The annual sales volume of Aspartame in the world is up to one billion dollars. Thousands of foods or drugs use the sweetener, even including vitamins and calcium tablets taken by children. However, this chemical sweetener is full of danger, perhaps a poison.
A few days ago, the ecological leading fashion group discussed whether Aspartame is harmful. After a brief look, they thought that the discussion had actually involved a principle issue of food safety, and whether synthetic chemicals are reliable. It is necessary to further explore.
According to relevant materials:
1. Aspartame is not food, but a synthetic chemical additive widely used in food processing.
2. Aspartame comes from chemical drug test. In the 1960s, an American company synthesized and produced ulcer inhibiting drugs, and accidentally found that Aspartame was a chemical with a strong sweet taste. After conducting several animal studies, it was used as a substitute for sucrose.
3. The safety of Aspartame is very controversial, two of which are worthy of attention:
Firstly, some relevant surveys and studies have shown that many people have adverse reactions to the sugar substitute Abbasid, the most typical of which are long-term headaches, migraines, dizziness, restlessness, and menstrual pain. Some of the more severe cases have sudden spasms, with a sudden pitch black in front of them, and even death.
Secondly, the interests of both parties in the dispute are different. In 1996, Professor Ralph G. Walton, chairman of the behavioral medicine center of the Ohio University School of Medicine, analyzed 164 studies on Aspartame published in professional journals, of which 74 believed that Aspartame was safe. "Coincidentally" the funding for these studies was related to Aspartame manufacturers. In the other 90 independent studies, more than 90% found that taking Aspartame had one or more safety problems.
● Reference 1: Aspartame
(Source: Baidu Baike)
Safety testing
In the spring of 1967, G.D. Searle Searle started the safety test of Aspartame.
In the autumn of 1967, Dr. Harold Waisman fed seven baby monkeys with milk added with Aspartame, and one died and five had Seizure.
In 1970, a report by Dr. John Olney pointed out that Aspartame was harmful to human health. Dr. Olney, a researcher at G.D. Searle, came out to confirm his research findings.
In 1974, Aspartame was licensed for use in dried fruits.
In 1975, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) organized a special investigation team to review the experiments previously submitted by G.D. Searle Company. Suspected that the experimental results were manipulated.
Disable
After investigation, in 1977, FDA requested the U.S. Attorneys Office to file a lawsuit against G.D. Searle because "G.D. Searle intentionally misrepresented the facts found in the safety experiment of Aspartan, concealed the substantive facts and made False statement". Shortly afterwards, G.D. Searle hired Donald Rumsfeld, the United States Secretary of Defense of the United States, as CEO. Later, the trial was delayed because the chief controller was hired by the law firm representing G.D. Searle. As a result, the statute of limitations for this accusation expired and the prosecution was forced to terminate.
Use
After use, FDA has refused to approve the use of Aspartame as a sugar substitute. Until President Reagan took office, he dismissed FDA members who did not approve the use, established an investigation team to decide whether to allow it, and appointed Dr. Arthur Hull Hayes, a friend of Donald Rumsfeld, as FDAs companion. Shortly after the establishment of the investigation team, Aspartame was approved for use in beverages containing carbon dioxide. In fact, many members objected at that time, but Dr. Hayes vetoed the decision of his own investigation team and firmly approved the use of Aspartame. However, Dr. Hayes left his job after he was exposed by the media to accept benefits after he legislated that Aspartame could be used as a substitute for sugar, and transferred to work in G.D. Searle. Aspartame was invented by G.D. Searle, which owns at least 70 Aspartame production patents.
Since 1988, many aviation safety newspapers around the world have warned that pagers should not eat Aspartame before flying. It refers to all kinds of symptoms such as the pilots vision suddenly drops, blurs, their eyes suddenly darken, and convulsions after eating Aspartame. In 1995, the pilots in New Hampshire (Stoddard) suffered a seizure in the cockpit after eating Aspartame, and at least five American Airlines pilots died after eating Aspartame, including one who drank sugar free soda on the flight, and some pilots lost their flight licenses due to the spasm caused by aspartame.
In 1991, the National Institutes of Health issued a warning on the toxicity of Aspartame sugar, and attached 167 kinds of harms.
