Aspartame - Is it dangerous?

[Barrington]

I was told today that Robinsons Fruit Shoots have a sweetener in them called Aspartame that can be dangerous to health. I have had a look on the internet and keep finding differing opinions as to wether it is or not.
I tend to think that as it is in a drink for kids that it can't be, but i'm not sure, babies bottles used to have BPA in and apparently that was harmful.

Anyone know any info on this substance?

[funb]

I asked my previous trainer about this a while ago (she wanted me to stop drinking diet coke all the time) and she sent me this:

Quote

Aspartame

Aspartame is used as a sugar substitute in so many of our "sugar free foods" e.g. soft drinks, protein drinks, weight loss programs and just about every chewing gum that's out there on the market, to name just a few.

SACRAMENTO -- April 6th, Lawsuits were filed in three separate California courts against twelve companies who either produce or use the artificial sweetener aspartame as a sugar substitute in their products. The suits were filed in Shasta, Sonoma and Butte County, California.

The suits allege that the food companies committed fraud and breach of
warranty by marketing products to the public such as diet Coke, diet Pepsi, sugar free gum, Flintstone's vitamins, yogurt and children's aspirin with the full knowledge that aspartame, the sweetener in them, is neurotoxic.

Aspartame is a drug masquerading as an additive. It interacts with other drugs, has a synergistic and additive effect with MSG, and is a chemical hyper-sensitization agent. As far back as 1970, Dr. John Olney founded the field of neuroscience called excitotoxicity when he did studies on aspartic acid, which makes up 40% of aspartame, and found it caused lesions in the brains of mice. He made world news on the aspartame/brain tumor connection in l996. Dr. Ralph Walton, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine has written of the behavioral and psychiatric problems triggered by aspartame-caused depletion of serotonin.

Aspartame can cause headache, memory loss, seizures, vision loss, coma and cancer. It worsens or mimics the symptoms of such diseases and conditions as fibromyalgia, MS, lupus, ADD, diabetes, Alzheimer's, chronic fatigue and depression.

Aspartame liberates free methyl alcohol. The resulting chronic methanol poisoning affects the dopamine system of the brain causing addiction.
Methanol, or wood alcohol, constitutes one-third of the aspartame molecule and is classified as a severe metabolic poison and narcotic. Recent news is full of reports of world-class athletes and other healthy consumers of aspartame suddenly dropping dead. Sudden death can occur from aspartame use because it damages the cardiac conduction system.

Dr. Woodrow Monte in the peer reviewed journal, Aspartame: Methanol and the Public Health, wrote: "When diet sodas and soft drinks, sweetened with aspartame, are used to replace fluid loss during exercise and physical exertion in hot climates, the intake of methanol can exceed 250 mg/day or 32 times the Environmental Protection Agency's recommended limit of consumption for this cumulative poison."

The effects of aspartame are documented by the FDA's own data. In 1995 the agency was forced, under the Freedom Of Information Act, to release a list of ninety-two aspartame symptoms reported by thousands of victims. This is only the tip of the iceberg. H. J. Roberts, MD, published the medical text "Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic" -- 1,000 pages of symptoms and diseases triggered by this neurotoxin including the sordid history of its approval.

Since its discovery in 1965, controversy has raged over the health risks associated with the sugar substitute. From laboratory testing of the chemical on rats, researchers have discovered that the drug induces brain tumors. On Sept 30, l980 the Board of Inquiry of the FDA concurred and denied the petition for approval. In l981, the newly appointed FDA Commissioner, Arthur Hull Hayes, ignored the negative ruling and approved aspartame for dry goods. As recorded in the Congressional Record of 1985, then CEO of Searle Laboratories Donald Rumsfeld said that he would call in his markers to get aspartame approved. Rumsfeld was on President Reagan's
transition team and a day after taking office appointed Hayes. No FDA
Commissioner in the previous sixteen years had allowed Aspartame on the market.

In 1983, aspartame was approved for use in carbonated beverages. Today it is found in over 5000 foods, drinks and medicines.

Neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock, MD, author of "Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills" (www.russellblaylockmd.com) wrote about the relationship between aspartame and macular degeneration, diabetic blindness and glaucoma (all known to result from excitotoxin accumulation in the retina).

