Beware - Aspartame Has Been Renamed

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Beware - Aspartame Has Been

Renamed 'AminoSweet'

And is now being marketed as a 'natural' sweetener!

By Ethan Huff

Citizen Journalist

2-13-10

 

In response to growing awareness about the dangers of

artificial sweeteners, what does the manufacturer of one of the world's

most notable artificial sweeteners do? Why, rename it and begin marketing

it as natural, of course. This is precisely the strategy of Ajinomoto,

maker of aspartame, which hopes to pull the wool over the eyes of the public

with its rebranded version of aspartame, called " AminoSweet " .

 

Over 25 years ago, aspartame was first introduced into

the European food supply. Today, it is an everyday component of most

diet

beverages, sugar-free desserts, and chewing gums in countries worldwide.

But the tides have been turning as the general public is waking up to the

truth about artificial sweeteners like aspartame and the harm they cause

to health. The latest aspartame marketing scheme is a desperate effort

to indoctrinate the public into accepting the chemical sweetener as natural

and safe, despite evidence to the contrary.

 

Aspartame was an accidental discovery by Schlatter,

a chemist who had been trying to produce an anti-ulcer pharmaceutical drug

for G.D. Searle & Company back in 1965. Upon mixing aspartic acid and

phenylalanine, two naturally-occurring amino acids, he discovered that

the new compound had a sweet taste. The company merely changed its FDA

approval application from drug to food additive and, voila, aspartame was

born.

 

G.D. Searle & Company first patented aspartame in

1970. An internal memo released in the same year urged company executives

to work on getting the FDA into the " habit of saying yes " and

of encouraging a " subconscious spirit of participation " in getting

the chemical approved.

 

G.D. Searle & Company submitted its first petition

to the FDA in 1973 and fought for years to gain FDA approval, submitting

its own safety studies that many believed were inadequate and deceptive.

Despite numerous objections, including one from its own scientists, the

company was able to convince the FDA to approve aspartame for commercial

use in a few products in 1974, igniting a blaze of controversy.

 

In 1976, then FDA Commissioner Schmidt wrote

a letter to Sen. Ted Kennedy expressing concern over the " questionable

integrity of the basic safety data submitted for aspartame safety " .

FDA Chief Counsel Merrill believed that a grand jury should investigate

G.D. Searle & Company for lying about the safety of aspartame in

its

reports and for concealing evidence proving the chemical is unsafe for

consumption.

 

Despite the myriad of evidence gained over the years

showing that aspartame is a dangerous toxin, it has remained on the global

market with the exception of a few countries that have banned it. In

fact,

it continued to gain approval for use in new types of food despite evidence

showing that it causes neurological brain damage, cancerous tumors, and

endocrine disruption, among other things.

 

The details of aspartame's history are lengthy, but the

point remains that the carcinogen was illegitimately approved as a food

additive through heavy-handed prodding by a powerful corporation with its

own interests in mind. Practically all drugs and food additives are approved

by the FDA not because science shows they are safe but because companies

essentially lobby the FDA with monetary payoffs and complete the agency's

multi-million dollar approval process.

 

Changing aspartame's name to something that

is " appealing

and memorable " , in Ajinomoto's own words, may hoodwink some but hopefully

most will reject this clever marketing tactic as nothing more than a

desperate

attempt to preserve the company's multi-billion dollar cash cow. Do not

be deceived.

 

 

Sources

 

 

Ajinomoto brands aspartame 'AminoSweet' - http://www.foodbev.com/news/ajinomoto-brands-aspartame-aminosweet

 

 

Aspartame History Highlights - Janet Starr Hull  http://www.sweetpoison.com/articles/0908/aspartame_history.html

 

 

FDA's approval of aspartame under scrutiny -

The Globe

and Mail (Canada) http://www.wnho.net/fdas_approval_of_aspartame_under_scrutiny.pdf

 

 

An Overdue Ban On A Dangerous Sweetener - Huffington

Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/samuel-s-epstein/an-overdue-ban-on-a-dange_b_250249.html 

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