*Classified 'sensitive file' - pictures of animal experiments and information in this article may cause distress to those who are anxious or upset by vivisection. These experiments were not done by NHA and our opinions on animal experiments do not influence their conclusions; it is facts alone we are seeking here. -ed.

Aspartame - info

Humans began eating Aspartame in 1983, when it was accepted in some areas as 'safe for consumption'. Since then, there has been a constant furore about the problems and dangers associated with Aspartame. On the one side we have officials and medical associations and bodies like the FDA saying aspartame is fine, and on the other side we have officials and independent researchers telling us aspartame will give us all diabetes and cancer and serious brain damage.

This is a serious diversion of conclusions from available evidence, not to mention the possibility of anyone faking data on either side (shame on them), journalists misinterpreting data and food companies using a dozen different names for the same chemical.

Many times since 1983, 'shock-horror' reports about aspartame have arisen. The 'Aspartame Wars' have fueled the release of books and documentaries:

http://products.mercola.com/sweet-misery-DVD/

http://products.mercola.com/sweet-deception/

Claims in the adverts for these include:

“Folks, aspartame is not your friend. It is actually responsible for 80-85 percent of the food complaints registered with the FDA!”

“Aside from the damage it can do to your brain, aspartame can cause cancer. One well-controlled, peer-reviewed, seven-year study even found that as little as 20 mg per day can cause cancer in humans. One 12-ounce diet soda contains about 180 mg of aspartame, so you do the math on that risk!”
 

...of course, this information has to be paid for.*  Not so with Victoria Innes-Brown's open-source work in 1986 below:

MY ASPARTAME EXPERIMENT

BY

VICTORIA INNESS-BROWN, M.A.

Introduction by author Carol Guilford

“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.)

When Victoria Inness-Brown contacted me about  “explosive information” concerning aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet) the controversial, artificial, chemical sweetener, I didn’t know what to expect.  Despite overwhelming scientific evidence of aspartame’s danger to human health (tires have been recalled for less) it remains in 6,000 food, drink and medicinal products.  

Who could imagine a private citizen would do  an aspartame experiment  with 108 rats for 2 years and 8 months? 

The late Dr. Adrian Gross  explained that rodent experiments are the means to find out what a particular substance will do to human beings. Look at Victoria’s pictures of her animals that ingested the equivalent amount of aspartame (in human terms) of less than one diet coke a day, until their spontaneous death.  Importantly, the control groups, those fed no aspartame  were free from visible effects. (1)

The artificial sweetener, Aspartame, was approved  by the FDA, in 1981.  By the 1990’s, the FDA had a list of 92 symptoms reported to them by 10,000 consumers, a list revealed to the public under the  Freedom of Information Act. (2)

Personally, I have read thousands of cases from aspartame victims, many who post on Yahoo’s Aspartame Victim Support Group list, but Victoria’s photographs, the first ever to be released from any study, give meaning to the hypothesis,  “A picture is worth a thousand words.”    

Following is Victoria’s gutsy account of why she did her experiment, the protocol she used to conduct it and the remarkable pictures of the rats.   Victoria says-- 

I WANTED VISUAL PROOF

I did my aspartame experiment because my family was addicted to diet soda.  After researching the effects of aspartame, I strongly believed the artificial sweetener might one day lead to their illness and even early death.  

Most influential in my research on the aspartame molecule was The Bressler Report. (3) Dr. Jerome Bressler, M.D., led an FDA task force to attempt to validate the authenticity of a study done by G.D. Searle, the pharmaceutical company that held the patent to the “sweetener.”   

Dr. Bressler’s team did the Searle audit between April 25, 1977 and August 4, 1977 of  study PT #988S73, a 115 Week Oral Tumorigenicity Study in the Rat.  The rat study was supposedly done by Searle to examine the adverse effects of the crystalline form of aspartame’s breakdown from phenylalanine, 50% of the chemical’s composition to SC-19192, diketopiperazine (DKP).  

Bressler’s force found irregularities in Searle’s experiment-- missing raw data, errors and discrepancies in available data, exclusions of animals, and animals that had masses removed and were then returned to the study.  

It is clear Searle misrepresented the carcinogenicity of DKP and hid incriminating data from the FDA.

One unreported tissue mass in Searle’s study measured  5.0 X 4.5 X 2.5 cm.  Equivalent to 2 in. X 1.75 in. X 1.0 in. —a significant sized tumor that should be visible to the naked eye, hard to miss. 

I was convinced I would see tumors and possibly other harmful effects to convince my family and friends to avoid aspartame.

My experimental setup:

My experimental protocol:

Diet Pepsi, aspartame or NutraSweet?

Because my family members were addicted to diet soda, at first I wanted to put Diet Pepsi in my rat’s water bottles.  That idea was short lived.  After turning a filled bottle upside down and attaching it to a cage, the liquid immediately started flowing out—carbonation pressurizes the bottle—so diet Pepsi wouldn’t work.  It was just as well, because the cost of the soda would have been prohibitive over the course of the experiment. 

I did not want to mix dry NutraSweet with rat food for several reasons. First, I wanted to simulate the effects of diet soda—a liquid. Next, NutraSweet is sold as powdered crystals that are tiny compared to the grains and alfalfa pellets comprising the food I fed my rats. I knew the powder would fall to the bottom of the food bowls, allowing the rats to avoid it.

I also knew from personal experience it would be hard to calculate the dosage, because so much food ends up in the trays under their cages.  Finally, aspartame crystals may clump, allowing rats to avoid them.  In The Bressler Report, the FDA task force reported the rats learned to eat around the DKP crystals.  

I decided to mix pure aspartame in their water.  In an Internet search for an aspartame supplier, I found only food and beverage manufacturers are permitted to purchase aspartame.  Dr. Ralph Walton, a respected researcher, in the mid-90’s, experienced the same problem.  No aspartame for sale for his study. (4)
 

The National Institute of Health evaluates a packet of aspartame-based sweetener such as NutraSweet contains 40 mg of aspartame.

I decided on putting the NutraSweet in their drinking water, at the rate of two packets—a total of 80 mg of aspartame–per each 8 oz of water.
 

A 12-oz diet soda has about 180 mg of aspartame, 15 mg of aspartame per oz., the amount in approximately 4.5 packets of NutraSweet.

