Racketeering Charges filed Against NutraSweet...Rumsfeld Involved!

[Roland99]

http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2004/9/emw159017.htm

Racketeering Charges filed for knowingly marketing a deadly neurotoxic drug for human consumption, NutraSweet/Aspartame/Equal/Spoonful, and stumbling the public into believing it to be a safe additive

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) September 17, 2004 -- A RACKETEER INFLUENCED & CORRUPT ORGANIZATIONS
As evidence, an explosive affidavit from a former translator for the G.D. Searle Co - the developer of aspartame - will be made public at a National Press Conference on Thursday, September 16 at 11:00 a.m. at the Sheraton Grand Sacramento Hotel, 1230 J Street, Sacramento, California 95814, phone [phone].

For 16 years, the FDA denied approval of aspartame because of compelling evidence of its contributing to brain tumors and other serious disabilities. Donald Rumsfeld, present Secretary of Defense in the Bush Administration, left President Ford's administration as Chief of Staff to become the CEO of aspartame producer G D Searle Co. in 1981. Shortly after, Rumsfeld became the CEO, and the day after President Reagan took office, aspartame was quickly approved by FDA Commissioner Arthur Hayes over the objections of the FDA's Public Board of Inquiry. Hayes had been recently appointed by the Reagan Administration. Shortly after aspartame's approval by the FDA, Hayes joined NutraSweet's public relations firm under a ten year contract at $1,000 a day.

Aspartame/NutraSweet was the product of the G. D. Searle Co. In January 1977, the FDA wrote a 33 page letter to U.S. Justice Department Attorney
Sam Skinner: "We request that your office convene a Grand Jury investigation into apparent violations of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act." Skinner allowed the Statute of Limitations to run.

Three FDA Commissioners and eight other officers and Skinner took jobs in the aspartame industry.

The Food and Drug Administration once listed 92 adverse reactions from 10,000 consumer complaints and would send the list to all inquirers. In 1996 the FDA stopped taking complaints and now denies existence of the report. Seizures, blindness, sexual dysfunction, obesity, testicular, mammary and brain tumors and death, plus dozens of other dread diseases named in the suit arise from the consumption of this neurotoxin.

Defendant Moser, past CEO of NutraSweet, is cited for misrepresenting facts to public and commercial users with full knowledge of the deceptions. The toxin is sold to Bayer, Con Agra Foods, Dannon, Smucker, Kellogg, Wrigley, PepsiCo, Kraft Foods (Crystal Light), Conopco (Slim-Fast), Coke, Pfizer, Wal-Mart and Wyeth (to name a few), who use it in some of their products, including children's vitamins. These entities are named in other suits now in California Courts.

Defendant American Diabetes Association's mission is to care for diabetics. A 35 year ADA member, world famous diabetic specialist H.J.Roberts, M.D., discovered aspartame can precipitate diabetes and reacts harmfully with insulin. ADA rejected his report which was then published in a prestigious medical journal.

The seven count indictment includes charges for violation of California Consumers Legal Remedies Act, Fraud, violations of California Civil Code §1780-1784 and Injunctive Relief: that Defendants be enjoined from future use/sale of aspartame.

[cthrumatrix]

1. "democracy is messy" ......Dumsfeld replies

[mtnester]

69. Every diabetic that has used that for years

ought to sue...and every nutritionist and doctor that recommended it to all of us diabetics ought to be part of that...doctors and nutritionists ought to at least keep up on what they recommend.

I quit using it once I "ran across" an article about the horrors of aspartame..worse than saccharin ever was...but I fear I used it longer than was safe...who knows...now what?

Anyone heard anything hideous about Splenda? For the past 2 months, all we have been using is regular old certified organic sugar.

On Edit - AND this product should be pulled from every shelf..NOW

[soothsayer]

73. hey, try agave syrup or agave nectar

it has a really low glycemic index.

Is Stevia safe for diabetics?

[demnan]

2. Wow!

I have always heard rumors that nutrasweet was unsafe and I try to avoid it (although I like an occasional diet coke).

Great post - welcome to DU, Roland :hi:

[Roland99]

5. Thanks!

And I've switched to Diet Rite (No caffeine, no sugar, no Nutrasweet!)

[wildflower]

7. I've avoided it as well for years, for health reasons; I've switched to

Splenda, which doesn't have any ill effects for me. I think Splenda is another government-promoted substance, though, isn't it?

-wildflower

[itzamirakul]

32. Hard to know WHAT is safe these days

I can remember when the sugar industry put out a report about the dangers of sugar substitutes many years ago. I thought it was just propaganda, but now I see that I have been gulping down poison by the bucketful since I consume diet soda and use Equal in my coffee. I guess we have to realize , "what's one life, give or take a few million, to the Lord of the realm, Rumsfeld?"

[Pachamama]

70. Why not use Sugar? Honey? Steva?

All these are natural and safe...why risk your health? Seriously...and if its because you like "Soda Pop" but not the calories, its better to avoid it entirely, diet or regular because the Phosphoric Acid contained in them interferes with the absorbtion of calcium in the bones, leading to other serious health problems including osteoporosis....Its one reason I just want to scream when I see a pregnant woman drinking a soda...

[Ranec]

78. But what if you are glucose intolerant?

Of course Stevia would be okay, but the FDA has insured that it isn't in anything we eat.

I suppose I could make everything I eat from scratch, but the reality is that I don't have the time or energy.

I second your opinion of soda. Avoid it like the plague!

[wildflower]

84. You beat me to it! Re: avoiding soda like the plague.

I didn't see your post but used the same phrasing.

We must think alike! :)

-wildflower

[wildflower]

80. Can't have sugar in any form, & I avoid soda like the plague.

I use Stevia as well (though I find it a bit bitter, even the "non-bitter" kinds).

My uses for Splenda and Stevia are only occasional, but they're essentially the following: sweetening tea, sweetening homemade cookies, sweetening homemade cakes (since I can't eat sweetened kinds).

I only drink water.

-wildflower

ON EDIT: I should amend this to say:

I can eat very very small amounts of sugar if it is balanced with protein, fat, fiber, complex carbohydrates to keep the blood sugar from spiking. Everything in moderation...

I'm also a naturalist, and given the choice of a small amount of sugar or artificial ingredients, I'd choose the former (in balance with other macronutrients, as I said above). Splenda has been one of the rare exceptions of unnatural things I will eat on occasion.

For me sugar includes not only fructose but all the other -oses, thus the avoidance of honey and juices. I understand that some can digest fructose more slowly and thus feel less effect on their blood sugar.

[ChrisK]

3. That picture of him shaking Saddam's hand....

Was Saddam the one how made aspartame?

Hey you never know :)


"Sweet" revenge?

[jayfish]

13. Weapons Of Mass Consumption? -NT-

:evilgrin:

Jay

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

36. No -- Weapons of Ass Destruction! You'll have a thinner ass! (and cancer)

:crazy:

[AlCzervik]

4. Geez, is there any assholery that he isnt involved in???

[wickywom]

6. Years ago I saw a rumor on a military website..

that a possible source of Gulf war sydrome may have come from aspartame in diet sodas kept in desert hangers.. appartently aspartame becomes toxic at certain temps. and even the soda companys warned the military...?

I then looked up the company a (pharmacuetical company not a food company).. guess whose name comes up .. i think as a ceo...
good' ol rummy boy-- apparently they bought off the fda and got it passed..
PURE EVIL
Anyone else ever hear this?

[Roland99]

11. Hmmm...

http://www.gulfweb.org/doc_show.cfm?ID=28

http://www.juiceguy.com/Gulf-War-Syndrome.shtml

http://www.mercola.com/article/aspartame/gulf_war.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_war_syndrome

http://www.fact-index.com/g/gu/gulf_war_syndrome_1.html

[wickywom]

43. thanks.

[jayfish]

19. Well I Have Read...

that aspartame converts to formaldehyde at relatively low temps. I have been drinking Diet Coke for 17 years and can instantly tell when it has been overheated. I can almost smell it.

Jay

[Sparky McGruff]

24. It converts to methanol at elevated temps

and methanol is converted by your liver to formaldehyde. The enzyme that normally converts ethanol to acetaldehyde (a somewhat less nasty substance, though still not good) converts methanol to formaldehyde.

However, low levels of methanol are present in many foods (such as fruit juices), so the level of toxicity of nutrasweet is debatable. Because nutrasweet is really, really sweet, there isn't that much in a soda (by weight). I drink way too much diet soda, as I can't stomach coffee, and I'm a caffeine addict.

