartame by weight, is a danger to people who have a hereditary condition called phenylketonuria (PKU). These people must monitor or eliminate their intake of phenylalanine, which also occurs naturally in certain foods. The FDA recommends that pregnant and lactating women, people with advanced liver disease and phenylketonurics avoid products containing aspartame due to concern over metabolizing phenylalanine. The FDA also admits that aspartic acid has the potential to cause brain damage at very high doses, but they assure us that "under normal intake levels, the brain’s mechanism for controlling aspartic acid levels ensures no adverse effects."21
This dismissal of phenylalanine and aspartic acid as significant health hazards is a dangerous bit of sleight of hand. According to Dr. Lydon, "Phenylalanine and aspartic acid are amino acids that are normally supplied by the foods we eat; however, they can only be considered natural and harmless when consumed in combination with other amino acids. On their own, they enter the central nervous system in abnormally high concentrations, causing aberrant neuronal firing and potential cell death. The neurotoxic effects of these amino acids, when consumed as isolates, can be linked to headaches, mental confusion, balance problems and possibly seizures."22
While aspartame has been the subject of hundreds of FDA-approved studies, they clearly have not laid to rest the controversy surrounding its safety. Any adverse reaction to a food item that is regulated under the FDA’s authority is supposed to be reported back to their Adverse Reaction Monitoring System (ARMS). As of 1995, over 75 percent of the adverse reactions reported to the ARMS were due to aspartame.23 A 1995 report from the US Department of Health and Human Services entitled "Symptoms Attributed to Aspartame in Complaints Submitted to the FDA" (which once again had to be forced into public light through the Freedom of Information Act) lists 92 separate categories of symptoms, including the frequency of each reported claim.24
This article appeared in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts,
the quarterly magazine of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Winter 2003.
References
(All web addresses were visited on or before October, 12, 2003)
1. www.eatright.org/Public/GovernmentAffairs/92_adap0598.cfm
2. Ibid
3. www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/ANSWERS/2002/ANS01156.html
4. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien Nabors (editor)