According to the industry-run Aspartame Information Center website, a conservative estimate of the maximum dose of aspartame for humans per day, the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI), as set by the FDA,  is 50 mg/kg, approximately twenty cans of 12-ounce diet soda for a 150 lb. adult and six 12-ounce cans for a 50-pound child.  Tabletop sweetener ADI is 97 packets for an adult and 32 packets for a child.
 
The animals in my study weighed on the average of 1 pound for males and 0.66 pounds for females.  The ADI for the males was 16.9 mg and for the females 13.5 mg
 
To put these numbers into perspective, the  aspartame received by my rats daily, was equivalent to two-thirds the aspartame contained in 8-oz of diet soda. 

My masters degree is in mathematics.

RAT STRAIN

Most studies are done on rats that are genetically identical.  According to a friend who runs a rabbit and mouse lab for a local bio-tech company, “Some vendors sell strains of rats that have gone through 30 generations of brother and sister in-bred mating.”

This concept seemed counter-intuitive to me.  How do these strains of rats represent the general population?  In “Mean Genes”, Jay Phelan and Terry Burnhan write:  “Almost all animals avoid mating with close relatives because it makes for bad babies.  From mice to monkeys, animals are reluctant to have offspring with siblings.
 

I bought my rats at PetCo and bred them for my experiment.  I purchased rats of different colors, to get a genetic verity.  I also attempted to breed rats that were not brothers and sisters, to avoid in-breeding mutation.

I found most of the observable symptoms occurred during the last third of the rat’s life-span, illuminating the information that the adverse effects of aspartame are cumulative.

I chose to allow my rats to live out their natural lives.  I honor them for their sacrifice and for showing the way for the rest of us.  

I put NutraSweet in their water starting in March, 2002, and the last of them died in November 2004.  The experiment lasted a total of two years, eight  months.

Even though I had read the Bressler Report, I was struck by the number and size of the growths.  Eleven females and one male developed tumors.  That’s 37% of the females on aspartame.

During the audit of Searle’s DKP study,  pathologist Dr. Charles H. Frith spent three days with the FDA task force to review 145 animals.  Sufficient slides substantiated 73 female animals with grossly observed masses.

Three aspartame females with tumors

In 2005, Dr. Morando Soffritti of the European Foundation of Oncology, in Bologna, Italy completed an 8-year “mega-experiment” with1800 rats, to evaluate the potential carcinogenic effects of aspartame. 

The results of the experiment showed a dose-related statistically significant increase of lymphomas and leukemias in female rats.  This statistically significant increase was also observed at the dose level of 20 mg/Kg of body weight, a dose inferior to the accepted daily intake permitted by current regulations.

Results of Dr. Soffritti’s second long-term carcinogenicity bioassay on Aspartame  …”not only confirm but also reinforce our first experimental demonstration (Belpoggi et al. 2006; Soffritti et al. 2005, 2006) of APM's multipotential carcinogenicity at a dose level close to the human ADI.

Furthermore, the study demonstrates that when life-span exposure to APM (aspartame) begins during fetal life, its carcinogenic effects are increased.”

I was relieved to know to know Dr. Soffritti also let his rats live until spontaneous death because most cancers occur “in the last third of a person’s lifetime.”

These females appear to have mammary or lymph tumors

This female developed a large tumor on her left side:

This female developed a tumor on the right side of her face:

This female has a very large tumor on her right side:

This male had a growth on the right side of his face:

This female had a tumor near the left lymph gland of her neck. Note the identifying white mark on her head:

This photo of the same female, taken after death, shows the small tumors more pronounced along with the blood vessels that fed them.

One female rat developed a tumor so large she often used it as a pillow.

The fact that the European Union can discredit the Ramazzini Institute’s damning 8-year cancer study is because, as researcher Mark Gold, (holisticmed.com) points out, after extensive background checks-- the persons controlling our world-wide health have big-time ties to industry.

CHANGE IN VISION IS NO. 3 ON THE FDA LIST OF ASPARTAME SYMPTOMS.

Endocrinologist, Dr. H. J. Roberts, M.D. writes in “Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic”,  “The FDA initially received ocular complaints attributed to aspartame from 177 consumers (Dr. Linda Tollefson, personal communication, August 12, 1987).

Eye complaints, in the 1200 cases Dr. Roberts clinically observed for his book  “were prominent”, including retinal detachment and in 27 cases, blindness occurred in one or both eyes.  Other aspartame “reactors” reported tunnel vision, eye pain, jerking of the eyes, bright flashes, dry eyes, trouble with contact lenses and bleeding eyes.

Male with bleeding eyes -these two males had eye infections:

“In 1991, I was diagnosed with an ‘incurable’ case of Grave's Disease, a fatal thyroid disorder, I never really had Grave's Disease but my doctors were convinced I did. I had aspartame poisoning with symptoms of 'textbook‘ Grave's Disease caused by aspartame saturating my foods.”
Dr. Janet Starr Hull  

One of the symptoms of Grave’s Disease is protruding eyes.  This is a no-longer private e-mail from Dr. Hull to Carol Guilford:

“YES, I had protruding eyes, cystic acne, and my hair was falling out in clumps. I had gained 30 pounds, too. ALL that went away within a year from stopping all aspartame. I even had holes in my retina from the methanol, and those have closed up now. All backed up by my eye surgeon.”

Four aspartame-fed females with protruding eyes:

No observable eye disorders were found in the control group of 48 animals.

NEUROLOGICAL PROBLEMS
No observable neurological problems were displayed in my control group.

Film maker Cori Brackett (“Sweet Misery: A Poisoned World”)  wrote a book of poetry, “Through the Shadows”, about her MS diagnosis and her year-long recovery after she threw out the diet Coke. (soundandfuryproductions.com)
 

Aspartame male whose hind legs became paralyzed

He did not live long after.

TORTICOLLIS

Torticollis is a condition that causes the neck to twist, involuntary  to one side.  The NSTA, the National Spasmodic Torticollis Association,  describes torticollis as  “Spasmodic Torticollis (ST), a painful and debilitating neurological disorder caused by a dysfunction of the brain.”   

According to the NSTA, this aspartame-fed male and female rat have “tonic torticollis rotational.”   
 

This female perpetually turned her head to the left, a human symptom in torticollis.

This male also had trouble walking, frequently falling over:

Note that his body is leaning toward his left side.

Unsteady gait is No. 61 on the FDA list of aspartame symptoms.