[JFreitas]

66. Aspartame may worsen diabetic crisis

Another way that Aspartame can be really dangerous (and a probable element in the epidemic of obsesity in developed counrties) is that it can make diabetic conditions really worse and can actually destroy the human body's homeostatic mechanism regarding insulin et. al. This is true of all artificial sweeteners (so far as I know - I could be wrong) and has nothing to do with toxicity.

When you ingest something with a sweet taste (even if it has no "sugar" in it) you are signaling the pancreas to produce insulin to clean up the additional sugar in the blood. If there is no extra sugar, the insulin will cause a hypoglycemic crash, triggering hunger, etc... Generally, this balance feedback of insulin keeps your organism at an efficient level of sugar - but long term abuse of artificial sweeteners (as well as of all other processed sugars, of course) can destroy this feedback mechanism and pave the way for obesity.

Best

José de Freitas
Portugal

[jayfish]

82. Read About That Too.

Makes alot of sense. I just wish I could kick my Diet Coke habit and see if I notice any changes.

Jay

[snowFLAKE]

30. Uh Oh, I just spent Two Whole Days learning that Depleted Uranium

Was uniquely and unambigously the ONLY POSSIBLE CAUSE of Gulf War Syndrome

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x827882


And now I have to UnLearn All ThaT!!

[milkyway]

8. Rumsfeld used chemical weapons on his own people!

Thanks, this is good news. There was a great DU thread on artificial sweeteners, aspertame, and Rumsfeld a few months ago (I can't find it right now because DU Search function is temporarily down).

[SOS]

87. Indeed Rumsfeld did

Personal experience: Heavy NS user. Equal in coffee and Diet Coke.
Experienced heart problems, panic attacks, sleep disturbances, fatigue.
Found out about the toxic effects of NS. Stopped using it. Felt great after 10 days, after years of ill effects. Rumsfeld rigged the FDA to get NS approved.
Screw Rumsfeld and Nutrasweet!

[Roland99]

88. Can't help but wonder...

if NutraSweet could be linked to the greater increase in the reported number of people with Panic/Anxiety disorders?

[SOS]

89. My panic attacks

were so bad I would have to get off a bus and go sit outside until it passed. At times I thought I was having heart failure. Haven't had one since I stopped using NS. There's definately a connection.

[happynewyear]

9. I am sick and it is YOUR fault Rumdumb!

and you are responsible for the deaths of 10s of thousands of people; now the sickness of millions of persons throughout the world!

YOU SCUMBAG!!!

RESIGN NOW!!!!

[Eloriel]

10. WooHoo!!!

Thanks for posting this. I am SO glad that someone is trying to hold NutraSweet responsible.

(Edited to add: Use Stevia instead (an herb from S. America, available in healthfood stores), NOT Splenda.)

Here are just a few other links I've accumulated recently:

Aspartame Victims Support Group
http://presidiotex.com/aspartame/

MERCOLA (has numerous articles)
Aspartame: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You
http://mercola.com/article/aspartame/hidden_dangers.htm


How Aspartame Became Legal
http://www.rense.com/general33/legal.htm

Janet Starr Hull's website
http://www.sweetpoison.com/

Aspartame Toxicity Info Center
http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/


World Natural Health Organization LINKS (includes some links re Splenda's dangers) http://www.wnho.net/aspartamenews.htm


Aspartame, anti-depressants and Bush
(Highly political but has very good info otherwise)
By Jerry Mazza, Online Journal Contributing Writer
http://onlinejournal.com/Special_Reports/080604Mazza/080604mazza.html

Aspartame... the BAD news!
http://www.dorway.com/badnews.html

Artificial sweetners put the die in diet!
http://www.peak.sfu.ca/the-peak/98-3/issue2/sweet.html

Health Issues Links: http://jassekhmet.tripod.com/healthm.htm

10 mg Methanol From Aspatame Can Cause Blindness
http://www.rense.com/general38/10mg.htm

Documents relating to symptoms (LINKS!)
http://www.dorway.com/symptoms.html
Home page of massive aspartame info collection: http://www.dorway.com/

LETTER TO THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS WITH REGARD TO ASPARTAME
By Dr. Betty Martini
http://www.wnho.net/aapletter.htm


WHAT TO DO IF YOU HAVE USED ASPARTAME
By Neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock, M.D
http://www.wnho.net/wtdaspartame.htm

Former FDA Investigator Exposes Aspartame As Deadly Neurotoxin
That Never Should Have Been Approved
From Betty Martini 4-22-3
http://www.rense.com/general37/ddly.htm

--------------
Additional links in this DU DISCUSSION: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=103&topic_id=66563#66735
indigobusiness (1000+ posts) Sat Aug-07-04 10:45 PM
Response to Reply #9
But, while Stevia can taste quite bad if used incorrectly, it is virtually indistinguishable from sugar if used correctly. It just cannot be used exactly the same way as sugar.

Research excitotoxins and see where aspartic acid takes you.

Are you going to tell me monosodium glutamate is harmless as well?

The Nutrasweet Lobby is powerful, indeed...but shame on Snopes for not digging a little deeper.
http://www.dorway.com/blaymsg.txt

Peer Reviewed Studies:
SURVEY OF ASPARTAME STUDIES:
CORRELATION OF OUTCOME
AND FUNDING SOURCES
http://www.dorway.com/peerrev.html

RAO Report (pivotal study)
http://www.dorway.com/raoreport.pdf

CDC Report
http://www.dorway.com/cdctext.txt
After reading this "full" report you can decide for yourself if
the summary was adequate, correct, or a whitewash. Keep in mind that some
of the studies that approved aspartame were the target of an indictment for
fraud never carried out because two U.S. prosecutors went to work for the
law firm defending the case, which let slip the hounds of disease and death
on an unwarned public. On 60-Minutes (Dec. 29, 1996) Dr. Ralph Walton
admitted that 83 of 90 INDEPENDENT studies on aspartame showed problems.
The 60-Minute spokesman chided the aspartame representitives that 70 of 70
Searle funded tests seemed to show aspartame to be OK (however, it seems
that Searle submitted around 112 documents and two of those studies were
submitted to the Department of Justice for an indictment for fraud). Of
Searle's many reports the FDA selected fifteen they termed as "pivotal"
to their decision to approve aspartame as safe.

However, Dr. Moser (the Nutrasweet spokesman) admitted to Jennifer Cohen
(http:/www.dorway.com/jcohen.html ) that:

"..the study should never have been undertaken, much less submitted as
legitimate observation. This particular (RAO) experiment represents an
unpardonable breach in methodology."

If this motivates the reader to action...
http://www.dorway.com/congress.html is a good starting point for locating someone in authority to complain to.
The President, DHHS, FDA, and your congressional representatives.


The Bressler Report (FDA on Searle)
http://www.dorway.com/bressler.txt

Nexus Article
http://www.dorway.com/nexus.txt

NSDA Protest
http://www.dorway.com/nsda.txt

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

The Artificially Sweetened Times
http://www.vaclib.org/news/astimes.htm

Rumsfeld and Asparatame
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2257875

[Roland99]

12. Wow!

Thanks for the info, Eloriel!!

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

16. great resources!

thanks

[havocmom]

20. So the WMD search abroad, like just about everything the junta says,

is their old projection thing at work again?!? Want to make sure we are occupied with something other than digging the skeletons in their closets.

Words do not exist...

Thanks for the links. Handy dandy bunch.

[northstar]

61. Just curious....why use an artificial sugar/sweetner at all?

Humans have evolved through hundreds/thousands/millions of years with natural sugars as sweetners. What is the advantage of an artificial sweetener? They have 'side affects'.....there hasn't been any ONE that has proven itself to have benefits that outweigh the disadvantages! So why do people keep pushing/hoping that an artificial sweetener would be 'better' than a natural sweetener?

[FlaGranny]

62. People did not eat pure sugar, ever, until

they learned how to refine it. We evolved eating natural whole fruits and vegetables, certainly not pure sugar. Pure sugar is a recent development in our evolution.

[TrogL]

14. Interesting website

One would expect that the International Justice League would cover many issues. The only thing on their website is Aspartame. I'm beginning to suspect these are the same crackpots who are against clorination and fluoridation.

[Systematic Chaos]

18. Crackpots?

You're joking, right?

[TrogL]

25. Nope

I've followed some of the links posted above. I quickly end up being deluged with homeopathic bullshit and logical fallacies.

It's really quite simple. using their "logic", everything is bad for you, especially distilled water.

[progressivebydesign]

21. I know I'll be jumped for this.. but..

When I saw the voluminous list of symptoms, encompassing every symptom known to man.. then I begin to wonder if the Aspartame bandwagon is carrying people who want to blame an illness on something, anything.

I had a creepy appliance repair guy in the house recently, who lectured me on using only natural dishwasher soaps, etc., becaue the soaps we all use now have neurotoxins and "will kill" us.

