Stoddard's POV: Aspartame and Mental Disorders

Stoddard's POV: Aspartame and Mental Disorders: Aspartame Linked by Researchers to Depression and Suicide Mary Nash Stoddard Founder Aspartame Consumer Safety Network [1987] www.aspartam...

PRESIDENT'S SELECT COMMITTEE ON FOOD SAFETY HEARS ASPARTAME EXPERT

Official Recommendation of
Aspartame Consumer Safety Network Founder at:
President's Coummittee on Food Safety Hearing (1998)

December 8, 1998
Dallas, Texas

The Aspartame Consumer Safety Network is a coalition of consumers and health care professionals [over 10,000 strong] around the world who have a common concern. That concern is for the safety of our food supply and the health of those who consume it. We are specifically concerned that after several decades of coverup regarding the health and safety effects of the controversial artificial sweetener, aspartame [produced primarily by the NutraSweet Kelco Co. of Deerfield IL, a subsidiary of Monsanto Chemical and others].

Our network produces a 200 page Toxicology Sourcebook [Deadly Deception - Story of Aspartame] to support our allegations that this substance is unsafe for human consumption in our food supply. It contains numerous independent studies showing harm – ranging from birth defects to brain tumors.

In 1987 I presented testimony to a Senate Committee looking into the safety of aspartame in Washington D.C. At that time there was more than enough evidence to indict this sweetener and remove it from the marketplace because of health concerns [as it was following its first approval in 1974 because of the brain tumor issue]. Today, we can show even more proof in the thousands of adverse reactions reported to the Food and Drug Administration and others. Seventy-eight percent of all complaints to the FDA are about adverse reactions to aspartame

Today, I ask you to reconsider the decision to continue to label safe that which some scientists have proven in the laboratory to be a neurotoxin and carcinogen. Please do the right thing and keep our food supply free of harmful chemical agents.

Fake foods, whether they be fake fat, fake sugar or otherwise are not natural and carry with them the potential for great harm. Chemical sweeteners have no place in our lives if we wish to maintain maximum good health. Some studies show they actually encourage weight gain. Many healthy truly natural alternatives exist for use as sweeteners.

Our Aspartame Awareness organization takes the stand that carcinogens such as aspartame [aka NutraSweet, Equal etc.] are potentially toxic and do not belong in our food supply, and we remain dedicated to educating others as to these hazards. In the lab, animals died. Others developed: brain tumors, pancreatic tumors, uterine tumors and mammary [breast tumors. This also includes the new sweetener known as Neotame, which is waiting approval from the FDA. Neotame is 8000 times sweeter than sugar and will be produced by Monsanto's NutraSweet Kelco Co. It has virtually the same formula as aspartame with dimethylbutyl [listed on the EPA list of hazardous chemicals] added.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Nash Stoddard, Founder ACSN & Pilot Hotline (1987-present)

MEMBER PRESIDENT'S SELECT COMMITTEE ON FOOD SAFETY (1998-99)

Department of Agriculture

Food Safety and Inspection Service
[Docket No. 98-045N]

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Food and Drug Administration
[Docket No. 97N-0074]

Environmental Protection Agency
[Docket No. OPP-00550A:FRL-6034-3]

Food Safety Initiative Strategic Plan Agency: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA: Research, Education, and Economics, USDA; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HHS; Food and Drug Administration, HHS; Environmental Protection Agency

RELATED PRESS RELEASE:

Dallas – December 8 – ACSN — Dallas-based Epidemiologist, Mary Nash Stoddard, a founder of the world's burgeoning anti-aspartame movement in 1987, will deliver findings regarding thousands of adverse reactions to the world's most controversial sweeteners at a special Hearing of the President's Council on Food Safety in Dallas today. The Aspartame Consumer Safety Network operates an adverse reaction hotline and database and is the clearinghouse for information on the sweetener.

Representing a constituency of over 10,000 concerned consumers, Stoddard calls for an immediate 'Moratorium' on all aspartame sweeteners until their absolute safety can be assured by independent research. A precedent for this type of action was set in 1992 when the Food and Drug Administration called a 'Moratorium' on silicone breast implants. Ms. Stoddard first testified to the U.S. Senate in November, 1987. She later submitted formal petitions objecting to the FDA's support of the sweetener asking that aspartame be recalled and re-tested as a drug, which is how it was discovered.

Seizures, loss of vision, vertigo, suicidal depressions, heart problems, etc. are routinely reported. Reactions in many consumers are reported to cause bizarre psychological symptoms as well. In tests, lab animals developed: Brain Tumors-Pancreatic Tumors-Breast Tumors and Uterine Tumors. These were covered up. Federal Prosecutor, Samuel Skinner was bringing criminal charges against the makers of aspartame [G.D. Searle, now a subsidiary of Monsanto Chemical Co.], but excused himself at the last minute – defecting to Searle's law firm, Sidley & Austin. The lawsuit was then dropped by the Federal Prosecutor's Office.