GENETIC DAMAGE

“Searle had submitted 13 tests in an attempt to establish that aspartame did not cause genetic damage but memos from public records show that FDA scientists who reviewed the tests found serious deficiencies in all of them.”
Mary Nash Stoddard

“Deadly Deception: Story of Aspartame”
Former  Texas State Judge Stoddard is the founder of the ACSN, The Aspartame Consumer Safety Network, along with her partner, consumer attorney, James Turner. (aspartamesafety.com)

This aspartame-fed female had a tooth growing outside the mouth:

The large tan male rat in the center below was the same age as his stunted male and female cousins.  The smaller rats grew to about half the average weight of their cousins.

Closeup of a female born with a single eye:

A male born with one eye

Changes in skin in No. 65 on the FDA list and No. 66 is change in hair or nails.   These shots are graphic, indeed.  No rats in the control group showed skin problems.

These aspartame males had thinning and yellowing fur:

A skin lesion on an aspartame male:

The skin of this female rat started coming off the week before it died:

Change in body weight is No. 53 on the FDA list.  (5)  

This female aspartame rat became obese:

In 1999, a National UK newspaper ran the story:

***

IS ASPARTAME A HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL?

THE INDEPENDENT, JUNE 6, 1999

WORLD’S TOP SWEETENER IS MADE WITH GM BACTERIA. 

A Monsanto spokeswoman confirmed that aspartame for the US market is often made using genetic engineering.

OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration  classifies methanol, formaldehyde and formic acid, components of aspartame as hazardous.   

Carol Guilford convinced me to let her attempt to explain Aspartame, The Poison, in just a few paragraphs.     

“Aspartame is a very sophisticated, clever drug.  So, first off, let me point out that this sophisticated, clever drug could never have been “discovered” accidentally.

Incidentally, James M. Schlatter, the scientist who, working on an ulcer drug  licked his finger to find the sweet chemical NutraSweet has never been questioned.  

PHENYLALANINE,  50% of the aspartame molecule is isolated from the chain of amino acids with which it exists in nature.  Isolated phenylalanine, neurosurgeon Dr. Russell Blaylock, M.D.  tells us crosses the blood brain barrier to interfere and kill the neurotransmitters of the brain by “exciting them to death.”  (“Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills”)   

In 1987, Dr. Louis J. Elsas,  then Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Division of Medical Genetics at Emory University testified at the hearing before the United States Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources,  concerning “NUTRASWEET”—HEALTH AND SAFETY CONCERNS.” 

Dr. Elsas told the Senators, “In the developing fetus such a rise in maternal blood phenylalanine could be magnified four to six fold by the concentrative efforts of the placental and fetal blood brain barrier and this concentration kills such cells in tissue culture. The effect of such an increased fetal brain concentrations in vivo would probably be much more subtle and expressed as mental retardation, microcephaly, or potential certain birth defects.” 

Does autism ring a bell?  When Dr. Elsas told the senate this significant fact   about phenylalanine, in 1987, infant autism rates were 1 in 1500, today they are 1 in 150 and rising. 

 How many of us ever heard of Alzheimer’s,  in 1980?  The rates have doubled since aspartame was approved; a conservative statistic is 5 million in the US have the disease.   

PHENYLALANINE converts to DKP, diketopiperazine, a tumor agent.  The suspicious study of DKP by Searle Pharmaceuticals prompted the FDA to audit the experiment, the results of which are documented in the Bressler Report.   

ASPARTIC ACID is 40% of the aspartame molecule.  Dr. Madelon Price, in 1998 was Professor of Neurobiology at Washington University, in St. Louis, Missouri told her students:  “Aspartic acid (aspartate) has been known to be a neurotoxin for 30 years. (now 40 years)  Rodents that have ingested too much aspartame as infants are stunted as adults, obese and have sexual and reproductive dysfunctions.  (7)

At  the same lecture to her students that day, someone asked Dr. Price whether the phenylalanine in neotame, the aspartame clone, approved by the FDA was the same as the phenylalanine in aspartame.  Dr. Price answered, it was.  Neotame is now in the food supply, unlabeled, without a  PKU warning for those who cannot metabolize phenylalanine.  “Ah, says industry… but there’s such a small amount of phenylalanine in neotame,  it doesn’t count.” 

Wait a minute.  Dr. Price  explains,  “Aspartate (aspartame) is additive in its effects with glutamate and other excitotoxins.  In other words, a subtoxic dose of aspartame added to a subtoxic dose of glutamate (MSG) may add up to a toxic dose.  Unfortunately it is hard to find food that does not contain added glutamate, and for some categories of food it does not have to be listed on the label.  

METHANOL is 10% of the aspartame molecule.  Methanol (wood alcohol)  is a known poison and addictive, too.  Doesn’t everyone knows someone who carries a diet Coke around all day?

The aspartame industry claims there is more methanol in a glass of orange juice than in aspartame products, but in a natural product, such as orange juice, the poisonous wood alcohol has the antidote for methanol inherently in it-- ethanol. 

Free methanol turns into formaldehyde (embalming fluid).

In 1998, a research team from the biology department of the University of Barcelona, Spain, C.Trocho, et al concluded:  “Aspartame converts to formaldehyde in vivo in the bodies of laboratory rats.”  

“Formaldehyde is a highly reactive small molecule which strongly binds to proteins and nucleic acids forming adducts which are difficult to eliminate through the normal metabolism pathways… the amount of formaldehyde adducts coming from aspartame in tissue proteins and nucleic acids may be cumulative.  It is concluded that aspartame consumption may constitute a hazard because of its contribution to the formation of formaldehyde adducts. “

The formaldehyde from the free methanol then breaks down to formic acid, ant sting venom. 

Yes, a very, sophisticated, clever drug—killing us sweetly.  

FOOTNOTES

1. Three female rats in the control group of 48 had small tumors.

2. Activist Betty Martini has a receipt from the Dept. of Health and Human Services for her request of the aspartame “report.”  The cost was $42.30.  The letter is dated June 6, 1995 http://www.presidiotex.com/92symptoms

3. The complete Bressler Report can be read at http://www.presidiotex.com/bressler

4. Dr. Ralph Walton compiled a list of all controlled human and animal studies looking for the effects of aspartame.  Out of 90 independently-funded studies, 83 of them found one or more problems caused by aspartame.  But out of the 74 studies funded by the aspartame industry (e.g., Monsanto, G.D. Searle, etc). every single one of them claimed that no problems were found. 

