OpenGov - Open Government Brainstorm

60. Ban the use of Aspartame: Aspartylphenylalanine-methyl-ester or aspartame is an artificial sweetener and is commonly packaged as NutraSweet, Spoonful, or Equal. Aspartame (C14H18N2O5 ) is a compound of three components. These components are methanol, aspartic acid and phenylalanine. Note: Aspartame breaks down into its component parts at temperatures of 86 degrees or higher. This is why it is used mainly in cool foods and not in baked goods.

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Methanol (methyl alcohol or wood alcohol) is a colorless, poisonous, and flammable liquid. It is used for making formaldehyde, acetic acid, methyl t-butyl ether (a gasoline additive), paint strippers, carburetor cleaners for your car's engine, and chloromethanes, et al. This poison can be inhaled from vapors, absorbed through the skin, and ingested. Methanol is the type of alcohol you read about when people become blind from drinking it. In aspartame, methanol poisoning and poisoning from methanol's breakdown components (formaldehyde and formic acid) can have widespread and devastating effects. This occurs in even small amounts, and is especially damaging when introduced with toxic, free-form amino acids, called excitotoxins. Methanol is quickly absorbed through the stomach and small intestine mucosa. The methanol is converted into formaldehyde (a known carcinogen). Then, via aldehyde hydrogenase, the formaldehyde is converted to formic acid. These two metabolites of methanol are toxic and cumulative. (Evangelista, 2004)

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Phenylalanine is an amino acid. Well, amino acids are good for us, right? Don't they keep us healthy? The answer is yes, amino acids are necessary for good health, EXCEPT when you separate the individual amino acid from its protein chain, and use it as an "isolate" or by itself. (Evangelista, 2004)

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Aspartic acid, in aspartame, is also an excitotoxin. An excitotoxin, is a deleterious substance that excites or over-stimulates nerve cells. This occurs in the brain, as well as the peripheral nerves, because aspartic acid, in free form, is an absorption accelerant & easily crosses the blood-brain barrier. This pathological excitation of nerve cells creates a breakdown of nerve function, as we will see. Basically, they are a group of compounds that can cause special neurons within the nervous system to become overexcited to the point that these cells will die. That's right, they are excited to death. Excitotoxins include such things as monosodium glutamate (MSG), aspartate, (a main ingredient in NutraSweet), L-cysteine (found in hydrolyzed vegetable protein) and related compounds. What makes this all the more intriguing is that "excitotoxins" appear to play a key role in degenerative nervous system diseases such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's, ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) and many others. (Evangelista, 2004)

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There are 92 different health side effects associated with aspartame consumption. They are as follows: Abdominal pain, 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, death, depression, diarrhea, dizziness, excessive thirst or hunger, fatigue, feel unreal, flushing of face, hair loss, headaches, migraines, hearing loss, heart palpitations, hives (urticaria), hypertension (high blood pressure), hysterical pregnancy, impotency and sexual problems, inability to concentrate, infection susceptibility, insomnia, irritability, itching, joint pains, laryngitis, marked personality changes, memory loss, menstrual problems or changes, muscle spasms, nausea or vomiting, numbness or tingling of extremities, other allergic-like reactions, panic attacks, phobias, poor memory, rapid heart beat, rashes, seizures and convulsions, slurring of speech, swallowing pain, tachycardia, tremors, tinnitus, vertigo, vision loss, and weight gain. (Hull, 2002)

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In addition, aspartame can mimic symptoms or worsen the following diseases: Fibromyalgia, arthritis, multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson’s disease, lupus, multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS), diabetes and diabetic complications, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, birth defects, chronic fatigue syndrome, lymphoma, Lyme disease, attention deficit disorder (ADD), panic disorder, depression and other psychological disorders. (Hull, 2002)

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How can such a toxic substance be granted approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)? Simply follow the history. In 1985 Monsanto purchased G.D. Searle, the chemical company that held the patent to aspartame, the active ingredient in NutraSweet. Monsanto was apparently untroubled by aspartame's clouded past, including a 1980 FDA Board of Inquiry, comprised of three independent scientists, which confirmed that it "might induce brain tumors." The FDA had actually banned aspartame based on this finding, only to have Searle Chairman Donald Rumsfeld (formally the Secretary of Defense under Bush Jr.) vow to "call in his markers," to get it approved. On January 21, 1981, the day after Ronald Reagan's inauguration, Searle re-applied to the FDA for approval to use aspartame in food sweetener, and Reagan's new FDA commissioner, Arthur Hayes Hull, Jr., appointed a 5-person Scientific Commission to review the board of inquiry's decision. It soon became clear that the panel would uphold the ban by a 3-2 decision, but Hull then installed a sixth member on the commission, and the vote became deadlocked. He then personally broke the tie in aspartame's favor. Hull later left the FDA under allegations of impropriety, served briefly as Provost at New York Medical College, and then took a position with Burston-Marsteller, the chief public relations firm for both Monsanto and GD Searle. Since that time he has never spoken publicly about aspartame. (Murry, 2001)

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The leading manufacturer of aspartame is the Ajinomoto Corporation of Tokyo.