Aspartame [aka NutraSweet/Equal] is 10% methanol (wood alcohol) by weight and breaks down further in heat and in the body into: formaldehyde, formic acid and a brain tumor agent, diketopiperazine (DKP.) 

###

http://twitter.com/#!/marystod/

http://marystod.blogspot.com/
http://www.aspartamesafety.com/

ASPARTAME - WHY IS IT STILL POLLUTING OUR FOOD SUPPLY IN 2012?

Interview Published in NUTRITION & HEALING

[Cover story Interview with Mary Nash Stoddard, founder of the Aspartame Consumer Safety Network and author of a source book about the sweetener, aspartame.]

Dr. Jonathan V. Wright's NUTRITION & HEALING with Alan R. Gaby, M.D., November 1995 - Vol. 2, Issue 11. Pub. by Nutrition & Healing, Inc., Phoenix, AZ.

Q: Your important consumer education work on the sweetener "aspartame" is well known and we are delighted to speak to you. Is it true that the large majority of non-drug complaints to the Food and Drug Administration are about adverse reactions to aspartame, also called NutraSweet or Equal?
A: Currently, it's about 78% of all complaints. At one time, the figure was 85%! Yet, this isn't reported in the newspapers or announced through other media. It's a well-hidden secret.

Q: Imagine if it were a vitamin or herbal product, we'd have the federal pill police swarming like angry bees. Would you please list for us some of the symptoms caused by aspartame?
A: Aspartame not only causes individual symptoms, it can mimic entire syndromes! For example, the CFIDS (chronic fatigue and immune deficiency syndrome) newsletter calls it the "sweet poison, NutraSweet," because it can mimic the symptoms of CFIDS. It can also cause grand mal seizures. According to H.J. Roberts, M.D., it can cause decreased vision, pain in the eyes, decreased tears, ringing in the ears, hearing impairment, headache, dizziness and unsteadiness, confusion, memory loss, drowsiness, sleepiness, slurring of speech, numbness and tingling, tremors, depression, irritability, aggression, anxiety, insomnia, phobias, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, high blood pressure, nausea, diarrhea, abdominal pain, itching, hives, menstrual changes, weight gain, hair thinning and hair loss, urinary burning and frequency, excessive thirst, fluid retention, bloating, increased infection, and even death.

Q: Death?
A: Five deaths reported prior to 1987. We don't know the number since then.

Q: What's in this stuff?
A: Among other things, it's about 10% methanol (wood alcohol,) famous for causing blindness in alcoholics. In the body, methanol metabolizes into formaldehyde, a neurotoxin; formic acid, a venom in ant stings; and diketopiperazine, which causes brain tumors in animals. It's so bad that in July of 1983, the National Soft Drink Association presented official objections to putting aspartame in beverages. I'll read you one of their objections: "It is well established under Section 402(a)(3) that a food which contains a decomposed substance…is subject to seizure by FDA." It's thoroughly established that after a number of weeks and at temperatures over 85 degrees F, there's no aspartame left in a soft drink, only breakdown products. So, why isn't FDA seizing it under Section 402 (a)(3)?

Q: Your book, Deadly Deception reports that initially FDA had started investigations of the G.D. Searle Company, makers of aspartame.
A: Yes. In 1977 an FDA task force submitted a 15,000 page document covering their investigation. Here are two quotes:
"We have uncovered serious deficiencies in Searle's integrity…"
"The cumulative findings of problems within and across the studies we investigated reveal a pattern of conduct which compromises the scientific integrity of the studies."

Q: These are from FDA's own task force report on Searle's aspartame research?
A: Exactly. Your readers may not know that aspartame was originally approved in 1974, but when the brain-tumor issue arose, the approval was withdrawn.

Q: Tell us about the "brain-tumor issue."
A: Many of the test animals fed aspartame developed large tumors. These were actually cut out, and the animals returned to the study. In some cases, the tumors weren't even examined for malignancy, and the tumors weren't reported to FDA. In several cases, animals were reported as dead and later reported as alive again.

Q: No wonder FDA's task force "uncovered serious deficiencies in Searle's integrity!"
A: The results of the task force investigation of aspartame and other Searle drugs were presented to the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Labor and Public Welfare. Senator Edward Kennedy said that "the extensive nature of the almost unbelievable range of abuses discovered by the FDA on several major Searle products is profoundly disturbing."

Q: So, how did aspartame ever get approved and progress so far into our food supply?
A: Well, for one thing, a former member of Congress and Chief of Staff in the Ford Administration, Donald Rumsfeld, was hired as President of Searle in 1977. Rumsfeld was paid $2 million in salary and $1.5 million in bonuses between 1979 and 1984.