All of these neurodegenerative diseases are worsened by aspartame. In
addition, we now have evidence that excitotoxins play a major role in
exacerbation of MS and other demyelinating disorders including trigeminal neuraliga. Blaylock says that new studies show excitotoxins trigger significant elevation of free radicals in the lining (endothelial cells) of arteries, which means that aspartame will increase the incidence of heart attacks and strokes (atherosclerosis).

In original studies, aspartame has triggered brain, mammary, uterine,
ovarian, testicular, thyroid and pancreatic tumors.

Defendants in the lawsuits include Coca-cola, PepsiCo, Bayer Corp., the
Dannon Company, William Wrigley Jr. Company, ConAgra Foods, Wyeth, Inc., The NutraSweet Company, and Altria Corp. (parent company of Kraft Foods and Philip Morris).

Plaintiffs have asked for an injunction to stop companies from producing, manufacturing, processing, selling or using aspartame.
Plaintiffs in all three cases are seeking a jury trial.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 15, 2004
National Press Conference, Thursday 9/16 11:00 A.M.
Sheraton Grand Hotel 1230 J Street Sacramento, Ca

Racketeering Charges Filed Against NutraSweet Co., American Diabetes
Association,Monsanto & Dr Robert H. Moser for Manufacturing and Marketing Toxic Aspartame

A RACKETEER INFLUENCED & CORRUPT ORGANIZATIONS [RICO] complaint has been filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The suit, filed by a member of The National Justice League, charges the defendants with manufacturing and marketing a deadly neurotoxin unfit for human consumption, while they assured the pubic that aspartame (also known as NutraSweet/Equal) contaminated products are safe and healthful, even for children and pregnant women. Present Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is mentioned throughout the lawsuit.

As evidence, an explosive affidavit from a former employee of 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 (916) 447-1700.

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 shortly after it was approved in 1982.

The Food and Drug Administration once listed 92 adverse reactions from 10,000 consumer complaints and sent 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. The National Justice League currently has suits filed against these companies 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.

[Barrington]

It doesn't sound good does it. But then i found this on another site that seems to be saying its ok :

'' The overwhelming body of scientific evidence clearly demonstrates that aspartame, even in amounts many times what people typically consume, is safe and not associated with adverse aspartame side effects. However, over the years, some consumers have reported symptoms, which they believed were associated with aspartame. The FDA has investigated these allegations and concluded that there is no "reasonable evidence of possible public health harm" and "no consistent or unique patterns of symptoms reported with respect to aspartame that can be causally linked to its use."

On this site Debunking myths about danger, unfounded side effects in consuming Aspartame

Its all a bit confusing really.

[funb]

Yeah... When I first looked into it, I saw a lot of fear-mongering on one side and a lot of "meh" on the other, which is why I ended up asked my ex PT for her expert opinion.. Hasn't stopped me drinking the odd coke zero though

[Bebop1980]

But who funds the calorie control council who own the site, you guessed it the large corporations that make the unhealthy food.

[ben 21]

lol i dont know what to ****ing belive anymore! hopefully nu can take this one

[SeanC]

My opinion is that you would have to drink a hell of a lot of it to have any negative effects.
Don't think its great but its in relatively small quantaties in drinks etc.

[NU_nutrition_TS]

Quote

But who funds the calorie control council who own the site, you guessed it the large corporations that make the unhealthy food.

I agree. Follow the links:
Debunking myths about danger, unfounded side effects in consuming Aspartame

Bottom of above page you click:
The Calorie Control Council | Healthy Eating & Exercise for Life

At the bottom of the page to which you are sent (from the link above) you then click:
About the Council | The Calorie Control Council

And on the page that that link sends you to, you read:

Quote

The Calorie Control Council, established in 1966, is an international non-profit association representing the low-calorie food and beverage industry.

That's right, it represents the interests of the industries producing those aspartame-sweetened products - NOT the poor saps consuming them!

[craig1014]

I experimented by trying to reduce as much aspartame (and other sweeteners) as possible. Now when I use products with this in I tend to get a bit of brain fog. Why not experiment for yourself and see if you feel better?

[Barrington]

Now that i look out for it, it seems to be in everything in my kitchen! I can't say i'm any the wiser, but i would hope that because the government or whoever controls these things hasn't banned it, thats a good sign.
At least i am aware of it now though.