I have no doubt that any chemical we introduce into our food supply is a toxin of some sort.. that's common sense. But the movements like these lose credibility when they list hundreds of symptoms and medical claims.

I've ingested a lot of aspartame, no doubt, and I'm still alive and healthy. Have not been sick in over 3 years (no colds, flus, nothing). I have some allergies, but I can't blame that on the diet soda...

[trotsky]

28. You're exactly right.

any chemical we introduce into our food supply is a toxin of some sort

Hell, water is a toxin, if you consume too much.

[snowFLAKE]

39. I totally agree about the dangers of water

Please join me today in signing a petition to get it banned, before it kills again!

All the gory details at:

http://www.dhmo.org/research.html

On edit - in case A Reader doesn't understand just how serious this problem is, This Chemical has been found in Every Single Cancer Cell that has ever been tested for its presence!!

[LibLabUK]

40. Toxins - people use that word, but I don't think they know what it means

"I have no doubt that any chemical we introduce into our food supply is a toxin of some sort.."

Toxins are proteins produced by some higher plants, certain animals and pathogenic bacteria, which are highly toxic for other living organisms.

Toxins are differentiated from chemical poisons and vegetable alkaloids by their high molecular weight (often many kDa) and antigenicity.

Things that are not toxins:

• Water
  
• Aspartame
  
• Cyanide
  
• Oxygen
  
• Sugar

Things that can be poisonous at the right dose but are not toxins:

• Water
  
• Cyanide
  
• Oxygen
  
• Aspartame
  
• Sugar

Toxicologists take two things into consideration when dealing with poisons and toxins, substance and dose.

It's like the fire triangle (source of ignition, fuel and oxygen), but the "toxin/poison triangle" only has two elements instead of three, substance and dose, you need both to be correct before any effect will occur.

You can get away without harm consuming very small quantities of cyanide, but you'll die if you wash it down with too much water. Likewise, if you breath too high a concentration of oxygen (or use too rich a mix below 30ft of water) you'll die.

[progressivebydesign]

47. True!

Many things.. like Niacin, is also toxic in large doses. I am willing to learn more about the dangers of Aspartame in daily life, but will never ascribe to the idea that one substance is the answer to hundreds of medical problems. That is where the argument gets diluted and dismissed.

[trotsky]

58. Thanks for the clarification, LibLabUK!

You are always there to help out. :)

But what about the link between VACCINES and toxins and aspartame and dowsing? Can you explain that one? ;-)

[LibLabUK]

63. Hmm..

"But what about the link between VACCINES and toxins and aspartame and dowsing? Can you explain that one? ;-) "

Thanks for the tip.

I've just completed a literature review on the subject, and here are my findings.

There is a significant risk (1 in 1x10^100000000000000000000000000) that you will develop an explosive brain aneurysm whilst consuming a diet coke at midnight on the vernal equinox whilst dowsing for buried vaccines in a field of deathcap mushrooms.

The risk is increased 100-fold if levels of depleted uranium exceed 1 part per trillion.

If you want more of this cutting edge research you'll have to buy my forthcoming book Health and Wellbeing in the Godless age: The Spirit Guide, Astrology and Feng Shui way to everlasting life with forward by the spirit of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ($99.99 or £3.99 from Jayzuspress, Timbuktu 2005).

[Roland99]

60. It's not just the aspartame...

it's that aspartame is comprised largely of phenylalanine.

[wickywom]

15. I'd love to see them pay for this...

My mother is convinced it killed my grandmother..
She started having strokes in her early 70's.

[dArKeR]

17. Great post!

[SidDithers]

22. Here's the lawsuit...

http://www.wnho.net/nutrasweet_company_lawsuit.htm

hosted at World Natural Health Organization, who seem to have a bit of an obsession with aspartame.
http://www.wnho.net/

Snopes on Aspartame:
http://www.snopes.com/toxins/aspartame.asp

Sid

[Radius]

77. C.R.E.A.M, Dollar and Sense, this is debunked by NIH, MIT and FDA(NT)

[UpInArms]

23. Very Good News!

thanks for the post!

see also:

http://www.swankin-turner.com/hist.html

excerpt:

September 30, 1980 -The Public Board of Inquiry concludes NutraSweet should not be approved pending further investigations of brain tumors in animals. The board states it "has not been presented with proof of reasonable certainty that aspartame is safe for use as a food additive."

January 1981 -Donald Rumsfeld, CEO of Searle, states in a sales meeting that he is going to make a big push to get aspartame approved within the year. Rumsfeld says he will use his political pull in Washington, rather than scientific means, to make sure it gets approved.

January 21, 1981 -Ronald Reagan is sworn in as President of the United States. Reagan's transition team, which includes Donald Rumsfeld, CEO of G. D. Searle, hand picks Dr. Arthur Hull Hayes Jr. to be the new FDA Commissioner.

...more...

http://www.stevia.net/aspartame.htm

excerpt:

In November 1983 Hayes, under fire for accepting corporate gifts, left the agency and went to Searle's public-relations firm as senior medical advisor. Later Searle lawyer Robert Shapiro named aspartame NutraSweet. Monsanto purchased Searle. Rumsfeld received a $12 million bonus. Shapiro is now Monsanto president.

...more...

[phylny]

46. Where do you purchase Stevia? n/t

[Algorem]

67. here's one-can get free samples too:

http://www.sweetleaf.com I forgot how to get free samples,but if you Google:stevia,free samples...

[David Zephyr]

26. I Wound Up In The Emergency Room Because of This Product.

Until one has suffered the excruciating pain of what seems like a railroad spike in the center of your brain while an overpowering "metallic" taste makes you gag, it's hard to explain what the symptoms of this diet sweetener are like.

For ten years, I used this product in my coffee and ice tea daily ( I drink a pot of coffee everyday ). And then one day, just two years ago, while driving on the Ventura Freeway, I was stricken with near paralysis. The pain I described above in the center of my head began, my skin became exceedingly hot as if it were on fire, and the "metallic taste" became unbearable. I was too embarrassed to call my companion or friends for help because I couldn't describe what was happening to me. I called 911.

Upon entering the emergency room, I told them "something is wrong with my brain".

For two weeks, I was prescribed Prednisone along with a host of other medications. I felt like I was losing my mind and had confusing nightmares in the evening and bouts of confusion during the day...for nearly one month!

As president of an engineering and technology company, I hardly was used to being "fuzzy" and beleive me, I got "religion" about this sweetener.

I was warned by a very dear friend about using the sweetener. She told me as early as 1989 that she had read many troubling things about it and told me, "David, please don't use this sweetener."

I swore off of all artificial sweeteners and we only have brown sugar in our home now. I am fine and only allow my craziness to reveal itself now here at the DU.

I can't speak for anyone but myself, but I believe that this is a very dangerous product and although I have felt fine for these past two years, I still fear that it may be collected within my body somewhere hiding like a time bomb to attack again.

[kutastha]

31. A med student's neverending curiosity

How do you know your spell was from aspartame? To me it sounds mostly like a migraine, but maybe a vasculitis, a seizure, et al, but I don't specifically see the connection to aspartame, other than your using it for ten years.

Personally, I've used the stuff quite a bit since 1983, and never once had unspecified symptoms I couldn't attach to something. The last time this topic popped up on DU, I scanned the sites and links, and there were no reputable studies and they somehow came back to Betty Martini. I even checked PubMed and Ovid and didn't find anything but letters to journals.

[David Zephyr]

37. This Report Here Begins to Answer Some Questions.

I was an aspartame enthusiast.

By chance, I met the fellow who was working on peptides when he "discovered" aspartame. He sat next to me in first class on a trip to Hong Kong in either 1984 or 1985. Long flight. He told me the whole story which is an interesting story in and of itself.

For your reference, I have not and will not participate in any lawsuit, but I have frequented many of the forums on this subject after I had my horrific experience which was somewhat like a seizure (with which I have great familiarity through dear friends), but not the same.

Of course, I can not "prove" that there is a link. Only scientific and controlled studies can do this. But, my instincts (as ify as that may sound) told me immediately that this was the cause. I later found the very same symptoms on the aspartame forums that I had. Naturally, there are many other claims and such also there, but I found individuals who had the very same experience that I did which was crippling.

I'm a pretty healthy guy and there are many here at the DU who have met me personally. I'm 6'2'' and weigh 195 pounds and have no other medical problems whatsoever. The absence of both aspartame and the condition track each other, but that, in and of itself, does not prove much. But, I can only tell you this: when this happened I just knew immediately that it was because of the aspartame.

I'm happy to see this new story out today as it helps begin to fill in some blanks.

Use the product if you wish. I won't.