Q: Oh-oh.
A: Also, in 1977, Senior Assistant U.S. Attorney, William Conlon was assigned to the Searle case. He took no action, despite repeated prodding by Richard Merrill, Chief Counsel to the FDA. One year later, Conlon took a position with Sidley and Austin, the law firm representing Searle.

Q: A pattern seems to be emerging.
A: Rumsfeld, now Searle president, hired: John Robson as Executive Vice-President – he had been a spokesman of the Civil Aeronautics Board; William Greener as Chief Spokesman for Searle – he had been a spokesman in the Ford White House; and, Robert Shapiro as General Counsel, who later became head of Searle's NutraSweet Division – he had been a Special Assistant in the Department of Transportation. But, here's the pay-off!

Q: No pun intended?
A: The facts are interesting, aren't they? In 1983, the Commissioner of the FDA, Dr. Arthur Hull Hayes, Jr. approved NutraSweet for soft drinks two months before leaving office. Two-to-three months later, he accepted a position as Senior Medical Advisor to Searle's public relations firm, Burson Marsteller. He was paid $1,000 per day as consultant.

Q: Really, $1,000 a day? This is a matter of public record?
A: A matter of public record. And, Michael Taylor was also involved in the approval of aspartame.

Q: Michael Taylor, the Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) man, who worked for FDA, lawyered for Monsanto to get rBGH approved, then went to work for FDA writing their BGH regulations?
A: The very same. Didn't you know that G. D. Searle is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Monsanto, with Robert Shapiro as current CEO?

Q: What a surprise. And a not unfamiliar pattern. But, tell us about aviation and aspartame.
A: The official Air Force safety magazine, FLYING SAFETY, and the Navy's flight magazine, NAVY PHYSIOLOGY, have both published warnings about using aspartame and flying.

Q: Will you give us an example?
A: A pilot called ACSN's Pilot Hotline two nights ago and told me about his experience. Flying for Peninsula Airlines in Alaska, he had a seizure in flight at 10,000 feet and was grounded. He had been drinking eight to ten cups of coffee a day sweetened with Equal, another aspartame compound. Since he quit aspartame, he's been seizure-free, but he hasn't been allowed to fly.

Q: We need to know more about this.
A: In my book, Deadly Deception, there's a reprint of a scientific paper showing that aspartame aggravates abnormal brain waves in children with epilepsy (Neurology 1992;42:1000-1003.)

Q: Maybe airline passengers should question pilots about aspartame use before boarding! What about those U.S. Senate hearings during which pilots testified about the adverse effects of aspartame on their flying abilities?
A: There have actually been three hearings.

Q: Here we go again!
A: Speaking of contributions… watch out diabetics! The NutraSweet company has given money, money, money to the American Diabetic Association. And, remember when you hear a registered dietitian say aspartame is safe for pregnant women, children, and everyone else, the Registered Dietitian's professional association has been given $75,000 to expound on the virtues of aspartame. The American Dietetic Association has even stated that the NutraSweet company writes their "Fact Sheets."

Q: So, there's money everywhere…to members of Congress, former regulatory bureaucrats, professional associations…
A: Absolutely. Aspartame approval and persistence on the market has everything to do with money and politics, and almost nothing to do with science and reason. Even the FDA's own reviewers were against aspartame until those political/financial events I've mentioned.

Q: Is there any hope to reverse all this?
A: Each of us will have to do it ourselves, one at a time and by spreading the word. Fortunately, it appears that the public pays more attention to this issue when they're given access to the information I've been outlining. The last TV show I appeared on about this issue, received 100,000 calls over the next three days.

Q: Thank you so much for devoting your time and energy to spreading the word about the hazards of aspartame.
A: Your readers can call the ASPARTAME CONSUMER SAFETY NETWORK at (214)352-4268 for more information as well as many suggestions for helping to make known the truth about aspartame.

*(U.S. Attorney, Samuel Skinner was prosecuting G.D. Searle for falsifying ests submitted for approval of aspartame, but recused himself at the last minute to join Searle's law firm, Sidley & Austin. Skinner then went back into Government, becoming head of the Dept. of Transportation – over the FAA. From there he was appointed Chief of Staff in President Bush's White House. Recently, he was nominated Man-of-the-Year by the Epilepsy Foundation in Chicago. Ironically, aspartame is reported to "trigger" epilepsy in a number of Epileptics. Also, former Monsanto Attorney, Clarence Thomas was appointed Supreme Court Judge amidst swirling controversy over his appointment! Ed.)

