RIP BELOVED ACTOR LARRY HAGMAN (J.R. EWING) - WORLD'S FAVORITE TV VILLAIN
Mary Nash Stoddard
Nov. 24, 2012
Remembering Mr. Larry Hagman, phenomenal actor, and equally phenomenal humanitarian and friend. Those of us who knew and loved him miss him very much - along with the remainder of the entire world!
I will be telling my stories about my time spent on-the-set of both DALLAS TV Series, (Old & New), as well as campaigning together for one of our favorite Texas Legislators, Sen. Bob Krueger.
Since 1993, Hagman gave moral support to the work of Aspartame Consumer Safety Network and Pilot Hotline, an all-volunteer organization I began, in 1987, to help save lives of victims around the planet. Larry truly cared about his fellow human beings, both in and out of the business.
Larry cared about the safety of our Food Supply and toward the end of his life, he became a vegetarian. We had lunch together fairly recently, on the SET of the New DALLAS Series (we were both in Scenes to be Shot that day, and Larry was dutifully dining on all-veggie dishes and salad.)
I'd introduced Larry to the Stevita Stevia products made by my dear friend, Oscar Rodes, at the local Arlington Texas company I represented, as public relations director, for a number of years. I gave he and wife, Maj, our information Fact Sheet on Aspartame Sweeteners at a Reception/Fund Raiser for Sen. Krueger, Feb. 28th 1993, at Southland Center Hotel. He looked over the Fact Sheet with everyone gathered around, and asked, "What do you recommend we use instead?" That's when I told him about the Stevita Stevia alternative. When he shared my info with his friends, he would refer to me as the "Aspartame Lady from Dallas." This was just prior to his receiving a Liver Transplant.
A few years later, I was interviewed for a film documentary on Aspartame, as the Pioneer Campaigner since the mid-eighties, and I mentioned in passing Larry Hagman's being one of our friend/supporters, so the producer, Cori Brackett, contacted him for an interview, which he granted. He was then contacted by other Aspartame webmasters on the Internet, after they learned of his involvement with ACSN.
In 2012, we reconnected on the DALLAS SET, where we were both working. We had a 'running schtick' the last few months, about the beautiful gold watch he designed and wore. He was mischievous and fun-loving wherever he went. It was obvious he loved his work! And, everyone loved Larry!
Thank you, Larry Hagman for being that generous, talented person who gave us countless joyous hours of entertainment, along with motivating us to get actively involved in saving the planet and the people on it. We will be forever grateful to have known and worked with one of the TV and Film Industry Giants. Truly a National Treasure! Having the added benefit of his friendship was 'frosting' on the proverbial cake!
RIP, J.R., Sir. You will be missed!
Mary Nash Stoddard Founder
Aspartame Consumer Safety Network and Pilot Hotline (since 1987)
(I am saving a wonderful story about a hysterical interaction between Larry, my teenage daughter and me when we were Guests on the SET for Lunch and an entire day spent with the Cast on Southfork Ranch. It happened in the early/mid-eighties and when reminded of it years later ... Larry remembered and had a good laugh. I'll be sure to include it in a Stoddard's POV Blog later.)
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
STATEMENT TO COMMITTEE ON IDENTIFYING EFFECTIVE TREATMENTS FOR GULF WAR VETERAN’S HEALTH PROBLEMS
Institute of Medicine – National Academy of Sciences [FO3030B]
2101 Constitution Avenue N.W.
Washington D.C. 20418
2101 Constitution Avenue N.W.
Washington D.C. 20418
STATEMENT
TO COMMITTEE ON IDENTIFYING
EFFECTIVE TREATMENTS
FOR GULF WAR VETERAN’S HEALTH PROBLEMS
Thank you for this opportunity to share our research with the Committee today. For over half a decade, our organization has been concerned about the far reaching effects of Gulf War Syndrome touching the lives of the brave men and women who served so valiantly in the Persian Gulf.