5. Dr. Sandra Cabot (“The Liver Cleansing Diet”)  in a position paper on aspartame explains the liver is so busy detoxing the poisons from aspartame, it cannot properly metabolize fat. 

MSG is also an “excitotoxin” that causes obesity.

Dr. Blaylock writes, in an article for Nurse World Magazine…  “dozens of independent laboratories have confirmed the connection between gross obesity and exposure to MSG early in life.  More recent studies have also found it induces type 2 diabetes.   “One of the most frightening connections is with sudden cardiac death.  It is known that the heart’s electrical conduction system contains a number of glutamate receptors, as does the heart muscle itself.  If these glutamate receptors are overstimulated,  fatal arrhythmias can result.”  Change in heart rate is No. 15 on the FDA list of aspartame symptoms.

6. Everything you ever wanted to know about the methanol in aspartame is in Dr. Monte’s letter of January, 2006.  Author, columnist  David L. Dewey has posted the letter at http://www.dldewey.com/monte.htm   David’s concise article  Aspartame - Sweetness Disguised as Disease or Death is at http://www.dldewey.com/aspar.htm

7. Dr. Price worked with Dr. John Olney, who in 1969 found aspartic acid caused nerve damage in the brains of mice.  It was Dr. Olney who discovered that aspartame and MSG could kill brain cells by “exciting” them to death, hence the name “excitotoxin.” 

In 1996, Dr. Olney showed the link between aspartame and brain cancer, up 10% after aspartame had been on the market for 3 years and one year after its inclusion in diet sodas.

Despite an airing on “60 Minutes”, Dr. Olney was media-blitzed by industrial power, in the same manner as Dr. Soffritti is being dismissed today,  ten years later.   

Death is No. 77 on the FDA list of aspartame symptoms.

***

...We pick up the story from 2008 -A WHOLE DECADE LATER- Mercola.com's site ran the headline: “How does Aspartame Damage your brain?” and the following article:

“Consuming a lot of aspartame may inhibit the ability of enzymes in your brain to function normally, according to a new review by scientists from the University of Pretoria and the University of Limpopo.

The review found that high doses of the sweetener may lead to neurodegeneration. It has also previously been found that aspartame consumption can cause neurological and behavioral disturbances in sensitive individuals.

Specifically, the review found a number of direct and indirect changes that occur in your brain as a result of high consumption levels of aspartame, including disturbing:

• The metabolism of amino acids

• Protein structure and metabolism

• The integrity of nucleic acids

• Neuronal function

• Endocrine balances

Further, the breakdown of aspartame causes nerves to fire excessively, which can indirectly lead to a high rate of neuron depolarisation.

Despite these growing concerns, neither the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) or the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have changed their guidelines regarding the safety of the ingredient or intake advice.”

“Aspartame is a poison that does not belong in your body, and this is not an exaggeration. Yet, this toxic substance is consumed by over 200 million people around the world and is found in more than 6,000 products. Everything from soda and chewing gum to desserts, yogurt, and even some vitamins and cough drops contain it. “

Here’s a breakdown of aspartame’s three chemicals: the amino acids aspartic acid and phenylalanine, and methanol.

1. Aspartic acid (40 percent of aspartame)
Aspartate acts as a neurotransmitter in your brain by facilitating the transmission of information from neuron to neuron. Too much aspartate in your brain kills certain neurons by allowing the influx of too much calcium into your cells. This influx triggers excessive amounts of free radicals, which kill your cells.

The neural cell damage that can be caused by excessive aspartate is why Dr. Russell Blaylock refers to them as 'excitotoxins'. They "excite" or stimulate your neural cells to death.

Now, when aspartic acid is consumed, it significantly raises your blood level of aspartate, which leads to a high level of those neurotransmitters in certain areas of your brain, where they slowly begin to destroy neurons.

Your brain cells could be dying right now, but you likely would not notice the symptoms until 75 percent or more are gone. Then, chronic illnesses such as the following, which may by caused by long-term exposure to excitatory amino acid damage, may occur:

• Multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease

• Memory and hearing loss

• Hormonal problems

• Epilepsy

• AIDS

• Brain lesions

• Neuroendocrine disorders

2. Phenylalanine (50 percent of aspartame)
Phenylalanine is an amino acid normally found in your brain, however people with the genetic disorder phenylketonuria (PKU) cannot metabolize phenylalanine. This leads to dangerously high -- and sometimes lethal -- levels of phenylalanine in your brain. It has been shown, though, that ingesting aspartame, especially along with carbohydrates, can lead to excess levels of phenylalanine in your brain even if you do not have PKU.

Even consuming aspartame one time has been found to raise your blood levels of phenylalanine. What’s the risk of this?

Excessive levels of phenylalanine in your brain can cause the levels of serotonin in your brain to decrease, leading to emotional disorders such as depression. It can also cause schizophrenia or make you more susceptible to seizures.

3. Methanol (aka wood alcohol) (10 percent of aspartame)
Methanol/wood alcohol is a deadly poison, and the absorption of methanol into your body is sped up considerably when free methanol is ingested. Well, free methanol is created from aspartame when it is heated to above 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 Centigrade). This would occur when an aspartame-containing product is improperly stored (in the sun, for instance) or when it is heated, such as part of a "food" product like Jello.

Meanwhile, methanol breaks down into formic acid and formaldehyde -- a deadly neurotoxin -- in your body.

Even the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that methanol "is considered a cumulative poison due to the low rate of excretion once it is absorbed. In the body, methanol is oxidized to formaldehyde and formic acid; both of these metabolites are toxic."

They recommend a limit of consumption of 7.8 mg/day, but a one-liter aspartame-sweetened beverage contains about 56 mg of methanol. Heavy users of aspartame-containing products consume as much as 250 mg of methanol daily -- or 32 times the EPA limit!

The symptoms of methanol poisoning are numerous and varied. They include:

• Vision problems

• Headaches, ear buzzing, dizziness

• Nausea and gastrointestinal disturbances

• Weakness, numbness and shooting pains in your extremities

• Behavioral disturbances

• Memory lapses

***

In 2010, Mercola.com followed up by chairing a discussion on aspartame. (this is a literal transcript, so excuse grammar):

Aspartame -dangers & side effects

In 1984; 6,900,000 lbs of aspartame was consumed in the US alone. This rate doubled by the next year and continued to climb into the 90’s.