In 1992, the US Air Force warned its pilots not to perform flight missions after eating Aspartame.
In 1994, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released the details of 88 symptoms caused by the toxicity of Aspartame. The following are some diseases that the Department believes are caused or triggered by this additive: modern defects, depression, mental retardation, chronic fatigue, brain tumors, epilepsy, Multiple sclerosis, Parkinsons disease and Alzheimers disease.
In 1994, the American diabetes Association and some companies established the National Justice League to file a lawsuit against G.D. Searle (case number: C043872), including:
*Donald Rumsfeld made Aspartame obtain the approval of FDA with his own political capital and tactics
*G. D. Searle Company destroyed a research record that was unfavorable to it in 1983/84
*Unfair competition, false advertising, fraud, breach of warranty, breach of marketability
*And claimed a total of 350 million US dollars in Class action on behalf of the American consumers who suffered permanent injuries due to the consumption of Aspartame
Contradiction, research
The Food and Drug Administration FDA described Aspartame as "one of the most thoroughly researched food additives", and its safety was "beyond doubt". There are some online rumors spread by e-mail that Aspartame may cause a variety of diseases. However, the investigation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that there is no epidemiological evidence to verify that Aspartame can cause serious injuries or risks.
Ralph Walton, director of the behavioral medicine center of Northeast Ohio Medical College, studied these contradictory test results, and found that in the past few decades, 83 test projects that were not funded by the Aspartame sugar industry showed that the use of this artificial sweetener was not conducive to human health.
Another irony is that these sweeteners in food were originally added for weight loss, but when absorbed by the body, they can promote fat growth. A cancer association in the United States conducted a 6-year follow-up study on 8000 women and concluded that "among women who gain weight, those who consume artificial sweeteners gain more weight than those who have not." One reason may be that these synthetic chemicals affect the bodys hormone levels, weaken our own weight regulation system, slow down metabolism but increase appetite.
On the contrary, in order to achieve the purpose of market monopoly, FDA prohibits the use of natural sweeteners to replace Aspartame sugar. Stevia, a natural sweetener produced in South America, is not only calorie free but also beneficial for health, but it has been buried by bureaucrats. According to research in Japan, this stevia sugar has an inhibitory effect on oral bacterial growth; Clinical studies have also found that this stevia sugar does not cause blood sugar fluctuations, and it has a therapeutic effect of lowering blood sugar levels and increasing glucose content, helping to alleviate diseases such as heart disease, hypertension, heartbeat, and low uric acid. And this stevia sugar, which has been used for hundreds of years in South America, should be very safe.
But in 1994, when all studies confirmed the benefits of steviol and no harm was found, the FDA received a report from a company that natural herbal tea used steviol without permission due to insufficient evidence of its safe consumption. However, the FDA refused to disclose the name of the reporting company (some believe it is a sugar substitute company). The use of stevia is prohibited and referred to as an "unsafe food additive".
To make matters worse, on June 27, 1996, the FDA did not notify the public that it removed all restrictions on Aspartame and allowed it to be used on anything, including all heated and baked foods. But it not only loses its sweetness after heating, but also causes greater harm to the body.
● Reference 2: Sugar substitute - Aspartame
(excerpt from "Choosing the Most Natural Eating - Dont Let Food Kill You")
I have been working in the health food industry for a long time, and the most outrageous thing is that some companies completely disregard consumer health, only for the sake of profit, reversing right and wrong. Medical workers and journalists are brainwashed, disregarding current facts, consciously or unconsciously colluding with the pharmaceutical and chemical industries to harm consumers health. The most typical example is Aspartame.
Many people have adverse reactions to the sugar substitute aspartame, the most typical of which are long-term headaches, migraines, dizziness, restlessness, and menstrual pain. These are relatively mild, some are more severe, with sudden spasms and a sudden pitch black before the eyes.
In 1996, Prof Ralph G. Walton once analyzed 164 studies on Aspartame published in professional journals, 74 of which believed that Aspartame was safe. "Coincidentally," the funding for these studies is related to the interests of Aspartame manufacturers. In another 90 independent studies, more than 90% found that taking Aspartame had one or more safety problems!