Last year, as the invited guest of the Desert Storm Justice Foundation, I attended the Gulf War Veteran’s Annual Conference in Las Vegas to observe and gather more evidence to support our allegations that aspartame ingestion may be partially responsible for many of the very real symptoms suffered by a large number of those who served in Desert Storm. In talking with various attendees, I learned that most had been exposed to the toxic breakdown products of aspartame: methanol, formaldehyde, diketopiperazine and formic acid during their tour of duty.
The fact that ingestion of degraded, toxic substances due to breakdown of aspartame in desert heat [sugarfree sodas, kool aids, MREs] can not be disputed. What is important now is that further damage is not done by ingesting more aspartame.
Those unfortunate individuals suffering the devastating effects of Gulf War Syndrome – from whatever the cause of their initial illness – must now know that GWS is exacerbated by further use of any product containing aspartame. The risk of greater neurological damage is a very real threat. Aspartame may commonly be found in the following items: chewing gums, breath mints, diet sodas, instant coffees, teas, kool aids, protein drinks, yogurts, puddings, toppings, tabletop sweeteners, cereals, fiber drinks, Tums, Alka Seltzer formulas, etc.
Therefore, I submit that all treatment of Gulf War illnesses must include a warning to avoid all products containing aspartame. Avoidance of further toxic assaults on the immune system is a very important part of the healing process and should not be ignored by those who remain ill and health care providers entrusted with their treatment. Beyond that, we’ve found the normal attempts to observe the principals of a healthy lifestyle – proper rest, exercise, Re hydration with pure water and eating real fruits, vegetables, grains and unprocessed foods allows the body to attempt to heal itself. Obviously, those who have suffered the most severe physical damage will need to work with health care providers to find the best therapies and medications for their particular needs and symptoms.
Thank you for allowing us to enter our data into the public records. Please feel free to call upon me if you have further questions. I have enclosed [in triplicate] copies of articles from the U.S.A.F. Flying Safety magazine; Hazards International, [a scientific journal in the U.K.]; The Plano Star Courier [article on GWS] and a press release from the Las Vegas Gulf War Veteran’s Conference.
Respectfully,
Mary Nash Stoddard, Founder and President
Sunday, November 25, 2012
I introduced my friend, Larry Hagman, to Stevia, when I gave him the Aspartame Consumer Safety Network Fact Sheet Information, at a Reception in Dallas TX, Feb. 28th, 1993, and he asked about alternatives. He stopped using Aspartame and switched to Stevia at that point. Larry, in his later years, worked hard at eating right. Mostly vegetarian and free of chemicals. I loved working with him and having him tell his friends about the Aspartame Lady in Dallas he got his info from! I miss Larry Hagman lots already. RIP, J.R. Ewing. You're our Hero!
Stevia – Best No-Cal Sweeteneer
STEVIA – NATURAL CONTENDER FOR TITLE OF WORLD’S BEST NO-CAL SWEETENER
Who will win the sweetener wars? At stake are billions of dollars shelled out by weight conscious and health conscious consumers world wide. Key players in this bitter battle for mega profits are: stevia [natural, sweet tasting herb] and the chemical sweeteners, aspartame [aka NutraSweet and Equal] and neotame.
Is stevia really the forbidden natural alternative to aspartame? Stevia [Stevia rebaudiana Bertoli] has been used for centuries in the rest of the world as a low-calorie, no-adverse-reactions-reported, sweet herb. It can be purchased as crushed leaves, a dark liquid, a clear liquid or a fluffy white powder. Anyone can grow it. It’s the sweetener that can’t be called a sweetener in the U.S.!
Shoved illogically into the “Dietary Supplement” category by the FDA in 1994 when DSHEA [Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act] went into effect, stevia remains in limbo, in a sort of “halfway house,” while the U.S. Food and Drug Administration [FDA] struggles to keep it off the market as a legally approved sweetener.
Unlike aspartame and neotame [NutraSweet Company's potent, new sweetener], stevia is unquestionably safe to cook with. But, without guidance on ratios and conversions – the average consumer is at a loss to know how to use it. Stevia is much less expensive to use than its synthetic counterparts. By the way, aspartame, by law, has to appear on a product’s ingredient label. NutraSweet Company’s Neotame, on the other hand, may hide in a product, without its name appearing on the ingredient label. Some FDA watchers are baffled by this action.