[Dr. Russell Blaylock]: Again, it’s this variability in your sensitivity to toxins. Some people may notice very little of anything. A majority of people will have one of a numberof symptoms. We know that aspartame – because it is poison that affects protein synthesis; because it affects how the synapses operate in the brain; and because it affects DNA - can affect numerous organs. So you can get a lot of different symptoms that seem

unconnected.

But in looking at the list of symptoms submitted to the FDA, most of them are neurological or in some way connected to the nervous system. So the nervous system seems to be one of the areas that are most affected. So we see people having difficulty thinking. They feel like they’re walking around in a cloud or a fog.

And then they rechallenge themselves knowingly or inadvertently. They serve something in their neighbors house which they didn’t realized contained an aspartame product.

These set of symptoms and problems promptly recur within hours or a day or two.

Sometimes within minutes, and it does so repeatedly. That is more than anecdotal. That is similar to the Koch postulates for infection. You isolate the cause and then you inject it in the animal. You reproduce the problem.

Many of these individuals that have been aspartame reactors have tested themselves 5, 10, 20 times. Every time getting the same response, and then they realized that this was legitimate cause and effect relationship.

[Dr. H.J. Roberts]:

Aspartame is an artificial sweetener, an additive. It’s a chemical. It’s not a natural product. It’s a chemical. The molecule is made up of three components. Two are amino acids, the so-called building blocks of protein. One is called phenylalanine which is about 50% of the molecule and the other is aspartic acid which is like 40%. The other 10% is a so-called methyl ester, which as soon as it’s swallowed becomes free methyl alcohol–methanol (wood alcohol), which is a poison; a real poison.

The G.D. Searle & Company, in the quest to get approval for their product Aspartame, conducted a study on animals in which they fed some animals like dose, medium dose,and high dose of the product. And then they used control animals that supposedly did not get any of products. When they submitted this to the FDA and the FDA looked at it, there was some question about the study.

One of the scientist and neuroscientist looked at some of this; he saw a lot of red flags. He said there are some real questions here about tumors being caused by this product, particularly brain tumors. So they ordered a study to be done by the Bureau of Foods which was the precursor to the FDA. Dr. Jerome Bressler was in charge of this group to look through the research that had been done by G.D. Searle and that’s what the Bressler reported about.

Basically, what it shows is that either a lot of purposeful shenanigans were carried on to get this product approved, or as he states it, it was “the world’s worst research.”

The animals that died after being fed NutraSweet were not autopsied right away. Some of them were not autopsied more than a year afterwards. And of course, the tissues broke down and liquefied. So they couldn’t do proper studies on them, but they reported it as if they had, and they reported these as normal. They found that they were taking tumors and cutting them out and throwing them away and saying the animal was normal.

They had animal tissues that had obvious tumor in it that were reported normal.

They had, in one of the cases here that’s reported, a lymph node that was enlarged. This G.D. Searle pathologist reported it as a normal lymph node.

But when the scientists from the Bureau of Foods looked at it, they say it was an obvious lymphosarcoma, highly malignant tumor.

The notations about the testicular atrophy were not noted. There were just numerous things in this report that showed that, in my estimation, there was an effort to cover up what was being found so that they could get approval.

The bottom line was: here is the most tested product, additive, in history. Now additives are important because aspartame was approved as a GRAS. It means Generally Recognized as Safe product. In which case, unlike drugs, if people have reactions to it, it does not have to be reported to the FDA.

[Dr. Ralph G. Walton]:

What I found is really quite frightening, and that was that, yes, there were many studies in the literature which did attest to aspartame safety. But they were essentially all funded by the industry; either by Searle or the NutraSweet industry or the diet soft drink industry.

These were the individuals who sponsored, paid for the studies. There were independent studies, but virtually all of the independent studies, that is, studies which were not funded by the industry, virtually all of them did identify one type of problem or another with aspartame.

[Dr. Russell Blaylock]:

But now, after years of retesting this, most authorities agree there is no question that feeding MSG to animals produces this brain death. It’s not questioned any longer, it’s a fact. There is even good studies that show that if you feed pregnant animals MSG, their offspring has impaired brain function. And when you measure the neurochemical analysis of the brain in the animal, it’s impaired all the way through the animal’s youth up until adulthood, and they never quite recover from it.

The central mechanism that actually produces the destruction and damage to the brain is the excitotoxicity. That’s pretty well agreed upon now. The frightening thing is that we’re adding tons of these excitotoxins to our food either in the form of MSG or part of the aspartame molecule, which is aspartic acid, which is an excitotoxin.

[Dr. H.J. Roberts]:

Now, the amino acids are contained in food but if you have protein, meat, fish and so forth, there may be 4% phenylalanine in the food, not 50%. We simply, biologically, don’t know how to react to this flooding of these enormous amounts of amino acids to the body, especially phenylalanine, which crosses the blood brain barrier that’s meant to protect biologically against poisons and so forth.

[Dr. Ralph G. Walton]:

It’s also what’s called a dipeptide that is, it is two amino acids stuck together. One of those amino acids is something called phenylalanine. Phenylalanine is the building block for another important neurotransmitter called norepinephrine. So when you take in aspartame, you will increase the availability of one and you will decrease the availability of the other - you will change the ratios. And when you do that, when you change ratios of norepinephrine and serotonin, you certainly affect brain function.

This can lead then to mood symptoms, to panic symptoms; in some people that will affect seizure threshold, which is why I think I saw seizure in this initial patient back in 1985. And why I saw a lot of seizure activity in people who are taking in a great deal of aspartame.

[Dr. Russell Blaylock]:

They knew that this product aspartame with time breaks down into a product called diketopiperazine. Diketopiperazine chemically is closely related to a carcinogenic compound that causes cancer in a lot animals that are exposed to it, and humans. So they asked the G.D. Searle & Company do a separate study with the diketopiperazine.

***

Also in 2010, Mercola.com raises the subject again with a more thorough article; excerpts below:

“I will discuss recent findings that link aspartame to increased risk of premature birth; it’s potential carcinogenic effects; and the ironic ‘side effect’ of it promoting rather than combating weight gain – which of course is one of its primary objectives as a sugar substitute.

The lack of toxicity data should not be construed as proof that aspartame is safe. On the contrary! Aspartame appears to have been approved WITHOUT such data, which makes the issue of its inherent safety for human consumption all the more questionable.