[toddzilla]

91. no offense..

but you "just knew it was aspartame"??

that's just really stupid.

[Terran]

92. Betty Martini is a well-known internet kook

She's been ranting about aspartame for years. I seriously doubt she has any evidence that can link aspartame with any of the maladies described in the press release. This is a non-story.

Edit: By the way, she claims to be a doctor, but she's not a medical doctor, nor a doctor of any field that would have any relevance to her claims.

[freepotter]

38. Friend had same symptoms

and even took shots for migraines. My friend never used aspartame/Nutrasweet because she didn't like the taste. About 6 months ago she wanted to lose weight and started drinking diet sodas and eating other foods with aspartame. She started having violent headaches and generally the symptoms you describe, plus vomiting, dizziness, visual distortions, etc. that went on for nearly a month. She saw a doctor who thought she was having migraines and prescribed some sort of shots that were supposed to stop the problem. She could never get any relief, so had an MRI and several other test, all of which showed nothing apparently wrong. I saw her drinking a diet Coke one day and said, "hey, I thought you didn't like that stuff." She said that she had been drinking them for about a month to loose weight, and I asked, "about the time the headaches started?" She immediately stopped consuming Nutrasweet/aspartame and the symptoms gradually stopped after about 3 weeks. She hasn't had any problems since. I wouldn't touch the stuff!

[progressivebydesign]

50. Perhaps it affects some people..

..just as I noticed the warning on a container of no-sugar ice cream. It said that some people will experience "a laxative effect and stomach discomfort" because of that sweetener. Ugh. I've been consuming diet drinks for quite a while.. Wierd.. I used to have these KILLER headaches and migraines.. they went away when I stopped drinking CAFFIENATED soda! That was the only change I made, and the debilitating headaches, a few times a month are gone.

perhaps everyone is sensitive to something. I am really looking into the Aspartame thing... I just can't handle sugar often, as I have some type of low blood sugar thing going on. And I'm not giving up soda, it's my ONE vice!! I don't drink, smoke, do drugs, overeat, watch reality tv, or eat red meat... Dessert and soda are my only bad things. Suppose if I forced myself to only drink sugared soda, I'd drink less... hmmmm...

[arikara]

79. If its the fizzy that you like

My new favorite drink is mixing 1/4 "Just Cranberry" juice (which is an unsweetened very strong cranberry drink) with Perrier or other type of carbonated water. Its very satisfying and way more healthy than sodas. You could use any unsweetened juice concentrates.

My husband is diabetic and he was addicted to aspartame sodas. He was constantly guzzling bottles of diet coke every day. He had headaches, dizziness, numbness and tingling to his extremeties constantly as well as his heart condition and diabetes. My daughter sent an article about aspartame which I read to him and he got himself off it immediately. He actually drinks water now... To make a long story short, his headaches, dizziness and numbness have all disappeared.

[wildflower]

81. Stomach discomfort...

Sounds like it probably contained sugar alcohols (sorbitol, malitol, etc.). I can't eat that stuff either.

-wildflower

[salin]

103. Back in the mid-eighties

I had a discussion with a relative in medical school about sacharine (sp?) sweeteners ("Sweet and Low") vs. aspertame sweeteners (Nutrisweet.) The conversation began in a silly way - I perferred the slightly bitter taste of soda (Tab) and preferred Sweet and Low in my coffee. This was a couple of years after Nutrisweet hit the market and was put into nearly all diet sodas. I was a bit concerned about the saccharine due to the increased reports of its linkage to cancer.

She told me not to worry... that this had been widely discussed in medschool (tied to a major medical research facility)... that the amount of saccharine required to get cancer - would require one to have so much beverage in one's body over a long period of time that the body would explode (that is, the concentration in the body required {at a comparable rate to that which was given to the lab rats} could not be consumed... at least if it was induced through beverages.. the body could not hold that much liquid ).

However, she told me, that the researchers found the newer sugar substitute to be more dangerous, that it would take very little quantities (e.g., several sodas or coffees a day) to start feeling symptoms (excruciating headaches) and over time have other more serious problems.

Needless to say I still prefer saccharine (both the flavor, and the "side effects"/risk) to this day.

Just wanted to add this tidbit of information which is consistent with your story.

[Tabasco_Dave]

27. My mother got chronic fatigue syndrome

about the same time when aspertime came out on the market in the early 80's. She always used sweet and low and she had no problems but when she switched to Nutrasweet she started getting ill. she is convinced that the nutrasweet is what did it. Many people got this illness about the same time nutrasweet went on the market and it mostly affects women, who happen to be the biggest consumers of diet drinks.

[progressivebydesign]

48. I heard John Edwards drinks tons of Diet Pepsi...

.. I dont' think he has CFS. I've heard that syndrome blamed on a variety of things... from a virus, to depression. It seemed more rampant in the 80's, because it was identified and given a name.. it has always existed. Trying to label one substance as the cause of hundreds of symptoms is where the ultimate goal of removing the substance from our food, gets tossed aside as a conspiracy theory.

I will look at the hard science on it, and see what I think.

[snowFLAKE]

94. Is their no end to the Turncoat Democrats?

Unfreakingly believable - John Edwardes and Donald Rumsfeld in cahoots.

Well, it at least makes Mr. Edwards Rah-Rah pro-Iraq war Cheerleading a bit More Understandable.

[Supersedeas]

29. Ah....hire a political appointee and get quick approval-Repub Corp Values

[donkeyotay]

33. To me the issue is crime, not medicine. It's about Republican crime.

"Shortly after aspartame's approval by the FDA, Hayes joined NutraSweet's public relations firm under a ten year contract at $1,000 a day."

The a-holes who have hijacked our government are a crime family. If this isn't quid pro quo then what is? What, you can't call it bribery unless you have the smoking memo and can verify the typeface?

[Swamp Rat]

34. Thanks for the post and welcome to DU!

:toast:

[Lindacooks]

35. THIS IS WHAT I LEARNED IN FOOD CHEMISTRY

class at the University of Minnesota in 1981!!!!

Thank you for posting this.

NEVER consume aspartame. The only reason it was approved is because Reagan was elected.

[BiggJawn]

41. Well, that's that, then...

If Rumsferatu was connected with the company somehow, I want no part of it. No telling what ELSE the greasy bastard used his Ray-Gun connexions to foist upon us unssupecting sheep...

I'm obese, I'm diabetic, and the weight ain't coming off very fast. Sure, personal responsibility plays a huge part in what got me to this point, but Nutrasweet and HFCS didn't help any...

Ewww.....Rumsferatu made it...That's creepy.

[LifeDuringWartime]

42. one time at work

(i work in a restaurant washing dishes), i asked one of the waitresses to make me an iced coffee. i knew immediately that she used nutrasweet, and not sugar, because of the overpowering taste. a little while after drinking it i felt like SHIT. i had to drink several glasses of cold water before i felt any better.

[Joe Chi Minh]

44. Google

Look up "Aspartame" on a search like Google. It'll make your hair stand on end. I don't know whether it's still the case, but it was an ingredient in Diet coke.

[Hoodwinked]

45. Known Poison

My wife works in pathology at a major Boston hospital.
About 4 years ago she brought home a 16 page report on this "harmless" sweetener.

The verdict of the report...POISON....plain and simple.
I wonder why the report was never made public? We have tried to tell people.....

Of interesting note in the report was that ALL commercial airline pilots should avoid consumption of the additive as it has been shown to cause confusion and lapses in concentration.

Note the increase in MS......most are heavy consumers of diet soda.

Let me spell it out for the FDA and anyone else that interested

S T E V I A....oh ya, I forgot....it will hurt the sugar industry.

What isn't rigged and crooked in government and the corporate world?

Is anyone accountable for anything in this day in age?

We have been abandoned by almost every branch of government.

[progressivebydesign]

51. Okay.. let me add this to the mix. The 1st Gulf War.

Remember there were reports somewhere that the illnesses that many of the first Gulf War vets experienced were because of artificially sweetened soda that had been exposed to extremely high heats in the desert? I remember that distinctly... and remember that there have been warnings about trying to cook with some artificial sweeteners. Does anyone remember this?

[Hoodwinked]

54. 124 degrees F

This was the "neuro flash" point mentioned in the hospital report.

In other words....never drink it in the Summer.

I wonder how hot it gets in the delivery trucks?

It is known to be "safer" in the Winter months.

Truth, lies, and in betweens....anything to make a buck.

[Deja Q]

49. Holy ****, thanks for posting this!

I used to drink 2 quarts of Crystal-light per day.

NOT any more!!!

:wow:

:scared:

[Radius]

52. Junk Science

http://www.junkscience.com/news/nutrasweet.html

and

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/tt/1998/sep16/aspartame.html

http://www.snopes.com/toxins/aspartame.asp

Looks like a nice class action though..If it wasn't debunked.