More and more consumers are rejecting the pharmaceutical versions of sugar such as: saccharin, acesulfame K, sucralose, aspartame and neotame, and are searching for the ideal “healthy” sweetener. This makes stevia, the natural choice [no pun intended], a very real threat to aspartame, neotame and the others.
In July 2005, a study was published, showing aspartame created at least two forms of cancers [leukemia and lymphoma] in lab animals fed aspartame. The study was conducted by researchers from the European Ramazzini Foundation, an independent group located in Bologna, Italy.
FDA points to only two questionable studies as their absolute proof that stevia is not safe. The first, ineptly done, by a graduate student in South America, says it may have [are you ready for this?] a mild contraceptive property. The other, published in 1988 in a Brazilian pharmacological journal, was extremely sloppy science and no one but the FDA gives it any credence whatsoever. On the off chance the public does not share FDA’s concern about stevia’s possible contraceptive qualities, they have come up with some strictly hearsay evidence, which they’ve never seen, through the South American “grapevine” that stevia might be unsafe for having a hypothetical hypoglycemic effect on some individuals. These are extremely flimsy straws the FDA is grasping at to support their ban on stevia as a sweetener.
FDA claims no petitions have been filed by product manufacturers seeking to use stevia as a Generally Recognized as Safe [or GRAS] ingredient in their product.
What they really mean is the FDA has never accepted a petition filed by a food or beverage manufacturer seeking to use stevia as a sweetener in their product. Several, including Lipton have filed petitions only to be denied acceptance for some FDA-invented technical error.
FDA ignores the overwhelming evidence of stevia’s benign and beneficial character. Usage in the rest of the world for centuries with no reported ill affects, counts for nothing in the closed regulatory mind.
FDA even went so far as to attack one importer and distributor of stevia for perceived “violations” of the rules and regulations governing dietary supplements. The crime? Three books were being distributed by Stevita Co. of Arlington, Texas [owners of the Brazilian patent on stevia manufacturing] which described the history and usage of the sweet herb, stevia.
Not only was the business-owner ordered to destroy his inventory of books – he was also forced to remove all links to other sites on his internet web site. A clear violation of First Amendment rights by the FDA? Could this controversy over stevia be related to FDA’s defensive attitude over aspartame? [aka NutraSweet/Equal/Natrataste/Canderel, etc.
FDA continues to fiercely support the artificial sweetener aspartame [aka NutraSweet/Equal] based solely on industry-sponsored tests showing safety. [Monsanto, a former patent-holder on aspartame, has bought up and put on hold the U.S. patent on stevia manufacturing].
FDA’s official position? Absolutely nothing is wrong or harmful about aspartame, despite the undisputed fact that approximately 80% of all adverse reaction complaints to FDA are aspartame related. Unlike pharmaceuticals – serious adverse reactions to a food additive are not required by law to be reported by physicians. FDA lists over 92 symptoms consumers have tied to aspartame consumption – including deaths. Reports show that when individuals cease ingesting aspartame, their symptoms usually go away.
“Junk Science” or worse was used by G.D. Searle to gain approval for aspartame in the first place as a tabletop sweetener in 1981 and in 1983 for aqueous solution [soft drinks]. Some concerned FDA toxicologists even went as far as to show the tests were “falsified” to get aspartame approved in the first place. Aspartame was first FDA-approved in 1974, but that approval was rescinded before it could get to market because of serious questions about one of the breakdown products, DKP , which caused brain tumors in the laboratory animals. At a Washington D.C. News Conference, November 1997, John Olney, M.D., noted brain researcher, presented his compelling findings of a 10% increase in brain tumors since the advent of aspartame on the market.
Further troubling to many independent scientists is the fact that virtually all the studies showing harm are “corporate neutral” as one aspartame researcher put it. Many studies are available to show harm caused by aspartame’s phenylalanine, aspartic acid and toxic breakdown products: methanol – formaldehyde – formic acid and diketopiperazine. Tens of thousands of consumers and others have reported serious adverse reactions to the FDA and consumer advocacy organizations collecting reports, such as the international Aspartame Consumer Safety Network and Pilot Hotline.