Today, the sheer prevalence of this chemical sweetener in our food supply has re-ignited the issue of aspartame’s safety, despite the fact that the FDA approved it nearly 20 years ago, and has continuously refuted new studies suggesting their original approval was ignorant at best.

Before I delve into the evidence stacked against aspartame as a dieter’s best friend, and recent research that strongly questions its safety for pregnant women, I’d like to quickly address the issue of individual susceptibility to harm.Although there are tens of thousands of FDA adverse reaction reports and countless more personal accounts of harm, many staunch aspartame users claim they’ve been using it for years and, well… they’re not dead yet, so how bad can it be?

Some People are Naturally More Prone to Formaldehyde Poisoning

An interesting tidbit that can help explain why some people experience ill effects from aspartame quite rapidly, whereas others can ingest aspartame for some time without noticing any ill effects, is that you may have more or less of a particular enzyme that breaks down alcohols that could otherwise be toxic.

Woodrow C. Monte, PhD, a retired professor of food science, explains this in his 2009 article [1]

Aspartame contains about 10 percent methanol by weight, also known as wood alcohol, which is broken down into formaldehyde, and then formic acid, in your body.

The only human enzyme capable of metabolizing methanol to formaldehyde is an enzyme called Class I alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH I). [15]

Formaldehyde, in turn, damages your body by “attacking proteins and embalming them” – a simple layman’s description of what happens, courtesy of PBD.org [16]

According to PBD.org, “small amounts of methanol can cause blindness, as the sensitive proteins in the retina are attacked…” And visual disturbance, including retinal detachment, is one of the reported side effects of aspartame consumption.

Now, Dr. Monte offers a clue as to why methanol may harm some more than others:

“Variability in sensitivity to exogenous methanol consumption may be accounted for in part by the presence of aldehyde dehydrogenase sufficient to reduce the toxic effect of formaldehyde production in tissue through its conversion to the much less toxic formic acid.”

In a nutshell, this is one of the ways in which your individual constitution may render you more or less vulnerable to the detrimental effects of aspartame.

That said, I am convinced that most of those who claim to be able to consume aspartame on a regular basis without ill effect, are still likely accruing damage in their bodies that will ultimately affect their long-term health.

It’s worth keeping in mind that most toxins that are harmful to your health are not going to harm you instantly. The reality is that few health hazards do. As with many other toxins and harmful chemicals, aspartame may be acutely toxic to some, while others can consume it without experiencing any immediate side effects.

However, there’s no guarantee it won’t lead to health problems later on, and it’s certainly not evidence of aspartame’s safety for the population at large – especially when you take into account the tens of thousands of people who HAVE experienced both acute and long-term side effects.

Please remember that just like other artificial sweeteners, there are no long-term safety studies in humans that support its use as they were never required by the FDA.

In addition, as I’ll discuss below, if you consume aspartame while pregnant, you may unwittingly expose your unborn child to completely unnecessary health risks, even if you feel that aspartame is not affecting you in a negative way.

Why Aspartame is NOT a Dieters Best Friend

Low-calorie artificial sweeteners were originally marketed primarily to diabetics and dieters, but now you find them in a variety of processed foodstuffs and snacks that are not specifically aimed at this target market.

But do these zero- or low-calorie products really help you lose weight and/or keep it off?

Well, the research and the epidemiologic data suggest the opposite is true, and that artificial sweeteners such as aspartame tend to lead to weight gain. As I’ve often said, there’s more to weight gain or weigh loss than mere calorie intake.

One reason for aspartame’s potential to cause weight gain is because phenylalanine and aspartic acid – the two amino acids that make up 90 percent of aspartame -- are known to rapidly stimulate the release of insulin and leptin; two hormones that are intricately involved with satiety and fat storage. Insulin and leptin are also the primary hormones that regulate your metabolism.

So although you’re not ingesting calories in the form of sugar, aspartame can still raise your insulin and leptin levels.

Elevated insulin and leptin levels, in turn, are two of the driving forces behind obesity, diabetes, and a number of our current chronic disease epidemics.

Over time, if your body is exposed to too much leptin, it will become resistant to it, just as your body can become resistant to insulin, and once that happens, your body can no longer “hear” the hormonal messages instructing your body to stop eating, burn fat, and maintain good sensitivity to sweet tastes in your taste buds.

What happens then?

You remain hungry; you crave sweets, and your body stores more fat.

Leptin-resistance also causes an increase in visceral fat, sending you on a vicious cycle of hunger, fat storage and an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, metabolic syndrome and more.

Artificial Sweeteners Actually INCREASE Weight Gain

Most people use artificial sweeteners to lose weight. The amazing irony is that nearly all the studies that have carefully analyzed their effectiveness show that those who use artificial sweeteners actually gain more weight than those that drink regular sodas.

Common sense would also strongly suggest that they don’t work, because while their use has exploded in the last three decades, that increase closely parallels the obesity epidemic which continues to worsen, not improve, despite the use of these artificial sweeteners.

This connection between sweet taste alone and increased hunger can be found in the medical literature going back at least two decades. These two studies, for example, dating back to the late 80’s and early 90’s, both showed this link between artificial sweeteners and increased hunger:

Physiology & Behavior, 1988 [2] – In this study, they determined that intense (no- or low-calorie) sweeteners can produce significant changes in appetite. Of the three sweeteners tested, aspartame produced the most pronounced effects.

Physiology & Behavior 1990 [3] – Here, they again evaluated whether or not the mere taste of “sweet” increases hunger, by having human subjects chew gum for 15 minutes containing various levels of aspartame (0.05%, 0.3%, 0.5%, or 1.0%).

Interestingly, although those who chewed artificially sweetened gum reported increased hunger compared to the control group who were given nothing or unsweetened gum base to chew, the increase did not directly correlate with the aspartame concentration in the gum.

Women experienced the greatest increase in hunger after chewing gum containing 0.3 percent aspartame (the second lowest concentration amount), while men were the hungriest after chewing on gum containing 0.5 percent aspartame. The authors stated: “The highest aspartame concentrations had a time-dependent, biphasic effect on appetite, producing a transient decrease followed by a sustained increase in hunger ratings. Thus, the concentration of the sweetener, the sex of the subject, and the time after chewing, were all important determinants of whether "sweetness" increased hunger.

While no explanations for these findings were given at that time, researchers are now starting to be able to further explain why and how this happens.

