Aspartame, the artificial chemical used as a sugar substitute (Equal, Nutrasweet etc) is MUCH more harmful to your health than actual sugar. The FDA has come up short yet again while letting corporations slide and sacrificing our health. The FDA allows major corporations (i.e. Coca-Cola Company) to label products as "diet" once the artificial chemical (aspartame) has been added.
Not only is there much controversy as to whether the chemical has any benefits in regard to weight loss but the FDA failed to thoroughly review experimental test data which suggested a relationship between aspartame and cancer in lab rats.
Aspartame was first synthesized in 1965 by chemist James M. Schlatter as a possible anti-ulcer drug. However for 15 years the FDA refused to approve the chemical because studies and tests indicated that aspartame may cause cancer in lab rats. That all changed in 1981 when Reagan took office and appointed Arthur Hull Hayes as FDA commisioner. Immediately after, Donald Rumsfeld who was then CEO of G.D. Searle (the company that owned the patent on Aspartame) reapplied the chemical for FDA approval, and in a seemingly private-interest agreement it was approved.
Before and since the FDA approved Aspartame in 1981 various studies have shown that long term effects on lab rats and other test animals given aspartame include; development of tumors, lymphona, deterioration of skin tissue, and loss of vision.
In 1980 the FDA even intervened a Public Board of Inquiry (PBOI) which was investigating the relationship between aspartame and brain cancer in lab rats. The FDA also chose to ignore "The Bressler Report" in the approval process, an FDA report collection of all raw and summary experimental data on the subject which cited many unanswered questions pertaining to cancer development in test animals.
“In any such study of even a few hundred test animals, it takes no more than a dozen or so of them to exhibit a particular lesion… to associate with the test agent, i.e., aspartame or its related chemicals.” - Dr. Adrian Gross, FDA toxicologist in a letter to Senator Howard Metzenbaum, Oct. 30, 1986.
A few sites concerning Aspartame and harmful effects...
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00000426.htm - Center for Disease Control's (CDC's) "Evaluation of Consumer Complaints Related to Aspartame Use"
http://dorway.com/dorwblog/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartame
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartame_controversy
http://www.myaspartameexperiment.com/
http://www.dorway.com/bressler.txt - Full 76 pg text of The Bressler Report
Not only is there much controversy as to whether the chemical has any benefits in regard to weight loss but the FDA failed to thoroughly review experimental test data which suggested a relationship between aspartame and cancer in lab rats.
Aspartame was first synthesized in 1965 by chemist James M. Schlatter as a possible anti-ulcer drug. However for 15 years the FDA refused to approve the chemical because studies and tests indicated that aspartame may cause cancer in lab rats. That all changed in 1981 when Reagan took office and appointed Arthur Hull Hayes as FDA commisioner. Immediately after, Donald Rumsfeld who was then CEO of G.D. Searle (the company that owned the patent on Aspartame) reapplied the chemical for FDA approval, and in a seemingly private-interest agreement it was approved.
Before and since the FDA approved Aspartame in 1981 various studies have shown that long term effects on lab rats and other test animals given aspartame include; development of tumors, lymphona, deterioration of skin tissue, and loss of vision.
In 1980 the FDA even intervened a Public Board of Inquiry (PBOI) which was investigating the relationship between aspartame and brain cancer in lab rats. The FDA also chose to ignore "The Bressler Report" in the approval process, an FDA report collection of all raw and summary experimental data on the subject which cited many unanswered questions pertaining to cancer development in test animals.
“In any such study of even a few hundred test animals, it takes no more than a dozen or so of them to exhibit a particular lesion… to associate with the test agent, i.e., aspartame or its related chemicals.” - Dr. Adrian Gross, FDA toxicologist in a letter to Senator Howard Metzenbaum, Oct. 30, 1986.
A few sites concerning Aspartame and harmful effects...
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00000426.htm - Center for Disease Control's (CDC's) "Evaluation of Consumer Complaints Related to Aspartame Use"
http://dorway.com/dorwblog/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartame
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartame_controversy
http://www.myaspartameexperiment.com/
http://www.dorway.com/bressler.txt - Full 76 pg text of The Bressler Report