Woodrow Monte, R.D., Ph.D., a former director of the Arizona State University Food Sciences and Nutrition Laboratory, is uncomfortable with the methanol content of aspartame. In an 1986 interview, Monte called aspartame “a crime against humanity.” “Humans are 100 times more sensitive to methanol than animals. When you ingest aspartame, it breaks down into methanol within one hour of ingestion. Methanol forms as soon as aspartame goes into solution and increases the longer it is in solution.” according to Monte. Because heat speeds the breakdown of aspartame into methanol. This raises serious concern about aspartame’s 1993 approval for use in baked goods and other heated products, like hot cocoa and tea. Although aspartame came about as the result of a search for a drug, and its compounds were the basis for a potential prescription medication, the petition for approval of NutraSweet was based on the premise that it was a food additive. The FDA followed its precedent of permitting manufacturers to conduct their own product safety research.
Monte feels that aspartame was mislabeled from the beginning. “aspartame is a drug, not a food additive,” he said. “One hundred million people, from little babies to the elderly, are consuming this stuff in megadoses, more than they ever would if it were labeled a drug.” [Informed Consent May/June ‘94]
Outspoken critics are suggesting – not that we rid ourselves of a Food and Drug Administration – only that we rid ourselves of the present “corrupted” Food and Drug Administration thus changing the current FDA focus of protecting the profits of the giants of industry to one of protecting the American public, which it is charged to serve.
The FDA seems to have everything “backwards” in its regulatory thinking. The herbal sweetener with centuries of no adverse reactions to its credit versus the artificial sweetener which has been surrounded by a storm of controversy since its flawed approval twenty four years ago. Follow the Money and Political Trail.
Conclusion: FDA’s ability to evaluate any substance objectively has been called into question by consumers and independent researchers alike. Senator Metzenbaum called FDA officials mere “Handmaidens to Industry” in the 1987 Senate Hearings on the Safety of aspartame. Corporate megabucks influence and determine the actions of that government agency created to protect the consumer from harm. In an unfortunate ripple effect, FDA’s seal of approval is the standard used by agencies around the world to allow food additives into their countries, without doing their own investigations. Corporations routinely cover themselves by donating millions to organizations such as: American Dietetic Association, American Diabetic Foundation and others. FDA officials routinely hop with jumping-bean-like ease from government to private industry and back.
Who will win the Sweetener Wars? Greed versus health, which will win? It’s up to us, the consuming public. One person can and must work to make a difference in the way the world looks at sweeteners.
ACTION AGENDA:
- Tell everyone you know about this issue.
- Work with those organizations lobbying to get stevia legally approved as a safe and natural sweetener.
- Let your grocer know you want a naturally healthy choice when it comes to sweeteners.
- Take aspartame-sweetened items back to the store to exchange for something healthy.
- Try the sweet taste of stevia – many say it’s the beneficial, safe alternative to all of the unhealthy, chemical sweeteners.
______________________________________
Books available on Stevia:
- The Stevia Story - A tale of incredible sweetness & intrigue - Linda and Bill Bonvie and Donna Gates
- Sugar-Free Cooking With Stevia - James and Tanya Kirkland
- Books on Aspartame:
- Deadly Deception – Story of Aspartame - Mary Nash Stoddard
- Deadly Deception – Story of Aspartame [One Hour Video Lecture at Science Symposium]
- Excitotoxins – The Taste That Kills - Russell Blaylock, M.D.
Available from ACSN – P.O. Box 2001 – Frisco, TX 75034 – U.S.
Phone: 214.387.4001
http://www.aspartamesafety.com
Phone: 214.387.4001
http://www.aspartamesafety.com
______________________________________
INCREDIBLE CASE HISTORY OF ONE COURAGEOUS STEVIA DISTRIBUTORStevita Co. – Arlington Texas
INCREDIBLE CASE HISTORY OF ONE COURAGEOUS STEVIA DISTRIBUTORStevita Co. – Arlington Texas
“Freedom of the Press embraces the circulation of books as well as their publication.”