FOOD SAFETY EXPERT MARY NASH STODDARD LECTURES AT TOP MEDICAL SCHOOL ON ASPARTAME

Transcript of Aspartame Lecture UT Southwestern Medical School

[Continuing Education Series] January 23, 1997 – 12:00 -1:00 PM – Faculty Club given by Mary Stoddard Dr. Alan Stewart [Presenter]: Our Speaker today is Mary Stoddard. She is not a physician, but she has an awful lot of good information to give us on the topic of Aspartame. She is Founder of the Aspartame Consumer Safety Network, and has spoken rather extensively. She has been a guest on a variety of radio and television news and talk shows. And, I understand she is heading from here to do a 60-Minutes interview in Washington D.C., so we seem to have a "celebrity" among us. She has a wealth of information, as it relates to Aspartame [aka NutraSweet/Equal], to share with you. Mary Nash Stoddard: Thank you, Dr. Stewart. Aspartame is the topic we are here to discuss today. What is it? What is it in? And, why should we care? As Founder of the Aspartame Consumer Safety Network, I think we should care.  When I decided to form an organization to study the issue and collect data, I was invited to give testimony about our findings at the third Senate Hearing on the Safety of Aspartame, November 3, 1987. While there, I met others who had experienced extremely severe health problems. Aspartame is the generic name for the sweetener commonly known as Equal and NutraSweet. It's also known as Canderel, Bienvia, NatraSweet, Spoonfuls, Miwon and various other names in other parts of the world.  The substance was discovered by a G.D. Searle scientist, looking for a drug for peptic ulcers.  Aspartame was first approved by the FDA in 1974, but that approval was rescinded because of scientist's and other's serious concerns about the brain tumor issue.  The lab animals in the study, done by the drug company and submitted to the FDA for approval of the substance, developed brain tumors. They developed pancreatic tumors. They developed mammary (breast) tumors. And, they developed uterine tumors. So, the approval was rescinded at that time and it did not go onto the market for general use. In 1981, Administrations changed. A new FDA Director, brought in by President Reagan, approved Aspartame as a food additive, over vigorous objections from the FDA's own scientists and toxicologists. It was approved for use as a food additive and table top sweetener, only after Director, Dr. Arthur Hull Hayes, Jr., cast a tie-breaking vote.  In July of 1983, it was approved for use in aqueous solution (soft drink formulas). Even though the National Soft Drink Association presented strong dissent to Congress, it was widely distributed in sugar free (diet) soft drinks by 1984.  Following that second controversial approval, the FDA Director quit his office and went to work for the NutraSweet PR firm, Burson and Marsteller, for a thousand dollars a day. Now, I have to tell you that may not be a "legal" problem, but it most certainly is an "ethical" one. Monsanto is the parent company of NutraSweet, as of 1985. I am told Monsanto stockholders vehemently objected to this buyout of G.D. Searle because of the legal liabilities associated with the company's products. But, our battle is not with Monsanto.  Our consumer organization, is asking the FDA to recall and retest this substance as a drug, which is what it was discovered as in the first place. We want them to look at this after a number of years have gone by and the safety issues continue to remain unresolved today.  A.C.S.N. has collected over 10,000 reports of side effects and adverse reactions, many of them primary brain tumors – astrocytomas and glioblastomas, rare tumors that the lab animals developed in the original tests. We have lots of medical records in our files and even some autopsies.  Concerned consumers have sent us their medical records. The primary brain tumors that we are seeing develop in heavy users of Aspartame can be deadly. Some people routinely consume six to eight diet sodas a day and more. In our surveys we find that is not at all uncommon. Individuals are reporting: brain tumors, seizure disorders such as Epilepsy. They are reporting Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, Anxiety/Panic Disorders, Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, ALS, Alzheimer's, Mental Disorders, Systemic Lupus, Tachycardias/Arrhythmias, Eye/Vision problems, Migraines, Numbness, Muscle and Joint pain, Multiple Sclerosis symptoms, etc. Aspartame is an extremely complex molecule. It is: 50% Phenylalanine, which the head of Brain Science at MIT, Dr. Richard Wurtman says lowers the seizure threshold. It has definitely lowered the seizure threshold in a number of airline pilots I work with each day.  We've established an International Pilot's Hotline for reporting of adverse reactions on the part of pilots, after a request for help from F-16 pilot, Major Michael Collings. We met in Washington D.C. when we were both there to testify at the Senate Hearing in 1987. [And, later when we were both flown in to Washington by Thames Television in London, to be interviewed.] Major Collings was there to testify about his grand mal seizure on the flight line. In a private conversation with me, he said, "Mary, why are you doing this?" And, I answered, "I only want to warn other parents about this danger to children." Everywhere I turned… the FDA, when I called them, said, "no, it couldn't be a problem for anyone. Let your child keep using it." I found the NutraSweet hotline. Their #800. When I called it they said, "No, it isn't a problem. Let your child keep using it." We are all for medications whenever necessary for good health, but we are against unnecessarily medicating and not searching for the root cause for the condition. Major Collings then said, "Do it to help Pilots, too. We are losing our medical certification to fly, plus our jobs, our marriages, and in some cases, our lives." He went on to tell me about how he had turned down an invitation to join the most elite group in flying – The Thunderbirds – on three different occasions, because although he couldn't tell anyone, he felt unable to fly "wingtip to wingtip" with them, due to his unstable physical condition. So, 50% of the molecule is Phenylalanine. 