[are_we_united_yet]

56. Cool

Have as much as you like.

[twoggle]

59. Aspartame

Hi! Some of the people who write these web sites may be well-meaning, but.... The junkscience site and the snopes site articles are written by persons with virtually no scientific information about aspartame.

1. Junkscience (Steve Milloy)

First, here are a couple of web pages that discuss the authors
conflict-of-interest and inaccuracies:

http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/2000Q3/junkman.html
http://info-pollution.com/milloy.htm

The junkscience web page only discusses the aspartame and
brain cancer issue. Milloy does not mention that aspartame
also breaks down into aspartylphenylalanine diketopiperazine
which some neuroscientists believe may convert in the gut into
a brain cancer agent. Also, Milloy obvious has not read the
Olney study he alludes to. A detailed analysis on the brain cancer
issue including a more recent study from Europe is discussed in
the Brain Cancer section of:

http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/scf2002.html

2. Snopes

Anyone who spends even an hour investigating the veracity of
these sites can see they have little expertise on this subject.
Here is someone who did :
http://www.christianhealth.us/nutrasweet.html

The links provided by Snopes just go to short opinion pieces.
Many of the statements in these opinion pieces have been disproven
since the 1980s, but it makes for good PR.

3. MIT Press release

That MIT study was a study sponsored by NutraSweet. Like pretty much all NutraSweet-funded studies, it was designed to avoid finding adverse reactions. In this study, persons who might react to aspartame right away (from first-time use) were eliminated from the population group. The aspartame was then give for only 20 days. They gave the aspartame in slow-dissolving capsules -- a procedure that the manufacturer's own consultant published research proving it is "not bioequivalent." The categories of adverse reactions looked at are rarely seen aspartame short-term, 20-day aspartame exposure (irritabiilty, cognition, emotionality, sleep, appetite). They looked at a few other possible symptoms such as headaches and there was an 8% increase in person ingesting aspartame, but the study population was so small that they could claim it wasn't "statistically significant."
One has to look beyond the public relations statements that comprise abstracts of these Nutrasweet-funded studies.

I'll post a little more detail about asparatme below from my reading of the scientific literature and speaking with independent researchers (not funded by the manufacturer or trade groups) and government scientists. But I wanted to say that I think this lawsuit will probably fail because the lawyers are not really familiar with the science and the case seems to be haphazardly prepared. But I consider the lawsuit and the issue of aspartame toxicity completely separate issues.

The evidence related to toxicity of aspartame is found primarily in three areas:

Formaldehyde Exposure. The formaldehyde exposure from aspartame is significant. Aspartame breaks down into methanol, amino acids and several other chemicals. The methanol is quickly absorbed and converted into formaldehyde. The methanol found in foods and alcoholic beverages is also absorbed, but there are "protective chemicals" in these traditionally-ingested foods and beverages that prevent the conversion of methanol to formaldehyde.

Formaldehyde is known to cause gradual damage to the nervous system, the immune system and has recently been shown to cause irreversible genetic damage at long-term, low-level exposure.

The most recent, independent research shows that the situation related to aspartame may be more serious than simply regular formaldehyde exposure. This research on animals demonstrates that the formaldehyde accumulates as adducts (bound to protein molecules) in the organs (brian, liver, kidneys) and tissues of the animals (when aspartame is ingested at relatively low doses):

"These are indeed extremely high levels for adducts of formaldehyde, a substance responsible for chronic deleterious effects that has also been considered carcinogenic.
....
"It is concluded that aspartame consumption may constitute a hazard because of its contribution to the formation of formaldehyde adducts."


A comment from an independent research scientist regarding this and other recent aspartame research:

"It was a very interesting paper, that demonstrates that formaldehyde formation from aspartame ingestion is very common and does indeed accumulate within the cell, reacting with cellular proteins (mostly enzymes) and DNA (both mitochondrial and nuclear). The fact that it accumulates with each dose, indicates grave consequences among those who consume diet drinks and foodstuffs on a daily basis."



The calculated level of formaldehyde exposure is approximately 61.3 mg (milligrams) for every liter of aspartame ingested. That is over twice the level necessary to cause irreversible genetic damage in humans and several times the level shown to cause chronic neurological, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and other symptoms in long-term industrial exposure research.

The damage caused by formaldehyde from aspartame may be worsened by other aspartame breakdown chemicals, especially the aspartic acid. In animal research where formaldehyde is given to the animals to cause damage and pain, amino acids such as aspartic acid and glutamic acid are given at the same time to worsen the reaction. The amino acids from aspartame are absorbed suddenly unlike the protein-bound amino acids found in food.

Independent research finds problems with aspartame. An analysis of peer reviewed medical literature using MEDLINE and other databases was conducted by Ralph G. Walton, MD, Chairman, The Center for Behavioral Medicine, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine. Dr. Walton analyzed 164 studies which were felt to have relevance to human safety questions. Of the 90 non-industry-sponsored (independent) studies, 83 (92%) identified one or more problems with aspartame. Of the 74 aspartame industry-sponsored studies, all 74 (100%) claimed that no problems were found with aspartame. < see: http://www.dorway.com/peerrev.html >

Extremely large number of reported toxicity reactions to aspartame. As of 1995 when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was quoted as saying they stopped accepting adverse reaction reports on aspartame, over 75% of the adverse reactions reported to the FDA Adverse Reaction Monitoring System (ARMS) were due to aspartame. Afte considering the fact that an extremely low percentage of adverse reactions are reported to the FDA, it becomes clear that there are millions of known cases of aspartame toxicity reactions and possibly many other cases where the person ingesting aspartame is either 1) unaware that their symptoms are caused or contributed to by aspartame; or 2) not yet experiencing clinically-obvious symptoms from the breakdown products of aspartame, but may eventually experience chronic health problems from the regular exposure to significant doses of formaldehyde.

Some of the many aspartame toxicity symptoms reported include seizures, headaches, memory loss, tremors, convulsions, vision loss, nausea, dizziness, conufsion, depression, irritability, anxiety attacks, personality changes, heart palpitationns, chest pains, skin diseases, loss of blood sugar control, arthritic symptoms, weight gain (in some cases), fluid retention, excessive thirst or urination. Clearly, regular exposure to a toxic substance such as formaldehyde may worsen, or in some cases contribute to the development of chronic diseases.

Hope this clears up some of these issues.

Twoggle

[Radius]

75. Your links

You are free to believe what you like.
However this is a Urban Legend that stems from bladder cancer in rats. This study is debunked. MIT scientists would not sell out to shill for nutrasweet.

This is the poison control database and unless you have specific diseases you can ingest massive amounts of nutrasweet with no ill effect.

All your symptoms are also symptoms of Acute Anxiety Disorders, or Acute I want a large settlement disorder.

http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/f?./temp/~tCAc29:1

Analysis of adverse reaction reports made by consumers in the USA have not yielded a specific constellation of symptoms clearly related to aspartame that would suggest a widespread public health hazard associated with aspartame use.

Results suggest that aspartame, in acute dosage of 50 mg/kg(thats a shitload), is no more likely than placebo to cause seizures in individuals who reported that their seizures were provoked by aspartame consumption.

Alcohol
http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/f?./temp/~kiaEEv:1

MSG
http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/f?./temp/~Bzo73D:1

[twoggle]

83. Re:

Hi! Not sure where you are getting your info. There are no studies of concern related to aspartame and bladder cancer in rats.

I never said that MIT scientists "sold out." What I said is that NutraSweet funded the study and that the study was only 20 days long, providing aspartame in a form that the manufacturer's own consultant said in "not bioequivalent" and that the few symptom groups looked at are generally not seen from short-term, 20 day use of aspartame. It was simply one of many NutraSweet-funded studies designed in a way as to avoid finding adverse effects. I worked for 9 years at MIT and know that there are scientists there who do good work and scientists who do lousy work on ocassion. It has nothing to do with selling out.

> Results suggest that aspartame, in acute dosage of 50 mg/kg(thats a
> shitload), is no more likely than placebo to cause seizures in
> individuals who reported that their seizures were provoked by
> aspartame consumption.

Those are just PR summaries, not the full studies. In this manufacturer-sponsored study, the subjects were on anti-seizures medication while taking aspartame. In addition, the study was only 1 day long.

Once one looks at the manufacturer's studies, not just the abstracts, it becomes clear that their studies are designed to avoid any possibility of problems.

There are quite a few *independent* studies demonstrating the toxicity of aspartame including the recent research in Europe proving that aspartame ingestion in small amounts leads to the accumulation of formaldehyde in the brain, liver, kidneys, etc. The amount of formaldehyde exposure is *twice* what is known to cause irreversible genetic damage in long-term occupational formaldehyde exposure (whether symptoms appear or not). This is one of the legacies Rumsfeld will leave -- slow poisoning of the general population.