Isnt sugar substitute legal?
Sugar substitute Aspartame is a legal thing, and its safety is both positive and negative in the medical literature. Therefore, the author tried by example to eat two or three packs of chewing gum containing Aspartame several times in a row, which resulted in Blurred vision vision, unclear thinking, and lasted for several hours. Over the years, we have also collected the reactions of friends. The most typical adverse reactions are Blurred vision, headache and migraine.
In fact, since the sugar substitute was officially approved for use in 1981, there have been thousands of complaints from the US Food and Drug Administration. The symptoms of discomfort include headache, nausea, poor sleep, depression, depression, restlessness, long-term fatigue, dizziness, spasm, Visual impairment, sudden darkness in front of the eyes, and even death.
What is Aspartame?
In terms of chemical composition, Aspartame mainly consists of Asparagus cochinchinensis acid (40%), phenylalanine (50%) and methanol (10%) decomposed from the digestive system.
The relevant manufacturers support the typical argument that Aspartame is safe. Asparagus cochinchinensis acid and Phenylalanine are amino acids contained in daily food and are components of protein; Although methanol is harmful, it also contains small amounts in natural fruit juices and alcoholic beverages, so it has little impact and should not be consumed excessively.
Thats right! Asparagus cochinchinensis is a normal neurotransmitter in the nervous system, which is used to transmit information. The food contains Asparagus cochinchinensis acid, but the Asparagus cochinchinensis acid in the sugar substitute Aspartame is free. It is a toxin that stimulates the nervous system. In terms of chemical structure, it does not attach to other substances and molecules, so it can be absorbed very quickly after taking it, which can raise the level of Asparagus cochinchinensis acid in the serum in real time, and cause neuron cells to die from excessive stimulation. According to the report collected by the "Adverse Reaction Monitoring System" of the US Food and Drug Administration, the adverse reactions caused by Asparagus cochinchinensis acid include headache, abdominal pain, Visual impairment, depression, irritability and long-term fatigue.
The other component, Phenylalanine, is known to be problematic. There is a genetic disease called congenital Phenylketonuria (PKU), which is the accumulation of Phenylalanine in the brain due to the inability of the body to metabolize Propiophenone, which is known to all doctors. Therefore, the sugar substitute label should indicate that it is not suitable for PKU patients. However, in the first International Conference on Phenylalanine and Brain Function in 1987, some scholars pointed out that the serum Phenylalanine of people who had taken Aspartame for a long time increased significantly. The rise of Phenylalanine leads to abnormal mood fluctuations, which may lead to stroke, schizophrenia, or even death.
The sugar substitute Aspartame originally did not contain methanol, but when the human small intestine encounters chymotrysin, it will slowly produce methanol, that is, xylol. Methanol is a raw material for producing low-quality fake liquor, which is broken down into formic acid and formaldehyde in the human body. Formaldehyde is highly toxic to nerve cells, and the most significant acute symptoms of poisoning are sudden loss of vision, blurring, gradually narrowing of vision, retinal damage, and complete blindness. Other symptoms include headache, tinnitus, dizziness, nausea, gastrointestinal discomfort, weak limbs, chills, amnesia, limb paralysis and tingling, and abnormal behavior.
Readers may have heard that Aspartame cannot be heated because Aspartame will release a large amount of methanol when heated to more than 30 degrees Celsius. Imagine that a bottle of coke, piled in the warehouse during transportation and storage, may be exposed to the sun, or a cup of coffee brewed with boiling water, can easily exceed 30 degrees when it is put into the sugar substitute, producing methanol. Even if it is cooled down later, or even put into the refrigerator for cold storage, the sugar substitute has a large amount of methanol even if it does not encounter the congealed cheese protein in the small intestine.
The common excuse of Aspartame manufacturers is that alcoholic drinks also contain a small amount of methanol. However, both fruit juice and alcohol contain a large amount of ethanol. Although ethanol is also harmful, it is much lower than methanol. Moreover, the body first metabolizes ethanol to slow down and reduce its absorption, thereby reducing the harm of methanol. Simply put, ethanol can be said to be the antidote to methanol!
