In November, it was announced that aspartame would be rebranded as “AminoSweet,” and marketed under its new name. Does this repackaging have anything to do with the studies showing the carcinogenic effects of aspartame? You decide.
The following excerpted letter appeared in the Huffington Post February 12th. The author is Samuel S. Epstein, M.D, Professor Emeritus at Chicago School of Public Health; Chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition; and author of over 20 scientific articles and 15 books on cancer, including The Politics of Cancer.
Aspartame, first discovered in 1965 by the pharmaceutical company G.D. Searle, is an artificial sweetener commonly known as Nutrasweet, Equal and Canderel.
In January 1976, then Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Schmidt testified before Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass) that Hazleton Laboratories, under contract to Searle, had been charged with falsifying toxicological data on the sweetener.
The FDA subsequently convened a Public Board of Inquiry to review concerns on aspartame’s carcinogenic effects in experimental animals. In 1980, the Board concluded that aspartame could “contribute to the development of brain tumors.”The FDA then recommended that, pending confirmation of these findings, this sweetener should no longer be used.
In 2006, based on highly sensitive and lifelong feeding tests in groups of about 200 rats at doses less than usual human dietary levels, the prestigious Italian Ramazzini Foundation confirmed that aspartame is unequivocally carcinogenic. A high incidence of cancers was induced in multiple organs, including lymph glands, brain and kidney.
Not surprisingly, these findings have been sharply challenged by the sweetener industry, major sweetener users, such as Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestlé and critics like Donald Rumsfeld, former U.S. Defense Secretary, former CEO of Searle.
Want to steer clear of aspartame? Know how to look for it. NutraSweet and Equal are popular brands of sweeteners containing Aspartame , but Aspartame is found in thousands of products — sodas, chewing gum, dairy products and even many medicines. Some familiar ones include: Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi, Diet Snapple, Sugar Free Kool-Aid, Breyers Light, General Foods Sugar-Free International Coffees, among other foods.
Side Effects of Aspartame (a partial list)
Anxiety attacks, Arthritis, Asthma, Asthmatic Reactions, Bloating, Edema (Fluid Retention), Blood Sugar Control Problems, (Hypoglycemia or Hyperglycemia), Brain Cancer (Pre-approval studies in animals), Breathing difficulties, Burning eyes or throat, Burning Urination, Can’t think straight Chest Pains, Chronic cough, Chronic Fatigue, Confusion, Depression, Diarrhea, Dizziness, Excessive Thirst or Hunger, Fatigue, Feel unreal, Flushing of face, Headaches/Migraines dizziness, Heart palpitations, Hives, Hypertension, Impotency and Sexual Problems, Inability to concentrate, Insomnia, Irritability, Itching, Joint Pains, Laryngitis, ”like thinking in a fog”, Memory loss, Menstrual Problems or Changes, Muscle spasms, Nausea or Vomiting, Numbness or Tingling of Extremities, Panic Attacks, Rapid Heart Beat, Rashes, Slurring of Speech, Swallowing Pain, Tinnitus, Vertigo, Vision Loss, Weight Gain.
“The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patient in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause of disease.”
— Thomas A. Edison