Twoggle

[Radius]

85. Debunked UL about deep pockets..

Is the source for material handlind and poison control for the US medical industry. HSDB is the definitive source for toxicology information. The information listed has multiple studies linked.

http://www.junkscience.com/news/nutrasweet.html

Don't think rummy bought off ALL the listed groups??
http://urbanlegends.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.nutrasweet.com/articles/article.asp%3FId=59

snopes debunked it, MIT, European agencies, the FDA. It is BuullShiit

The only reason it is getting play is because it has a political spin, rummy. It is bad science.

There was a 70's study that linked it to bladder cancer in rats was saccharin, my fault..

On formaldehyde, I met an old guy at a dead show who was smoking a J laced with formalin. He had being doing this for longer than I had been alive at the time.

Every doctor and PA has exposure to formalin in med school. It is a carcinogen.

This nutrasweet myth is debunked. It is about someone trying to sue deep pockets.

[Roland99]

86. Uhh...the Snopes site doesn't debunk it

Heck, Snopes even links to a study funded *BY* Nutrasweet Co.

[Radius]

90. Did you read the links?

The EU authorities, MIT, FDA etc. All debunked it. It is utter crap perpetrated by people to get a class action going. Snopes links to MANY sources that debunk it. HSDB and TOXINET data debunks it.

http://annonc.oupjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/15/10/1460

Oncologists think it is BULLSHIT.

If you are worried about cancer, quit smoking.

Nothing causes all those symptoms, well maybe Acute Anxiety Disorders. The great pretender..

This is about money, pure and simple..

[Roland99]

93. Ayup...sure did

Study Reaffirms Safety of Aspartame (MIT News):
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/tt/1998/sep16/aspartame.html
The study was conducted at MIT's CRC. Electro-encephalograms were done at the Beth Israel-Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. This work was supported by a grant from the NutraSweet Co. to the Center for Brain Sciences and Metabolism Charitable Trust.

Some info on the Japanese study (it was given too much credence)
http://www.aspartametruth.freeservers.com/cancer.html

More info:
http://rense.com/general50/KILLER.HTM

[Radius]

95. Rense is Crap,Journal of Oncology is not

I'll take the oncologists' study, sorry. This is about a big fatty lawsuit.

Just because Nutrasweet funded it does not meed beth Israel and MIT created false data.

Toxinet and hsdb link multiple dubunkers as well as snopes links to major European agencies calling the bluff on this.

[twoggle]

99. Re: Did you read the links?

Hi! I've read the links *and* spent far, far too much time "trapped" in med school libraries reading 1000+ studies (not just abstracts) related to aspartame and it's metabolites and discuss the issue at length with independent researchers and government scientists.

Keep in mind that the "EU authorities" is now a *defunct* agency. The EC SCF you're alluding to had far too many cases of food industry consultants writing their reports. For years they refused to declare their conflict of interest (See, for example in the British Med J:
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/320/7238/826/d ). After the food industry consultants at the EC SCF claimed aspartame was safe, the following draft response was passed around to members of the EU parliament:

http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/scf2002.html

The parliament subsequently voted to request a re-evaluation of the decision regarding aspartame. The EC SCF is no longer performing evaluations of food additives for the European Union. It's an important *first* step since the EC SCF report on aspartame was a short report with extensive quotes of authors they didn't identify and sections supported only by citations to books and articles written by aspartame manufacturer employees and consultants.

That excellent piece on rense.com:

http://rense.com/general50/KILLER.HTM

is an article written by a former FDA consultant *scientist*. There's a big difference between statements of FDA beaurocrats going back and forth between food industry jobs and FDA jobs and real FDA scientists. Here is another piece by an FDA Toxicologist:

http://www.dorway.com/gross.txt

"They lied and they didn't submit
the real nature of their observations because had
they done that it is more than likely that a great
number of these studies would have been rejected
simply for adequacy. What Searle did, they took
great pains to camouflage these shortcomings of
the study. As I say filter and just present to the
FDA what they wished the FDA to know and they did
other terrible things for instance animals would
develop tumors while they were under study. Well
they would remove these tumors from the animals."


As I said many times, the NutraSweet / MIT study was designed in a way as to avoid possibilities of finding statistically significant adverse effects. 20-day study with a form of aspartame their own consultant says is "not bioequivalent" in the following scientific journal article: Metabolism, Volume 36, No. 5, page 507-512, 1987. It has nothing to do with fudging data. It was simply another short, poorly-designed, NutraSweet-funded study where a couple of MIT scientists happend to be involved. It does not represent any official position of MIT (of course).

The individual at Snopes has no familiarity with the scientific research related to aspartame -- it is obvious from discussions with this individual and previous postings on their message board. It's a big mistake in my opinion to rely on an "urban legend" web sites written by some anonymous non-scientist for "scientific" information. Much better to go to *independent* scientists who have a proven familiarity with the subject at hand. Fortunately, the Internet allows us to do that.

The review article you cited does not address the issue related to aspartame and brain cancer that has been raised by independent scientists. One way to tell if an author has familiarity with the aspartame and brain cancer issue is to note if they focus their discussion on specific types of brain tumors in specific susceptible population groups. If they limit their discussion to overall brain cancer rates (or cancer rates) as seen in the abstract you linked to, then they are simply addressing some theoretical concern of their own making and not addressing issues raised by independent scientists familiar with the issue.

Here is a summary is some of the issues raised by independent scientists (related to aspartame and brain cancer):

1. Within several years after aspartame approval, the incidence of specific types of deadly brain tumors (glioblastomas and anaplastic astrocytomas) increased tremendously in vulnerable population groups (middle aged and elderly). During the same period of time, the incidence of less deadly astrocytoma tumors decreased tremendously. Olney (1996) showed that while the overall brain tumor incidence rate remained somewhat constant, there was a shift in malignancy from the less deadly to more deadly types of brain tumors shortly after aspartame came on the market.

What is very important to understand is that Olney (1996) was not looking at the overall brain tumor rates in the general population. He looked at the conversion of less deadly to more deadly brain tumors (i.e., a "conversion of astrocytic tumors from a lower to higher grade of malignancy") in a vulnerable population group (middle age and elderly). This conversion to a higher and more deadly grade of malignancy was seen as a tremendous increase in incidence of glioblastomas and anaplastic astrocytomas shortly after aspartame came on the market and a nearly equal decrease in astrocytomas during the same period of time.

Brain tumors in adults tend to develop over a long period of time before they are diagnosed. If aspartame causes the growth of brain tumors it might take 20 or 30 years (or more) before one would be able to see the increase in the overall brain tumor rates when examining the brain cancer incidence statistics from all age groups of the general population. But Olney (1996) was able to prove that there was a very large change (worsening) of existing malignancies in a vulnerable population group shortly after aspartame came on the market. By itself, the large increase in deadly tumors, shortly after aspartame approval, does not prove that aspartame causes brain cancer or effects existing tumors. But along with evidence in items #2 and #3 below, there is enough evidence to warn people about the possibility.

2. Animals in aspartame pre-approval studies showed an increased rate of the same types of brain tumors.

3. Aspartame has mutagenic potential in vitro.

Dr. Olney was very conservative in his conclusions and simply urged more research. Since this time, there has been one study on a similiar population group as discussed in the Olney study. It found that a large intake of diet drinks increased the risk of having larger malignant brain tumors. This was a relatively small, independent study, so the issue related to aspartame and brain tumors is still unresolved.

Of course, aspartame and brain tumors is really a side issue. The main issue is slow poisoning from the significant formaldehyde exposure and proven formaldehyde *accumulation* (bound to protein and DNA) in the brain, liver, and kidneys. Internal effects of such exposure (e.g., irreversible genetic damage) is sometimes seen even in persons without clinically evident symptoms of chronic formaldehyde poisoning. The formaldehye exposure along with co-exposure to an excitotoxin and DKP from aspartame (not just a single chemical absorbed) represents much more of a concern than the outstanding issue related to aspartame and brain cancer. And, of course, this slow poisoning is all brought to us care of Donald Rumsfeld and the political appointees who approved aspartame over the objections of the Public Board of Inquiry and the FDA's own scientists.

Twoggle

[Radius]

102. Not according

to HSDB, and Toxinet, and the oncology journal.

The brain tumor study was addressed and the tumor rate was within the standard occurances of tumors in that type of rat.

Journal of oncology states it almost impossible to isolate cancer correlation to one chemical.

Are you saying every agency I linked to is defunct. The french fda, our fda, etc, etc.

