Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Aspartame: How Political Muscle Won Out Over Science

Courtesy of Cal S. I wonder how often political muscle wins out over genuine science, especially when either worldviews or large sums of money are involved. This is a bit outside what I usually post here, but I think the importance of care regarding what goes into our bodies outweighs such considerations.

Abstract: If you want to know even more about Donald Rumsfeld's push to poison people, read the attached. Tamiflu is just one among many of the poisons he has helped get on the market. Profit is just one motive. Power and control is the ultimate motive.

In the early 70's after leaving the Nixon/Ford administration, Rumsfeld went to work for Searle, Inc. He was instrumental in calling in his Washington DC chips to get the FDA to approve aspartame as a food additive. This, after the DOD declared aspartame to be a biological weapon and after the FDA refused to approve it. Now, thanks to Rumsfeld and his cronies, aspartame is in more than 6000 products, from candy, to sweeteners, to medicines.

Aspartame has been linked to numerous illnesses and to cancer. Read on.


Posted: 26 September 2005

THE ECOLOGIST

SEPTEMBER 2005; pages 35-51

Cover Story, pages 35-46
ASPARTAME - The Shocking Story of the World's Bestselling Sweetener


Aspartame is the most controversial food additive in history. The most recent evidence, linking it to leukaemia and lymphoma, has added substantial fuel to the ongoing protests of doctors, scientists and consumer groups who allege that this artificial sweetener should never have been released onto the market and that allowing it to remain in the food chain is killing us by degrees. PAT THOMAS REPORTS

Once upon a time, aspartame was listed by the Pentagon as a biochemical warfare agent. Today it's an integral part of the modern diet. Sold commercially under names like NutraSweet and Canderel, aspartame can be found in more than 5,000 foods, including fizzy drinks, chewing gum, table-top sweeteners, diet and diabetic foods, breakfast cereals, jams, sweets, vitamins, prescription and over-the-counter drugs. This means that there is a good chance that you and your family are among the two thirds of the adult population and 40 per cent of children who regularly ingest this artificial sweetener.

Because it contains no calories, aspartame is considered a boon to health-conscious individuals everywhere; and most of us, if we think about it at all, think it is safe. But independent scientists say aspartame can produce a range of disturbing adverse effects in humans, including headaches, memory loss, mood swings, seizures, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's-like symptoms, tumours and even death.

Read the rest of this story here.

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