40% is Aspartic Acid, which caused holes in the brains of the laboratory animals. You may have seen or heard some of the publicity connected with Dr. John Olney's study in the November '96 Journal of Neuropathy and Experimental Neuropathology. Olney authored the article, which detailed his theory regarding the cause of a phenomenal 10% rise in the incidence of primary brain tumors in the population, since the advent of Aspartame in the American diet in the early 1980s. Many of these, are sixty five and older. We don't know exactly why. One reason could be that they are developing diabetes later in life, and put on the sweetener at that time. They are taking Metamucil, which has Aspartame, and Alka Seltzer Plus, Tums, and using Equal in their coffee and tea. Dr. Jeffrey Bada, researcher at the University of California at San Diego, writes that when Aspartame is heated above 85 degrees Fahrenheit, it breaks down into Methanol. Ten percent Methanol by weight. It then breaks down into Formaldehyde (embalming fluid), Formic Acid (ant sting venom) and Diketopiperazine (DKP). All highly toxic – but, the DKP may just be the most problematic of all, because it caused brain tumors in the lab tests.  Bada is also concerned about sterio-isomer effects. And, Dr. Olney states Aspartame is nitrosated in the digestive process. Thus creating a potentially carcinogenic condition. So, the 40% Aspartic Acid is probably the least dangerous of the components, and yet, it caused "silent" lesions in the brains of the lab animals. It also changed the DNA, because the third generation of pups were born morbidly obese and sexually dysfunctional. Most people are using it in an attempt to lose weight. Ironically, we have studies to show that it can sabotage a conscientious weight loss program. One of my good friends has been written up in the fitness journals. As a Bench Blast Aerobics Instructor, she started drinking diet drinks to replace meals. She had it in lieu of lunch, for example, and she developed a condition which her doctor diagnosed as Graves Disease, a hyperthyroid condition. In the hospital she said, "I don't want to have my thyroid irradiated just yet." Against her doctor's wishes, she checked herself out and made an appointment to see a Nutritionist. Together they evaluated what she had been eating and drinking and what had changed drastically in her diet. On the advice of her Nutritionist, she eliminated Aspartame from her diet and got well. No more Graves Disease. Now, this may be pure coincidence and anecdotal, as are many other cases in our files, but I have to believe there is a strong connection. My purpose in being here today, is to ask you, as Physicians in clinical practice, to consider Aspartame as a possible cause of any medical condition if the patient is a user. (Especially, a daily user.)  Ask about it in your history taking. Go forward with diagnostic testing, if you feel it's needed, but at the same time, ask the patient to refrain from using the sweetener in any form, for a period of four to six weeks. If the symptoms don't greatly diminish, or go away completely, then, of course, you look for another cause. Then go on with your vigorous diagnostic testing. We're finding that most patients become asymptomatic when taken off of it.  This means that in some cases, MRIs are done needlessly. We're talking about a lot of money being spent on unnecessary tests. I am not against testing patients. But, I am against it until they are taken off this substance temporarily, for a period of four to six weeks. We feel that is a fair request. And, I am not the only one asking for this. Many of your colleagues are adopting this specific plan of treatment, with great success. I am not blaming Aspartame for every illness or syndrome in the world today. It isn't the cause of every one of your patient's symptoms. But, again, I ask you, in your history taking, to ask about every patient's use of the substance. If they use it, the fairest thing to you, as well as to them, is for them to get off of it – for a short period of time at least. The breakdown products, that occur when heated above 85 degrees Fahrenheit, are extremely worrisome to a number of our researchers. Methanol, of course (10% of the molecule) is well known in the literature for doing damage to the eye, liver, brain, and other organs of the body. So that Methanol alone, in my opinion, should send up a red flag in our minds.  By the way, Aspartame can exceed the EPA standards for safe levels of Formaldehyde ingestion. But, that hasn't been looked at thoroughly enough either.  Some of these things Aspartame may exacerbate or mimic. I'm not saying these syndromes and diseases were not around prior to the advent of Aspartame. But, if you have a patient with any one of these special diseases, or symptom series, you may want to look at that as an exacerbation of their symptoms, if not the root cause. These are not limited to, but can include: Epilepsy, Brain Tumors, Blindness, Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, Systemic Lupus, Alzheimer's (affecting long term and short term memory), Lou Gehrig's Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Fibromyalgia, Lyme Disease, Graves Disease, Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, Heart Ailments and others. Here is a book I think you will find interesting. It's written by a neurologist and it's called: Excitotoxins The Taste That Kills. The author, Dr. Russell Blaylock has done a thorough study of one of the most important neurotransmitters in the body: Serotonin. Blaylock explains how Aspartame blocks production of Serotonin. Specifically, Phenylalanine in Aspartame seems to block or inhibit production of Serotonin, which regulates our sleep patterns. In females, it regulates the menstrual cycle and it also regulates our moods. So, patients who are heavy Aspartame users may be at higher risk of developing some sort of mood disorder. You might want to consider that when settling on a diagnosis. A very important point to remember: Aspartame violated the Delaney Clause by causing: uterine, mammary (breast), pancreatic and brain tumors in the original laboratory test animals. One of the things people find most interesting whenever I speak publicly is how this is affecting the health of Airline Pilots. One of the people being interviewed by 60-Minutes tomorrow is a commuter airline pilot in Alaska who had a grand mal seizure in flight, in the cockpit. Luckily, his radio was tuned in to the Navy frequency (he was a Naval Reserve Pilot), and there was a Naval Patrol plane in the vicinity to instruct his passenger how to fly the plane… now, I am not making this up… until the pilot regained consciousness about ten minutes later.  Capt. Wilson's story made national headlines in 1993. Pilot, Harold Wilson has joined us in our efforts to alert pilots and others in the aviation industry to this danger. He used to be a heavy Aspartame user. He is convinced he has found the cause of his problem. He has had no more grand mal seizures, but guess what. This man, a very good pilot, is no longer able to work in his chosen profession. All that time and money spent on the training and licenses counts for nothing now. He is not alone.  