The journal of Oncology is the source. They aren't holistic but they treat know a little about cancer.

This is about a lawsuit. No chemical causes that many side effects.

http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/lawsuit/
http://www.wnho.net/lawsuits_multiply.htm

All about dollars...

Do some reasearch on caffiene, MSG, and corn oil and you can find someone who says they cause cancer. It is a Urban Legend.

[twoggle]

105. Re: Not according

> to HSDB, and Toxinet, and the oncology journal.

Toxinet is simply a cluster of databases that link to abstracts. It is not an organization that that has an opinion about aspartame any more than a dbase or SQL database on someone's computer has opinions. Toxinet is one of many possible databases one can look at for research. The key, however, is to avoid if at all possible rely on the abstracts (which can often be PR blurbs for industry research) and look carefully at the complete published study.

HSDB is also a database (not an organization with opinions on aspartame) that contains links to a small subset of research, some of which is independent research and some of which is industry research. The HSDB links point to abstracts. Once one has the abstract, it is important to pull the complete study. This is especially true in the case of the aspartame manufacturer.

The Journal of Oncology did not review aspartame in the link you provided. It was a couple of authors who published a paper in that journal. As I said, they addressed a concern of their own making and not the concerns of independent scientists who have noted an enormous rise in certain types of brain tumors in certain population groups. A study by Hardell showing an increase in large malignant brain tumors in vulnerable population groups for those ingesting diet drinks did focus on the relevent issues. The full Hardell study is available online, by the way.

The FDA is not defunct, of course. But as I said earlier, one has to look separate at the statements of knowledgable FDA *scientists* and those of FDA beaurocrats who go back and forth between government jobs and manufacturer jobs. Aside from two FDA Commissioners jumping ship to work for the aspartame manufacturer and their PR company, there are many other FDA beaurocrats who made similar jumps.

> The brain tumor study was addressed and the tumor rate was within
> the standard occurances of tumors in that type of rat.

Those authors are simply repeating what a manufacturer consultant and the FDA Commissioner said at the time. Shortly after the FDA Commissioner approved aspartame, he took a high-paying consulting position with the aspartame manufacturer's PR firm. But the independent Public Board of Inquiry voted against approval of aspartame due to those studies on aspartame and brain cancer.

Dr. John Olney is one of the few people still alive who actually reviewed the data and pathology slides related to the two studies related to brain tumors and aspartame. Here is what he said:

"Being a neuropathologist, I know that spontaneous
brain tumors in laboratory rats are extremely
rare. The archival literature documents an
incidence not exceeding 0.6%. Since the above
incidence in Nutrasweet-red rats is 3.75%, this
suggests that Nutrasweet may cause brain tumors
and certainly suggests the need for additional in
depth research to rule out that possibility.
....
"The PBOI panel member who was primarily
responsible for reviewing the brain tumor issue
was Peter Lampert, M.D., Neuropathologist and
chairman of the pathology department at Univ. of
Calif. San Diego. Dr. Lampert personally examined
the microscopic slides pertaining to the brain
tumor studies and told me a year or so after the
PBOI report was completed that he had been
surprised at the large size of the brain tumors in
the Nutrasweet-fed rats. This reinforced his
impression that they had been caused by some
tumorigenic agent since spontaneous brain tumors
are not only rare in laboratory rats but when they
do occur they are usually not so large. Dr.
Lampert is now deceased; he died in 1986 of
cancer. At the time he participated in the PBOI,
he was the President of the American Association
of Neuropathologists."

Being the President of the American Association of Neuropathologists, he was probably one of the most qualified persons to make a determination related to aspartame and brain cancer. The other members of the Public Board of Inquiry were not Neurologists or Neuropathologists. They all voted against aspartame approval.

"WASHINGTON (UPI) Pouring over laboratory rat studies in the spring
of 1981 in the government’s final safety review of a new artificial
sweetener, senior statistician Satya Dubey of the Food and Drug
Administration was troubled.

"Dubey, a member of a special FDA "commissioner’s team" formed to
help decide the fate of the product to be known as NutraSweet,
wrote an internal memo that brain tumor data from the rat tests was
so "worrisome" that he could not recommend approval.

"Two other statisticians on the six-member team agreed with Dubey
that the Chicago-based G.D. Searle Co. had not proved with
"reasonable certainty" the safety of the sweetener, known
generically as aspartame. A 1980 Public Board of Inquiry had voted
3-0 to ban aspartame because of similar fears.

"But a few weeks later on July 18, 1981, new FDA Commissioner Arthur
Hull Hayes, Jr., a pharmacologist who had been in office less than
three months and had little background in food additives,
overturned the board and approved the use of aspartame in dry
foods."

As I mentioned, not long after approval of aspartame in carbonated beverages, the FDA Commissioner became a high-paid consultant for the manufacturers PR company. This FDA Commissioner overruled the Public Board of Inquiry and his own scientists. In order to claim that the brain tumor rates in those animals were equivalent to what is found "spontaneously," he relied on a study that had no methodology listed in the publication.

> No chemical causes that many side effects.

Aspartame breaks down into multiple chemicals, so it is essentially not just one chemical. Some chemicals cause a wide variety of symptoms, methyl and elemental mercury, for example.

> http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/lawsuit/
> All about dollars...

Just because someone goes to court doesn't mean it is all about dollars. There is no large, class action lawsuit at this time. The lawsuits filed were filed by a few individuals in California without the participation of most of the aspartame organizations or persons poisoned by aspartame. However, it is their perogutive to file such a lawsuit. After all, lawsuits have been filed for good reasons against the manufacturer (Monsanto/NutraSweet) for other issues/chemicals:

"The jury in Gadsden, Ala., a town 20 miles from Anniston, held Monsanto and its corporate successors liable on all six counts it considered: negligence, wantonness, suppression of the truth, nuisance, trespass and outrage. Under Alabama law, the rare claim of outrage typically requires conduct 'so outrageous in character and extreme in degree as to go beyond all possible bounds of decency so as to be regarded as atrocious and utterly intolerable in civilized society.'"

Twoggle

[Chelsea Patriot]

98. Drink up, Sweetie! Have one on me,

[SOS]

100. junkscience.com = junk

All the links are to Fox News, Washington Times and John Stoessel.
Right wing corporate shills.

[Radius]

104. Oncology Journal, HSDB, FDA =Junk? All about $$$(nt)

[NoMoreChimp]

53. Donald Rumsfeld

Ought to rizaaaaaaaaaaagn!

[are_we_united_yet]

55. Rumsfeld? Nutra?

Sweeeeeettt.

[ecoalex]

57. Asprin is a killer too

ya, good ole asprin.You can take it for years many years, then one day you pop 2 and in a few minutes you're in a death throes, and have 20 minutes to get to a hospital, for the allergic reaction, if not treated in time you die.The Scandavian countries banned it ,becasue of a rise in the population of MS. Identical studies, in identical towns,one allowed aspertame, one not. In 2 years a statistical above average incidence of MS was seen.With a caring government, aspertame was banned.There is nothing moral about capitolism, it needs regulation, the anathema of the reps.

[Dem2theMax]

64. I had never heard of this until I joined DU.

The interesting thing is, years ago my brain let me know that it didn't like aspartame and that every time I ate something with aspartame in it, I was going to pay BIG TIME.

If I have to have sweetner (hey, can't drink Iced Tea plain) I'll use Raw Sugar. I read labels and if that crap aspartame is on it, it does not get purchased.

[Cooley Hurd]

65. You can definitely tell when a Diet Pepsi "goes bad..."

I used to consume DP in copious amounts, and at least 10% of the 2 litre bottles I'd consume would have a very bad taste to them - kinda like lighter fluid. I would assume that they were the ones not refrigerated properly. Little did I know at the time that I was embalming myself prematurely...:puke:

Now, it's nothing but spring water for me... :thumbsup:

[Roland99]

68. I used to get heart palpitations

when I would drink a few Diet Cokes in a row. You know that feeling like your heart misses a beat and then catches up quickly?

I used to think it was the caffeine but I could drink a couple of Mountain Dew and not get that feeling.

[Radius]

76. Palp

Is triggered by your brain normally in a fight or flight mode, tingly fingers, shortness of breath, tension are adrenaline based.

I had the same thing happen watching Dawn of the Dead and playing Doom3.

[SOS]

101. So a big hit of cocaine or crystal meth

creates the same cardiac response as playing a video game?
Heart palpitations, tachycardia and arrhythmia have many possible causes, not just Doom 3.

[shawn703]

71. So this is how they'll get rid of Rumfilled

I was wondering how they'd get rid of this guy. If they get rid of him because of the torture scandal or quagmire in Iraq, it looks like Bush's policies are failing. If they get rid of him because of this, at least they can avoid that accusation.

