The Lowdown on Sweet?

[Guest guest]

> The Lowdown on Sweet?

> February 12, 2006, New York Times

>

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/12/business/yourmoney/12sweet.html

> When Dr. Morando Soffritti...saw the results of

> his team's seven-year study on aspartame, he knew he

> was about to be injected into a bitter controversy

> over this sweetener. Aspartame is sold under the

> brand names Nutra-Sweet and Equal and is found in

> such popular products as Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi, Diet

> Snapple and Sugar Free Kool-Aid. Hundreds of

> millions of people consume it worldwide. Dr.

> Soffritti...oversees 180 scientists and researchers

> in 30 countries. Dr. Soffritti's study

> concluded...that the sweetener was associated with

> unusually high rates of lymphomas, leukemias and

> other cancers. The study...involved 1,900 laboratory

> rats and cost $1 million. Soffritti said he was

> inspired to look at aspartame because of what he

> calls " inadequacies " in the cancer studies done by

> Searle in the 1970's. Others have also challenged

> Searle's studies. Years before the F.D.A. approved

> aspartame, the agency had serious concerns about the

> accuracy and credibility of Searle's aspartame

> studies.

> From 1977 to 1985 — during much of the approval

> process — Searle was headed by H. Rumsfeld,

> who is now the secretary of defense. Searle was

> acquired by Monsanto in 1985. Dr. Soffritti

> said...more research and open debate were needed on

> whether aspartame was a carcinogen. " It is very

> important to have scientists who are independent and

> not funded by industry looking at this. "

> Note: If you want to understand the influence of

> big money on your health, this article is well worth

> reading. Our Health Information Center at

> http://www.WantToKnow.info/healthinformation has

> lots more.

>

>