Over a thousand pilot-related phone calls have been made to our Pilot Hotline. Pilots call who can't discuss their problems and concerns with anyone else but us, because I keep the information they share with me confidential. I've had several reports of airline pilots who have had grand mal seizures in flight. I logged two reports of the same incident. When I asked the second caller for specifics, he said, "Now, we are not turning this guy in. He's fine and we don't want him to lose his job." I said, "But, why don't you turn the report in if he's not safe to fly with?" And, they said, "Because the situation corrected itself in a matter of minutes." This is a major concern for us. We have more and more airline, as well as general aviation pilots coming to us saying, "Please help me. I can't get my license back."  The FAA won't officially recognize this situation. I've met with FAA Chief Deputy Flight Surgeons in Washington and with officials from the FDA, as well. They let us know they have no intention of taking official action regarding this vast problem. As one wise FAA Medical Examiner from Brownwood, Texas said at a University Symposium on this subject, "The FDA has its foot stuck in a bucket and it can't get it out!" Only a Texan could use that kind of terminology and get away with it – but, I think he is right.  In a recent national television interview, the Deputy Director of the FDA admitted, "Yes, there was sloppy testing on the part of the drug company, but what do you expect us to do?" So, they don't know what to do about it and they told me so when I met with them at their agency offices in Washington D.C. Then, the FAA's position was and still is: We can't regulate or recall a drug. And, we can't warn pilots, because it is a legally approved substance.  Every now and then we have a little victory: The U.S. Navy and The United States Air Force took our warnings to pilots seriously enough to print warnings [on three different occasions] to military pilots. There is an entire section in our 200 p. report, Deadly Deception – Story of Aspartame, dedicated to Flying and Aspartame. Often, people ask where we get our funding. The sugar lobby? The saccharin people? No, no, I promise you we don't. The Deadly Deception is our fund raiser. My mother and sister are here with me today and will attest to the fact that we spend many midnight hours addressing and stuffing envelopes… all for no pay. I have used the small amount of money I received from my husband's death from Brain Cancer, in 1985, to keep this effort going. I also have a full time job that pays the rent. I do it because I believe this substance is hurting people. I believe the research that shows it is capable of causing brain tumors.  And, I have firsthand knowledge of the devastation a brain tumor can cause. Not only to the patient, but to the family. My husband's brain tumors were from metastasized melanoma – not from Aspartame ingestion. However, I believe it would be doing a disservice to his memory not to tell others one way to possibly keep from developing a brain tumor is to avoid the diet sweetener. I always plead with people to not give it to children. According to Dr. Louis Elsas, head of Genetics at Emory University in Atlanta, the Phenylalanine in Aspartame can quadruple on the side of the placenta during pregnancy, thereby causing a possible 10% drop in I.Q. scores of the child born under these conditions.  There is a warning on every label to people with PKU not to use the product containing Aspartame. But, what about the 20 million carriers of the PKU gene [who do not know of their condition] who are also at risk? And, what about the pregnant woman carrying a PKU fetus? PKU children may avoid the substance which puts them at risk for mental retardation, at home. But, what about when they are out in the community or at a neighbor's home?  The Head of Brain Science at MIT and others say the components of Aspartame are capable of crossing the blood brain barrier as well. And, based on our research, in no way does the body treat Phenylalanine and Aspartic Acid produced synthetically in the lab in the same manner as it does that which is found in nature. In their natural state, these amino acids are found in perfect balance with all the other ameliorating amino acids. Methanol, when found in nature, is always accompanied by Ethanol, which neutralizes the toxic effect. There is no Ethanol in Aspartame. Only Methanol. So, right there you have a prescription for disaster. Parents, Pilots, Scientists and others all over the world are concerned about the ubiquitous and harmful nature of this substance. They don't know what to do about it. It is not our style to "picket" anyone such as the makers of Aspartame, for example. We don't break any laws.  We attempt to educate people with our information. To do that, we use our 200 page Syllabus, Deadly Deception, which is solid documentation of all I've said here today and more. It is simply reprints from the literature. Peer-reviewed journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Neurology and Experimental Neuropathology, Biological Psychiatry, Association of Birth Defect Children, Dermatology Rounds, Neurotoxicology and Teratology, to name just a few. What would I like to see happen? We are asking the FDA to recall and retest Aspartame as a drug, which is how it was discovered – as a drug for peptic ulcers.  You, as doctors, know that the testing for a drug is far more rigorous than the testing for a food additive. We believe it could never pass the drug test. I am asking you, as physicians, to carefully consider Aspartame as one possible cause – not even a probable cause, but a possible cause when you are diagnosing a patient. We believe that to neglect to do so is unfair to both patient and doctor.  We are suggesting a four to six week period of total abstinence from Aspartame for your patient, in order to obtain a clear diagnosis. Thousands of people have reported to us and to the FDA, that when they get off the substance, their symptoms go away. Upon reexposure, either intentional or accidental, they begin to experience symptoms again. We believe them when they say that.  ACSN is collecting adverse reactions to Aspartame in the form of Case History Reports. Keep that in mind whenever you run across someone in your practice who fits the profile of an Aspartame Reactor. My doctor believes that I have had an adverse reaction. He's a good doctor. He truly listens to his patient. And, he works in partnership with patients to find solutions to a medical problem. In closing, I do not expect you to suddenly become Aspartame Activists. I suppose that is to be my role for the time being, anyway. But, please do consider Aspartame as a possible cause of symptoms, when caring for your patients. That is all we're asking. Thank you.