[twoggle]

72. Re: "Racketeering Charges filed Against NutraSweet...Rumsfeld Involved!"

A little more about Rumsfeld and aspartame:

In 1977, when Donald Rumsfeld became the head of
G.D. Searle (the inventor of aspartame), he brought
in a number of Republican operatives. At that time,
G.D. Searle was losing money and there were grand
jury and Congressional investigations into possilbe
fraud and other issues related to aspartame
pre-approval and other pre-approval research.

In the early 1970's, Dr. John Olney found that
part of aspartame could cause holes in the
brains of mice. Dr. Olney and an attorney,
James Turner filed documents to block the
sale of aspartame.

Not long after Rumsfeld came to G.D. Searle,
he called James Turner to meet with him and
discuss aspartame. At that time, Turner had
been involved with the Food Safety Council,
an organization made up of the food industry
and independent experts putting together
standards for research related to food and food
additives. Turner suggested that they use Food
Safety Council standards to put together a
series of scientific protocols that they could both
agree upon and specifically focus on potential
neurological effects of aspartame -- something
that hadn't been looked at in preapproval research.
However, Rumsfeld decided to go forward on a
political level only. Here is what James Turner
said about this decision in an interview from
a recent documentary about aspartame
( http://www.soundandfuryproductions.com/ ):

"In my mind, that demonstrated he was an individual
not interested in facts, not interested in the truth,
not inerested in finding out what the fundamental
realities are, but much much more interested in
settting a goal and then by will and force pulling all
the resources he could possibly pull together to
achieve that goal, i.e., get NutraSweet on the market
and sold."
....
"He's a fixer. He's an operative. You assign him a job
and he does it. Now, I'm sure that as he gets up into
the level in the Defense Department he sort of makes
up his own jobs and says, 'I'm going to do these things,'
but *facts* are not all that important to how he proceeds
because he's so confident he knows what the outcome
should be that (at least in the way he did in NutraSweet)
he looked across the horizon to find all those facts that
support his position and then minimized or denigrated
the facts that didn't support his position."

A Public Board of Inquiry scientific panel voted unanimously
against approval of aspartame in 1980. But the day after
Reagan took office, he wrote an executive order suspending
the ability of the FDA Commissioner to take any action.
A month later he appointed a new FDA Commissioner
who approved aspartame over the objections of his own
scientists. This FDA Commissioner later became a high
paid consultant of the manufacturer's PR company.

Twoggle

[noonwitch]

74. I think some people are sensitive to aspartame and some aren't

I'm not-I've been consuming it since it hit the market, mostly in Diet Coke. I use sugar in cooking/baking.

If you are a person that has a lot of allergies or sensitivities to food and food preservatives, than you probably should avoid it. It's like MSG in that sense-lots of people don't have any problems with it, but lots do. Kids shouldn't consume it, sugar in the right amounts won't hurt them unless they are diabetic.

[arikara]

96. Well I hope that they nail Rummy to the wall on this

Here's a timeline that someone has put a lot of work into of the discovery and shenanigans that it took to get it approved. References are at the end of the article.

http://users.westnet.gr/~cgian/asphistory.txt

History of Aspartame

Before we discuss the other hazardous aspects of aspartame, it can be
helpful to understand the sordid historybehind the approval of
aspartame.

From the article:


"Numerous extensive, and very thorough, clinical investigations
have failed to reveal toxic side- effects of aspartame. A review
of over 100 animal and human studies by the Council on Scientific
Affairs of the American Medical Association (AMA) concluded that
'Consumption of aspartame by normal humans is safe and is not
associated with serious adverse health effects.' (AMA 1985)
Although the AMA frequently errs in its conclusions about
nutrition, medicine, and health in general, I believe they are
accurate in the case of aspartame."

This article, which was printed in the Journal of the American
Medical Association (JAMA), was basically a summary of information
provided by the FDA. After the heading, "Council Report," the article
degenerates into little more than a pro-aspartame fairy tale.
Unfortunately, this fairy tale has turned into a nightmare for
countless individuals. What follows is a short, but much more accurate
history of aspartame.

1964

The development of new pharmaceuticals was the focus of research at
the international pharmaceutical company, G.D. Searle and Company
(Farber 1989, page 29). A group working on an ulcer drug was formed
including Dr. Robert Mazer, James Schlatter, Arthur Goldkemp and
Imperial Chemical. In particular, they were looking for an inhibitor
of the gastrointestinal secretory hormone gastrin (Stegink 1984a, page
3).

1965

In 1965, while creating a bioassay, an intermediate chemical was
synthesized -- aspartylphenylalanine-methyl-ester (aspartame). In
December of 1965, while James Schlatter was recrystalling aspartame
from ethanol, the mixture spilled onto the outside of the flask. Some
of the powder got onto his fingers. Later, when he licked his fingers
to pick up a piece of paper, he noticed a very strong sweet taste. He
realized that the sweet taste might have been the aspartame. So,
believing that the dipeptide aspartame was not likely to be toxic, he
tasted a little bit and discovered its sweet taste (Stegink 1984a,
page 4). The discovery was reported in 1966, but there was no mention
of the sweetness (Furia 1972).

1969

The investigators first reported the discovery of the artificial
sweetener in the Journal of the American Chemical Society stating
(Mazur 1969):

"We wish to report another accidental discovery of an organic
compound with a profound sucrose (table sugar) like taste . . .
Prelminary tasting showed this compound to have a potency of
100-200 times sucrose depending on concentration and on what other
flavors are present and to be devoid of unpleasant aftertaste."

In 1969, former Commissioner of the FDA, Dr. Herbert L. Ley was quoted
as follows (Griffin 1974):

"The thing that bugs me is that people think the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) is protecting them -- it isn't. What the FDA
is doing and what the public thinks it's doing are as different
as night and day."

1970

The discovery of aspartame is reported in the well-known publication,
Science (Cloninger 1970).

G.D. Searle approached Dr. Harry Waisman, Biochemist, Professor of
Pediatrics, Director of the University of Wisconsin's Joseph P.
Kennedy Jr. Memorial Laboroatory of Mental Retardation Research and a
respected expert in phenylalanine toxicity, to conduct a study of the
effects of aspartame on primates. The study was initiated on January
15, 1970 and was terminated on or about April 25, 1971. Dr. Waisman
died unexpectedly in March, 1971.

Seven infant monkeys were given aspartame with milk. One died after
300 days. Five others (out of seven total) had grad mal seizures. The
actual results were hidden from the FDA when G.D. Searle submitted its
initial applications (Stoddard 1995a, page 6; Merrill 1977; Graves
1984, page S5506 of Congressional Record 1985a; Gross 1976b, page 333
of US Senate 1976b).

G.D. Searle denied knowledge of or involvement with the initiation,
design or performance of the study. Yet, the false results were
submitted to the FDA like the rest of the 150 G.D. Searle studies (on
aspartame and other products), bearing a Searle Pathology-Toxicology
project number. Both Dr. Waisman and G.D. Searle were responsible for
the study design. A number of false statements were made by G.D.
Searle including that the animals were unavailable for purchase for
autopsy after the termination of the study.

Neuroscientist and researcher John W. Olney found that oral intake of
glutamate, aspartate and cysteine, all excitotoxic amino acids, cause
brain damage in mice (Olney 1970).

<snip>

1981

On January 21, 1981, the day after Ronald Reagan takes office as U.S.
President, G.D. Searle reapplied for the approval of aspartame. G.D.
Searle submits several new studies along with their application. It
was believed that Reagan would certainly replace Jere Goyan, the FDA
Comissioner. G.D. Searle president, Donald Rumsfeld's connections to
the Republican party were also thought to play a part in Searle's
decision to reapply for aspartame's approval on the day after Ronald
Reagan was inaugurated (Gordon 1987, page 499 of US Senate 1987).

According to a former G.D. Searle salesperson, Patty Wood- Allott,
G.D. Searle president, Donald Rumsfeld told his salesforce that, if
necessary, "he would call in all his markers and that no matter what,
he would see to it that aspartame would be approved that year."
(Gordon 1987, page 499 of US Senate 1987)

<snip>

much, much more...

[Wednesdays]

97. Whether or not the stuff is toxic is irrelevant...

What's disturbing is how corporations have total stranglehold of our government!

[demoman123]

106. LOL. This is just a class action lawsuit, not a RICO 'indictment'

Links in the article lead here:

http://www.nationaljusticeleague.com/

"Plaintiff, Joe Bellon, individually, and as a representative of a class of Plaintiffs filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California."

The article speaks of "charges" and an "indictment." But it's just a bunch of private parties suing.

Anybody can sue anybody for anything.