5. www.ecit.emory.edu/ECIT/chem ram/synth/Hodgin.htm
6. www.gnc.com/health_notes/Food_Guide/Non_Nutritive_Artificial_Sweeteners.htm
7. www.eatright.org/Public/GovernmentAffairs/92_adap0598.cfm
8. http://presidiotex.com/bressler/
9. www.btinternet.com/~amcbryan/aspartame/comment1a.htm
10. http://presidiotex.com/bressler/
11. Ibid
12. www.btinternet.com/~amcbryan/aspartame/comment1a.htm
13. Ibid
14. www.aspartamekills.com
15. http://www.dominion-web.com/directory.Top/Society/Issues/Business/
Allegedly_Unethical_Firms/Monsanto
16. www.karinya.com/neotame.htm
17. Fallon, Sally and Enig, Mary G, PhD, Nourishing Traditions, NewTrends Publishing, 2001, Washington, DC.
18. www.aspartamekills.com/lydon.htm
19. www.aspartamekills.com
20. www.aspartamekills.com/lydon.htm
21. www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/fdsugar.html
22. www.aspartamekills.com/lydon.htm
23. www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/summary.html
24. http://aspartametruth.com/92symptoms.html
25. www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-sweeteners.html
26. Webster’s Dictionary of the English Language: Deluxe Encyclopedic Edition. 1991.
27. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien Nabors (editor)
28. www.gnc.com/health_notes/Food_Guide/Non_Nutritive_Artificial_Sweeteners.htm
29. www.finchcms.edu/biochem/walters/sweet/history.html
30. www.ecit.emory.edu/ECIT/chem_ram/synth/Hodgin.htm
31. www.gnc.com/health_notes/Food_Guide/Non_Nutritive_Artificial_Sweeteners.htm
32. www.btinternet.com/~amcbryan/aspartame/comment1a.htm
33. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien Nabors (editor)
34. http://web1.caryacademy.org/chemistry/rushin/StudentProjects/CompoundWebSites
/2001/Saccharin/history.htm
35. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien Nabors (editor)
36. Ibid
37. http://web1.caryacademy.org/chemistry/rushin/StudentProjects/CompoundWebSites
/2001/ Saccharin/BITTERSWEET.htm
38. www.ecit.emory.edu/ECIT/chem_ram/synth/Hodgin.htm
39. www.gnc.com/health_notes/Food_Guide/Non_Nutritive_Artificial_Sweeteners.htm
40. http://web1.caryacademy.org/chemistry/rushin/StudentProjects/CompoundWebSites/2001/
Saccharin/history.htm
41. www.btinternet.com/~amcbryan/aspartame/comment1a.htm
42. http://web1.caryacademy.org/chemistry/rushin/StudentProjects/CompoundWebSites/2001/
Saccharin/BITTERSWEET.htm
43. Ibid
44. www.gnc.com/health_notes/Food_Guide/Non_Nutritive_Artificial_Sweeteners.htm
45. www.ecit.emory.edu/ECIT/chem_ram/synth/Hodgin.htm
46. www.eatright.org/Public/GovernmentAffairs/92_adap0598.cfm
47. www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-sweeteners.html
48. Ibid
49. www.mercola.com/2000/dec/3/sucralose_dangers.htm
50. www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-sweeteners.html
51. www.btinternet.com/~amcbryan/aspartame/comment1a.htm
52. www.eatright.org/Public/GovernmentAffairs/92_adap0598.cfm
53. www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-sweeteners.html
54. www.ecit.emory.edu/ECIT/chem_ram/synth/Hodgin.htm
55. www.archive.hoechst.com/english_3er/publikationen/future/ernaehr/art8.html
56. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien Nabors (editor)
57. www.gnc.com/health_notes/Food_Guide/Non_Nutritive_Artificial_Sweeteners.htm
58. www.archive.hoechst.com/english_3er/publikationen/future/ernaehr/art8.html
59. www.cspinet.org/reports/chemcuisine.htm
60. www.btinternet.com/~amcbryan/aspartame/comment1a.htm
61. www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-sweeteners.html
62. www.ecit.emory.edu/ECIT/chem_ram/synth/Hodgin.htm
63. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien Nabors (editor)
64. www.mercola.com/2000/dec/3/sucralose_dangers.htm
65. www.finchcms.edu/cms/biochem/walters/sweet/history.html
66. www.mercola.com/2000/dec/3/sucralose_dangers.htm
67. Ibid
68. www.gnc.com/health_notes/Food_Guide/Non_Nutritive_Artificial_Sweeteners.htm
69. www.mercola.com/2000/dec/3/sucralose_dangers.htm
70. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien Nabors (editor)
71. www.splenda.com/page.jhtml?id=splenda/pressctr/pressreleases.inc
72. Ibid
73. www.mercola.com/2000/dec/3/sucralose_dangers.htm
74. Ibid
75. Ibid
76. Ibid
77. Ibid
78. Low-Calorie Sweeteners: Present and Future (from the World Conference on Low-Calorie Sweeteners). Antonietta Corti (editor)
79. www.nutrasweet.com/infocenter/index.asp
80. www.btinternet.com/~amcbryan/aspartame/comment1a.htm
81. www.holisticmed.com/neotame/whatis.html
82. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien Nabors (editor)
83. www.holisticmed.com/splenda/
84. www.finchcms.edu/cms/biochem/walters/sweet/history.html
85. www.gnc.com/health_notes/Food_Guide/Non_Nutritive_Artificial_Sweeteners.htm
86. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien Nabors (editor)
87. www.btinternet.com/~amcbryan/aspartame/comment1a.htm
88. www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/ANSWERS/ANS00155.html
89. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien Nabors (editor)
90. www.foodproductdesign.com/archive/1992/0792DE.html
91. www.btinternet.com/~amcbryan/aspartame/comment1a.htm
92. www.foodproductdesign.com/archive/1992/0792DE.html
93. www.globalsweet.com/polyols.asp
94. www.ketofoods.com/updates/sugaralcohol_article.html
95. www.eridex.com/html/history/html
96. www.eatright.org/Public/GovernmentAffairs/92_adap0598.cfm
97. www.globalsweet.com/HealthyAlternatives.asp#p
98. www.eatright.org/Public/GovernmentAffairs/92_adap0598.cfm
99. www.drgreene.com/21_837.html
100. www.globalsweet.com/HealthyAlternatives.asp#p
101. www.daniscosweeteners.com/dsw/web/dsw/publicsite/presentation/home/
news_and_events/latest_news.html&newspath=/web/dsw/publicsite/content/news/
Stay_Cool_in_the_Summer_Heat.html
102. www.eatright.org/Public/GovernmentAffairs/92_adap0598.cfm
103. www.ketofoods.com/updates/sugaralcohol_article.html
104. www.cspinet.org/foodsafety/labeling_sorbitol.html
105. www.ketofoods.com/updates/sugaralcohol_article.html
106. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien Nabors (editor)
107. www.tagatose.com/whatis.html
108. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition, Lyn O’Brien Nabors (editor)
109. Ibid
110. Low-Calorie Sweeteners: Present and Future (from the World Conference on Low-Calorie Sweeteners). Atonietta Corti (editor)
111. www.chemopharma.com/citrosa.htm
112. Information taken from a personal e-mail exchange with Overseal Color, Inc.
113. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien Nabors (editor)
114. Information taken from Wisdom Natural Brands stevia product brochures
115. www.gene.ch/gentech/1998/May-Jul/msg00060.html
116. Wisdom Natural Brands stevia product brochures
117. www.emperorsherbologist.com/steviahist.shtml
118. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien Nabors (editor)
119. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien Nabors (editor)
120. "Lo Han: A Natural Sweetener Comes of Age," Whole Foods, June 2003, by Peilin Guo and Dallas Clouatre.
121. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien Nabors (editor)
122. www.chifaisgourmet.com/CFLoHanpage.htm
123. "Lo Han: A Natural Sweetener Comes of Age," Whole Foods, June 2003, by Peilin Guo and Dallas Clouatre.
124. http://members.shaw.ca/duncancrow/inulin_probiotic.html
125. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien Nabors (editor)
126. http://members.shaw.ca/duncancrow/inulin_probiotic.html
References Corresponding to Better Options Addendum
112- www.overseal.co.uk/talin3.htm
113- Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien Nabors (editor)
114- http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/msad14sep98_1.htm
115- www.dsharma.org/biotech/bitter.htm
116- Information taken from a personal e-mail exchange with Overseal Color, Inc.
117- Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien Nabors (editor)
118- www.emperorsherbologist.com/steviahist.shtml
119- Information taken from Wisdom Natural Brands stevia product brochures
120- Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien Nabors (editor)
121- www.gene.ch/gentech/1998/May-Jul/msg00060.html
122- Information taken from Wisdom Natural Brands stevia product brochures
123- www.wisdomherbs.com/faq/stevioside.htm
124- Information taken from Wisdom Natural Brands stevia product brochures
125- www.emperorsherbologist.com/steviahist.shtml
126- Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien Nabors (editor)
127- "Sinfully Sweet?" article from New Age Journal, Jan/Feb. 1996, by Linda and Bill Bonvie. Available online at www.stevia.net/newagesweet.htm
128- ibid
129- ibid
130- www.emperorsherbologist.com/steviahist.shtml
131- "Sinfully Sweet?" article from New Age Journal, Jan./Feb. 1996, by Linda and Bill Bonvie. Available online at www.stevia.net/newagesweet.htm
132- www.gene.ch/gentech/1998/May-Jul/msg00060.html
133- "Sinfully Sweet?" article from New Age Journal, Jan./Feb. 1996, by Linda and Bill Bonvie. Available online at www.stevia.net/newagesweet.htm
134- "Lo Han: A Natural Sweetener Comes of Age" article from Whole Foods, June 2003, by Peilin Guo and Dallas Clouatre.
135- "Sinfully Sweet?" article from New Age Journal, Jan./Feb. 1996, by Linda and Bill Bonvie. Available online at www.stevia.net/newagesweet.htm
136- www.emperorsherbologist.com/steviahist.shtml
137- "Sinfully Sweet?" article from New Age Journal, Jan./Feb. 1996, by Linda and Bill Bonvie. Available online at www.stevia.net/newagesweet.htm
138- www.panda.fi/engl/licorice.htm
139- www.holisticmed.com/sweet/sweet.txt
140- Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien Nabors (editor)
141- Ibid
142- www.preparedfoods.com/literature/0006/mafco.htm
143- "Lo Han: A Natural Sweetener Comes of Age" article from Whole Foods, June 2003, by Peilin Guo and Dallas Clouatre.
144- Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien Nabors (editor)
145- www.chifaisgourmet.com/CFLoHanpage.htm
146- "Lo Han: A Natural Sweetener Comes of Age" article from Whole Foods, June 2003, by Peilin Guo and Dallas Clouatre.
147- www.chifaisgourmet.com/CFLoHanpage.htm
148- "Lo Han: A Natural Sweetener Comes of Age" article from Whole Foods, June 2003, by Peilin Guo and Dallas Clouatre.
149- www.ketofoods.com/updates/sugaralcohol_article.html
150- www.dainet.de/fnr/ctvo/byproducts/heming_hbi.doc
151- www.supplementwatch.com/supatoz/supplement.asp?supplementID=152
152- http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_glycerin.html#sweet
153- www.aubrey-organics.com/about/dictionary/v_diction.cfm
154- http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_glycerin.html#sweet
155- www.dainet.de/fnr/ctvo/byproducts/heming_hbi.doc
156- www.getbig.com/articles/nutritionbars.htm
157- Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien Nabors (editor)
158- http://members.shaw.ca/duncancrow/inulin_probiotic.html
159- ibid
160- www.vitaminretailer.com/VR/articles/Probiotics.htm
161- http://members.shaw.ca/duncancrow/inulin_probiotic.html
162- ibid
163- Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien Nabors (editor)
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