As I explained above, phenylalanine and aspartic acid can stimulate the release of insulin and leptin, which are both involved in the mechanism of satiety.

Additionally, large doses of phemylalanine can lower important transmitters like Serotonin, [17] which also influences satiety. Decreased serotonin levels reduce feelings of satiety, which can then lead to over-eating or binge eating.

In a study of high-intensity artificial sweeteners performed on college students, [18] there was no evidence that artificial sweetener use was associated with a decrease in their overall sugar intake either.

These results indicate that eating arti­ficial sweeteners simply perpetuates a craving for sweets, and overall sugar consumption is not reduced—leading to further problems controlling your weight. [5]

In 2005, data gathered from the 25-year long San Antonio Heart Study also showed that drinking diet soft drinks increased the likelihood of serious weight gain [19]– far more so than regular soda. [6]

According to Sharon Fowler, M.P.H:

“On average, for each diet soft drink our participants drank per day, they were 65 percent more likely to become overweight during the next seven to eight years, and 41 percent more likely to become obese.”

This finding supports a 2004 study at Purdue University,[20] which found that rats fed artificially sweetened liquids ate more high-calorie food than rats fed high-caloric sweetened liquids. [7]

The researchers believe the experience of drinking artificially sweetened liquids disrupted the animals' natural ability to compensate for the calories in the food.

A more recent review, published in June 2010 in the Yale Journal of Biology & Medicine, [21] delves into the neurobiology of sugar cravings and summarizes the epidemiological and experimental evidence concerning the effect of artificial sweeteners on weight. [8]

The author states:

“Several large scale prospective cohort studies found positive correlation between artificial sweetener use and weight gain.

… Preload experiments generally have found that sweet taste, whether delivered by sugar or artificial sweeteners, enhanced human appetite. Aspartame-sweetened water, but not aspartame capsule, increased subjective appetite rating in normal weight adult males…

Unlike glucose or sucrose, which decreased the energy intake at the test meal, artificial sweetener preloads either had no effect or increased subsequent energy intake. Those findings suggest that the calorie contained in natural sweeteners may trigger a response to keep the overall energy consumption constant.

... Increasing evidence suggests that artificial sweeteners do not activate the food reward pathways in the same fashion as natural sweeteners… Natural and artificial sweeteners also activate the gustatory branch differently.

… Lastly, artificial sweeteners, precisely because they are sweet, encourage sugar craving and sugar dependence.

… Unsweetening the world’s diet may be the key to reversing the obesity epidemic.”

That last statement is probably the most accurate conclusion there is. Americans in particular are addicted to the flavor sweet, which appears to trigger a complex set of biological systems, pathways, and mechanisms that in the end leads to excess weight gain whether that flavor comes loaded with calories or not.

In the end, the research tells us that artificial sweeteners are nothing more than a pipe dream when it comes to being a dieter’s aid, because contrary to what the marketing campaigns claim, low- or no-calorie artificial sweeteners are more likely to help you pack on the pounds than shed them.

Aspartame and Premature Birth

One of the most recent studies published on the health effects of aspartame could be likened to the Ajinomoto Titanic hitting the iceberg…

A Danish study published in June, [22] which included more than 59,000 Danish women, found that daily intake of artificially sweetened soft drinks may increase the risk of preterm delivery by as much as 78 percent. [9]

According to a recent article in the British MailOnline, [23] some British public health experts are now advising pregnant women to avoid aspartame-containing foods and beverages to protect their unborn child, as preterm delivery exposes the baby to a number of health risks -- and staggering health care costs.

In the US, neonatal intensive care for an infant born prematurely, meaning before the 37th week of pregnancy, can cost anywhere from $20,000 to $100,000.

The researchers found that pregnant women who drank an average of just one diet soda per day increased their risk of going into labor before the 37th week by 38 percent.

Four or more diet sodas a day increased the risk of premature birth by 78 percent.

Meanwhile, no link was found between sugar-sweetened beverages and preterm delivery.

As usual, the researchers call for more studies to confirm these results, and I for one hope those studies are done so that, eventually, we may see a reversal in the recommendations by our health organizations, especially where expectant mothers are concerned.

Does Aspartame Cause Cancer?

The FDA, the media, and nearly all medical “experts” will tell you that it doesn’t, citing evidence such as the 2006 U.S. Cancer Institute “study”, [24] which involved more than 560,000 people between the ages of 50 to 69. [10]

What they fail to tell you is that this was NOT a controlled study.

In fact, it shouldn’t even be called a study, because actual studies are controlled.

It was a SURVEY, based on food and beverage consumption surveys filled out between 1995 and ’96.

Based on these self-reported rough estimates of what the participants ate and drank, the researchers calculated the amount of aspartame participants had consumed, and compared it with subsequent cancer rates in the five years following.

However, aside from being a mere survey, which in no way can determine cause, there are two glaring factors that make it very difficult to give it any credence whatsoever:

1 In 1995 there were far fewer food products and beverages that contained aspartame, so consumption was likely FAR lower back then compared to today, and

2 How many people – especially back then – actually read labels to determine whether or not something contained aspartame? After all, the old food surveys the researchers used were NOT specifically collected to ascertain aspartame consumption.

Some people sneer at animal studies, but there are reasons for using animals in lieu of humans in controlled studies. First of all, in many cases using humans would simply be unethical, but the human lifespan is also so long that a controlled study would be extremely impractical.

This is a major reason for using rats, as their lifespan is far shorter.

Many researchers will euthanize the animals after a set time, but others, such as Dr. Soffritti with The Cesare Maltoni Cancer Research Center of the European Ramazzini Foundation has performed two controlled aspartame safety study on rats, so far, in which the rats are observed over the course of their natural lifetime.

What did he find?

The first study found that after being fed the human equivalent of four to five bottles of diet soda a day, the rats developed high rates of lymphomas, leukemias and other cancers. [25]

At the highest dose level, 25 percent of the female rats developed lymphomas-leukemias compared with just 8.7 percent of the controls.

His findings, which raised a firestorm of controversy and denial across the world, were published in the Environmental Health Perspectives in 2006. [11]

The researchers determined that the carcinogenic effect of aspartame was as low as 400 parts per million (ppm), concluding that:

“The results of this mega-experiment indicate that APM [aspartame] is a multipotential carcinogenic agent, even at a daily dose of 20 mg/kg body weight, much less than the current acceptable daily intake.