HOW MANY ASPARTAME USERS DIAGNOSED W/BRAIN TUMORS? (Children & Adults w/Deadly Astrocytoma & Glioblastoma)

Increasing Brain Tumor Rates: Is There a Link to Aspartame?

John W. Olney, MD, Nuri B. Farber, Edward Spitznagel, and Lee N. Robins

Abstract.  In the past two decades brain tumor rates have risen in several industrialized countries, including the United States. During this time, brain tumor data have been gathered by the National Cancer Institute from catchment areas representing 10% of the United States population. In the present study, we analyzed these data from 1975 to 1002 and found that the brain tumor increases in the United States occurred in two distinct phases, an early modest increase that may primarily reflect improved diagnostic technology, and a more recent sustained increase in t he incidence and degree of malignancy of brain tumors. Evidence potentially implicating aspartame includes an early animal study revealing an exceedingly high incidence of brain tumors in aspartame-fed rats compared to no brain tumors in concurrent controls, the recent finding that the aspartame molecule has mutagenic potential, and the close temporal association [aspartame was introduced into US food and beverage markets several years prior to the sharp increase in brain tumor incidence and malignancy.] We conclude that there is need for reassessing the carcinogenic potential of aspartame.

Key Words: Aspartame: Brain tumors: Human: Increased incidence: Increased malignancy: Mutagenesis.

Also see article by Dr Erik Millstone
Science Policy Research Unit
Mantell Building
University of Sussex
Brighton BN1 9RF
England

• Home
• ACSN Pilot Hotline
• Founders
• FAQ
• Press Releases
• Articles
• Interviews
• Lectures
• Deadly Deception
• Action Agenda
• Photo Gallery
• Contact
• En ESPAÑOL
• Questionnaire

Mary Nash Stoddard Panelist at Natl. Brain Tumor News Conference in Washington DC

Photo Gallery

Washington D.C.– Brain Tumor News Conference

[View with PicLens]

Mexican Government Keynote Speech

[View with PicLens]

AIM International Lecture Tour

(Ohio, Florida, Texas, Wyoming, Arkansas, Minnesota, Canada)

[View with PicLens]

Mary lectures with Dr. Lendon Smith,
renowned Pediatrician at Federation of Health Conference

[View with PicLens]

Send Us Your Serious Aspartame Adverse Reactions (anecdotal or medically-documented)

Questionnaire

(email to: marystod@airmail.net)

Is Aspartame Affecting You?