A few trials and tribulations in the introduction of sugar substitutes
Aspartame was originally discovered by G.D. Searle in the 1960s when it was developing anti ulcer drugs. It had a strong sweet taste, so it made several animal studies and was initially approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for dry food in 1974.
However, due to strong doubts and appeals from independent scholars regarding its safety, the US Food and Drug Administration appointed a project team to investigate and review G.D. Searles application.
In 1976, the project team submitted a report stating that there were indeed many studies in the application, but its level was quite poor and overall it could not provide convincing safety data; There is even a clear intention to manipulate experimental results, manipulate statistical data recklessly, deliberately conceal or suddenly suspend unfavorable review of research. There are numerous errors in the execution of animal experiments, such as animals being able to resurrect from death in data records, and animals experiencing "unexpected" tumors that can be cut off without being reported in the application form. The final conclusion of the project team is to shelve the review.
G. D. Searle was naturally dissatisfied and applied again in January 1981. However, it was approved in August of the same year for use in dry food and in 1983 for use in aerated beverages. Coincidentally, in recent years, several senior FDA officials responsible for review have resigned after the review and been hired by G.D. Searle or related research and public relations companies. In July 1986, the U.S. General Accounting Office investigated five of them transferred from FDA to private institutions related to Aspartame, and the review report said that their transfer was "not illegal". However, this incident has reflected that the FDAs independence has disappeared and is completely manipulated by large enterprises.
Although sugar substitute Aspartame is a legal commodity, many reports have pointed out that some pilots, after taking fruit juice, soda and coffee containing Aspartame, suddenly have dizziness, convulsions, tremors, and even a dark situation in front of them when flying.
Reference 3: Our Superstition - Artificial sweeteners are Safe
(excerpted from "A Hundred Years of Lies: How Food and Drugs Can Harm Your Health")
Artificial sweeteners can mask our feelings and make us feel like weve eaten sugar. Many people believe that the harm of artificial sweeteners currently discovered is only at the stage of individual talk. Paula Bailey Hamilton noticed that the weight loss soda she often drinks not only changes her mood, but also makes her headache. "I heard some reports that the artificial sweeteners in these drinks can not only cause headaches, but also make people feel excited, as if they are ecstatic. They are exactly the same as my symptoms, so I will never drink them again. These are just my personal experiences before. In addition, the artificial sweeteners can also cause brain cancer, liver cancer, lung cancer, kidney cancer and lymphatic cancer."
The hazards of artificial sweeteners
The hazards of artificial sweeteners
Aspartame sugar is the most widely used artificial sweetener. It appears in more than 100 kinds of diet or sugar free foods, such as soft drinks, cereal, frozen sweets and used as seasoning. In addition, it also appears in unexpected places, such as multiple vitamins, nutritional supplements, and drugs. Its main components are methanol, Phenylalanine and Asparagus cochinchinensis acid. These three chemical components can respectively cause brain cell death, brain hormone imbalance, or become Neurotoxin. However, it is not clear how these three components will affect health once they work together.
In the book "Cant Eat Less: The Truth about Food Additives" published by Canadian writers, they described a situation that if a diet drink containing Aspartame sugar is exposed to 29 ℃ for more than a week, "There is no Aspartame sugar in the drink. It is decomposed into formaldehyde, acetic acid and diketopiperazine. The third one can cause brain tumors, and all these ingredients have been proved to be toxic to human beings."
Many animal experiments have proved that the safety of Aspartame sugar is worrying because it can cause brain tumors. Ironically, however, the US Food and Drug Administration has discussed for 16 years, but finally allowed the use of Aspartame sugar in food. In 1980, an investigation team of the Food and Drug Administration unanimously opposed human consumption of Aspartame sugar, but a year later, Arthur Hull Hayes Jr., the director general, overturned the opinions of scientists in his own bureau and finally agreed to use Aspartame sugar in dry food; In 1983, he agreed to add Aspartame sugar to carbonated drinks. After that, Hayes soon left his job and worked for Sear, a pharmaceutical company that produced Aspartame sugar (Sear was later incorporated into Monsanto).