On the basis of these results, a reevaluation of the present guidelines on the use and consumption of APM is urgent and cannot be delayed.”

A very important fact to consider here is that the Ramanizzi Foundation is an independent, non-profit institution that has been dedicated to cancer prevention for more than 35 years.

Not surprisingly, the results drew massive criticism from the industry. But the Ramanizzi Foundation refused to back down. Laleva.org reported the foundations' rebuttal. [12]

“… Prior long-term carcinogenesis studies on aspartame (4 total) were conducted over 20 years ago by the producers of the artificial sweetener using a small number of animals per sex per group. The results of these studies provided the basis for the current opinion regarding the non-carcinogenicity of aspartame.

In responding to the AFC panel comments, Soffritti noted that “what the panel considers shortcomings of the study are instead distinctive and positive characteristics of our research protocol, research which has provided the scientific basis for changes in international regulations numerous times over the last 30 years.”

For instance, the European Ramazzini Foundation conducts what are known as lifespan mega-experiments, meaning that large groups of rodents are allowed to live out their natural lifespan and are examined for histopathological changes upon spontaneous death. This model is in contrast with most laboratories where rodents are sacrificed at 110 weeks of age (representing about 2/3 of the lifespan).

The Ramazzini study design closely mirrors the human condition in which persons may be exposed to agents in the industrial and general environments from embryonic life until natural death. “Since 80% of cancer is diagnosed in humans over the age of 55, it is of paramount importance to observe how an agent affects laboratory animals in the last third of their lives”, notes Soffritti.”

But the story doesn’t end there.

Two years later, in 2007, the Ramanizzi Foundation published a follow-up study [26] -- again flagging the link between cancer and aspartame.

This time, their research highlighted the troubling discovery that when the exposure begins in the womb, aspartame’s carcinogenic effect is further increased. [13]

But the evidence still didn’t gain any traction.

FoodNavigator.com reported [27] that FDA spokesman Michael Herndon told Reuters: "At this time, FDA finds no reason to alter its previous conclusion that aspartame is safe as a general purpose sweetener in food." [14]

Stonewalling at its finest…

This is why you must become an informed consumer. The FDA simply refuses to address and properly investigate this potential health threat for you.

References

[1] Woodrow C. Monte PhD, “Methanol: A chemical Trojan Horse as the root of the Inscrutable U”, Medical Hypotheses, November 6, 2009 (10.1016/j.mehy.2009.09.059)

[2] Peter J. Rogers, Jo-Anne Carlyle, Andrew J. Hill and John E. Blundell, “Uncoupling sweet taste and calories: Comparison of the effects of glucose and three intense sweeteners on hunger and food intake”, Physiology & Behavior 1988; 43(5): 547-552

[3] Tordoff MG, Alleva AM., “Oral stimulation with aspartame increases hunger”, Physiology & Behavior March 1990; 47(3):555-9

[4] H. L. Wang, V. H. Harwalkar and H. A. Waisman, “Effect of dietary phenylalanine and tryptophan on brain serotonin”, Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics April 1962; 97(1): 181-184

[5] Chen, L. N., Parham, E. S., “College Students’ Use of High-Intensity Sweeteners Is Not Consistently Associated with Sugar Consumption”, J Am Diet Assoc. 91(1991): 686–90

[6] UT Health Center San Antonio Press Release, “New analysis suggests ‘diet soda paradox’ – less sugar, more weight”, June 14, 2005 · Volume: XXXVIII · Issue: 24

[7] Davidson TL, Swithers SE., “A Pavlovian approach to the problem of obesity”, Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. July 2004;28(7):933-5.

[8] Qing Yang, “Gain weight by “going diet?” Artificial sweeteners and the neurobiology of sugar cravings”, Yale J Biol Med. June 2010; 83(2): 101–108.

[9] Halldorsson TI, Strøm M, Petersen SB, Olsen SF., “Intake of artificially sweetened soft drinks and risk of preterm delivery: a prospective cohort study of 59,334 Danish pregnant women”, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition June 30, 2010 [Epub ahead of print]

[10] National Cancer Institute, “Aspartame and Cancer fact sheet”

[11] Morando Soffritti, Fiorella Belpoggi, Davide Degli Esposti, Luca Lambertini, Eva Tibaldi, Anna Rigano, “First Experimental Demonstration of the Multipotential Carcinogenic Effects of Aspartame Administered in the Feed to Sprague-Dawley Rats,” Environmental Health Perspectives March 2006;114(3):379-85

[12] “EUROPEAN RAMAZZINI FOUNDATION STANDS BEHIND ASPARTAME STUDY RESULTS, ANNOUNCES ONGOING RESEARCH ON ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS”, Laleva.org, May 5, 2006,

[13] Soffritti M, Belpoggi F, Tibaldi E, Esposti DD, Lauriola M., “Life-span exposure to low doses of aspartame beginning during prenatal life increases cancer effects in rats”, Environmental Health Perspectives September 2007; 115(9):1293-7

[14] Stephen Daniells, “New study reignites aspartame cancer concerns”, FoodNavigator.com, June 26, 2007.

[15] alcohol dehydrogenase

[16] PBD.org

[17] phenylalanine can lower important neurotransmitters like serotonin

[18] study of high-intensity artificial sweeteners performed on college students

[19] diet soft drinks increased the likelihood of serious weight gain

[20] study at Purdue University

[21] June 2010 in the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine

[22] study published in June

[23] recent article in the British MailOnline

[24] 2006 U.S. National Cancer Institute “study”

[25] rats developed high rates of lymphomas, leukemias and other cancers

[26] Ramanizzi Foundation published a follow-up study

[27] FoodNavigator.com reported

Sources:

www.mercola.com

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2006/04/04/nutrasweet-shown-to-cause-cancer.aspx

Food Quality News April 6, 2008

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2008, 62, 451–462

sweetpoison.com

Dr. Janet Starr Hull
“Sweet Poison”:  How The World's Most Popular  Artificial Sweetener is Killing Us. New Horizon Press

THE INDEPENDENT, JUNE 6, 1999

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/07/31/aspartame-update.aspx

*Chapter 2 of Sweet Deception can be found here:

http://mercola.fileburst.com/PDF/SweetDeceptionAspartameChapter%5B2%5D.pdf

List of aspartame studies:

http://aspartame.mercola.com/sites/aspartame/studies.aspx