Name:

Street:

City:

State/Zip:

Country: Tel: ( ) (res.) Tel: ( ) (work)

FAX: Email address:

Age: Sex:

Q. May we have permission to publish your data to help others?

A.

Q. Name medical problems YOU experienced while using aspartame (tm NutraSweet/tm Equal).

A.

Q. Have you been diagnosed with any form of malignancy that coincided with your aspartame use?
(Aspartame caused brain, uterine and mammary tumors in lab animals in the original tests.)

A.

Q. Did your symptoms go away or diminish when you stopped using the sweetener?

A.

Q. How long have you been Aspartame-free?

A.

Q. Did you see a Doctor about any of these symptoms?

A.

Q. Did your Doctor think it could be related to aspartame?

A.

Q. Did your Doctor advise you to stop using aspartame?

A.

Q. Did you use aspartame while pregnant? (Give approx. amounts.) (Aspartame changes DNA and has
caused birth defects in lab animals.)

A.

Q. Did you report your symptoms to the FDA (Food & Drug Admin.) or any other group?

A.

Q. Name the specific products) containing aspartame you were consuming when you experienced
these symptoms. (Brand names.)

A.

Q. On the average, what quantity were you consuming (how often, how much each time, etc.)

A.

Q. Did you ever feel addicted to your sweetener? (Describe)

A.

Q. How long had you been consuming aspartame before you began to experience any symptoms?

A. FOR THOSE CONCERNED ABOUT WEIGHT: Did you begin using products with aspartame when
you began a restricted calorie diet or joined a weight loss program?

Did you use aspartame products only for some of your meals to save calories?

Did aspartame seem to help you lose weight at first?

What were the long term weight loss effects of using aspartame.

FOR THOSE WITH DIABETES:

Q. Did your Doctor or a Registered Dietitian tell you to use aspartame?

A.

Q. Any trouble controlling blood sugar levels while using aspartame? (Explain)

A.

Q. Did using aspartame affect the types of food you selected to eat?

A.

Q. How?

A.

Q. Did you contact the American Diabetic Association about your problems w/aspartame? If yes,
what was their response?

A.

Q. Did aspartame affect your desire for sweet tasting food or drink?

A.

Aspartame Awareness Action Agenda

Action Agenda

[please print out and distribute copies or email to all your contacts]

1. Tell everyone you know about this serious health and public policy issue. Post on message boards, etc.

2. Ask the next 5 people you see using aspartame if they've had any of the reported symptoms. [Ask about migraine, mood swings, unexplained joint pain or muscle spasm/cramping.]

3. Get off aspartame for 4 to 6 weeks to see your physical ailments and mental attitudes improve.

4. If you are under a doctor's care for any medical condition which may be related to aspartame use – tell your doctor to enter into your official medical records that you have ceased using aspartame and want to be monitored by him/her from this date forward to see if your condition improves and your symptoms subside. Let the records reflect that the 'patient' believes aspartame use may have triggered or exacerbated the patient's symptoms. This step is very important.

5. Join with over 10,000 consumers and concerned scientists worldwide connected to ACSN, to actively promote awareness in the consuming public. Especially when it comes to products formulated for use by children.

6. Take all aspartame products back to the store. Insist on exchange for something healthy. Tell the store manager they may be making you sick and you want the manufacturer to know. Manufacturer's must understand that consumers will no longer tolerate neurotoxins in our food and children's items [including gums, breath mints, medications etc.]

7. Write letters to the U. S. Food and Drug Administration and Federal Aviation Administration [or their equivalent if you reside in countries outside the U.S.] and manufacturers who use aspartame in their products. Copy the editor of your local newspaper and the news assignments editor of your local TV stations. State concisely and respectfully your displeasure regarding the government/industry cover up and conspiracy of silence in the case of aspartame.

8. Copy, post and distribute ACSN's Fact Sheet flyer to everyone you know. Help us spread the word. Let it be known that there is an organization aggressively addressing this issue.

9. Make sure pilots are aware of our confidential adverse reporting hotline. Many have lost their medical certification to fly which they connected to their heavy use of aspartame sweeteners in foods, drinks and gums.

10. Actively support our organization with your time, money and other resources. Help us by making a generous donation today. Any help you give will be greatly appreciated and used wisely to educate the public about artificial sweeteners – thus promoting healthier lifestyles.