Two years after Aspartame sugar was allowed to be used for soft drinks, J.W. Olney, a professor at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, found that the prevalence of brain cancer among American residents increased by an average of 10%, about 1500 new cases every year, and the incidence rate of brain cancer among people over 65 years of age increased by more than 60%. Olney found that in the animal test of Aspartame sugar, the incidence of brain cancer in animals also increased significantly. Inspired by this, he started the experiment and published a series of papers in the New England Journal of Medicine and other journals, explaining the possible brain damage caused by Aspartame sugar in children.
The Pentagon once used this chemical poison as the raw material for defensive biological and chemical weapons, but now it is widely used in food production in the United States and 70 other countries. Only Japan and a few countries have banned Aspartame sugar. So what is the secret to its continued existence? British toxicologist Paula Bailey Hamilton bluntly expressed her speculation: "Theres nothing as useful as loud money." In her view, food merchants, due to their lucrative profits and ability to win over political backers, were simply playing with the legislative system and had to compromise.
Another reason why Aspartame sugar can continue to be used is that the scientific communitys test results on its harm are contradictory, which makes it difficult for ordinary people to find out. The conclusion drawn by Sear, Monsanto and other laboratories in the industry is that Aspartame sugar is safe, but independent scientists often find it harmful to health after research. Ralph Walton, director of the Behavioral Medicine Center of Northeast Ohio Medical College, studied these contradictory test results, and found that in the past few decades, 83 test projects that were not funded by the Aspartame sugar industry showed that the use of this artificial sweetener was not conducive to human health.
The artificial sweetener approved after Aspartame sugar has not given too much consideration to human health. In 1988, the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of sulfameK, a sweetener 200 times sweeter than sugar, and is currently used in carbonated beverages, desserts, salad dressings, chewing gum, pastry ingredients, and breath fresheners. In laboratory experiments on mice, it was found that acesulfame can cause leukemia, tumors and Respiratory disease. In many foods, Aspartame sugar and acesulfame are mixed to cover up the bitterness of the food itself, but no one has studied what kind of synergistic effect these two additives will produce in the human body.
Natural sweeteners are suppressed
These enterprises have achieved the goal of market monopoly by using the Food and Drug Administrations prohibition on replacing Aspartame sugar with natural sweeteners. Stevia, a natural sweetener produced in South America, is not only calorie free but also beneficial for health, but it has been buried by bureaucrats. In 1994, the Food and Drug Administration banned the use of stevia sugar, calling it an "unsafe food additive". The reason why the agency banned stevia sugar was because it received a report from a company complaining that natural herbal tea, Lestial Seasonings tea, used stevia sugar without permission. However, the Food and Drug Administration refused to disclose the name of the reporting company.
Arizona Senator Jon Kyl accused the Food and Drug Administration of "restricting this industry to benefit the artificial sweetener manufacturing industry", and he suspected that it was the manufacturers of Aspartame sugar who initiated the complaint. Later, parliament legislated to regulate dietary supplements and allowed stevia sugar to be sold as a nutritional supplement; However, strangely and awkwardly, manufacturers are still prohibited from using stevia as a sweetener or even suggesting it. As is well known, stevia is 300 times sweeter than white sugar and does not contain any calories, but it is illegal to declare this fact or advertise it.
Given that the Food and Drug Administration still insists that it cannot prove the safety of stevia as a food additive, we only need to look at its history to see how absurd this argument is. Stevia sugar has not only been used in South America for hundreds of years, but has been used as a sweetener in Japan since the 1970s - and has undergone extensive testing in various Japanese laboratories - with no record of health hazards.
In 1997, a reporter asked the Food and Drug Administration to issue a list of scientific tests on the basis of restricting the use of stevia, but a short list provided by the Food and Drug Administration was just contrary to his wishes. It frequently quoted the test results of Brazilian scientist Mauro Alvarez, proving that stevia is not safe. When Alvarez learned that the Food and Drug Administration had used his research to legislate against stevia, He published an open letter saying: "It is simply taken out of context to find the harmful effect of stevia from my research." Alvarez believes: The misleading statement about its safety is to prevent American consumers from using stevia. I have conducted 15 years of research on the safety of stevia and other plants as food or food additives. I can guarantee that our various experimental results indicate that human consumption of stevia is safe