- from Judge’s ruling in Bantam Books v Sullivan [1963]
CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS
Summer 1996
Stevita Company imported the first shipment of Stevia spoonful (blend of stevioside and maltodextrin) with registered trade name of STEVIASWEET. FDA office in Dallas detained the shipment of approximately 3,000 jars, saying Stevita Co. could not use the trade name STEVIASWEET because the word ‘Sweet’ on the name implied that stevia could be used as a sugar substitute. So, Mr. Rodes changed the labels (at American Airlines warehouse) to STEVITA brand. Products with new labels were then released.
Stevita Company imported the first shipment of Stevia spoonful (blend of stevioside and maltodextrin) with registered trade name of STEVIASWEET. FDA office in Dallas detained the shipment of approximately 3,000 jars, saying Stevita Co. could not use the trade name STEVIASWEET because the word ‘Sweet’ on the name implied that stevia could be used as a sugar substitute. So, Mr. Rodes changed the labels (at American Airlines warehouse) to STEVITA brand. Products with new labels were then released.
Early 1997
Stevita Co. started importing Stevita chocolate flavored and Stevita cappuccino flavored products. First shipments passed through customs with no problems.
Stevita Co. started importing Stevita chocolate flavored and Stevita cappuccino flavored products. First shipments passed through customs with no problems.
October, 1997
A shipment of Stevita cappuccino flavored product was detained by FDA. They claimed Stevita Co. was selling coffee instead of Stevia. Mr. Rodes then submitted a new label (MAGIC) that removed the word coffee. After changing all the labels (about 5,000) the shipment was released.
A shipment of Stevita cappuccino flavored product was detained by FDA. They claimed Stevita Co. was selling coffee instead of Stevia. Mr. Rodes then submitted a new label (MAGIC) that removed the word coffee. After changing all the labels (about 5,000) the shipment was released.
November 12, 1997
FDA inspectors, Martha Baldwin and Pauline Logan inspected Stevita facilities and took samples of the books and some scientific literature.
FDA inspectors, Martha Baldwin and Pauline Logan inspected Stevita facilities and took samples of the books and some scientific literature.
March 6, 1998
Stevita Co. received a warning letter from FDA saying the presence of literature, including the information on Stevita’s web site, was rendering the stevia products “adulterated.” Stevita Co. was given 5 days to reply. James Turner’s office (Swankin & Turner Washington D.C. law firm) then requested a 15 day extension.
Stevita Co. received a warning letter from FDA saying the presence of literature, including the information on Stevita’s web site, was rendering the stevia products “adulterated.” Stevita Co. was given 5 days to reply. James Turner’s office (Swankin & Turner Washington D.C. law firm) then requested a 15 day extension.
March 26, 1998
James Turner’s office submitted an answer to the Warning Letter from FDA, agreeing with all the requests, with the exception of the destruction of the books and cessation of Stevita product sales.
James Turner’s office submitted an answer to the Warning Letter from FDA, agreeing with all the requests, with the exception of the destruction of the books and cessation of Stevita product sales.
April 1, 1998
Two shipments that had been detained by FDA had labels approved by FDA in Washington D.C.. However, Mr. James R. LaHar of the Dallas District office orders the shipments to continue being put on hold, because in his opinion, Mr. Oscar Rodes’ Stevita Company’s product is now contaminated by current literature – already in circulation.
Two shipments that had been detained by FDA had labels approved by FDA in Washington D.C.. However, Mr. James R. LaHar of the Dallas District office orders the shipments to continue being put on hold, because in his opinion, Mr. Oscar Rodes’ Stevita Company’s product is now contaminated by current literature – already in circulation.
April 27, 1998
FDA Inspector, Martha Baldwin inspected Stevita Company’s facilities and collected labels and documents. She also took an inventory of Stevita Company’s products. In desperation to get the shipments released by FDA, Oscar Rodes told Stevita Co. attorney, James Turner to inform FDA that as of May 13, Stevita Company is ceasing distribution of all the books.
FDA Inspector, Martha Baldwin inspected Stevita Company’s facilities and collected labels and documents. She also took an inventory of Stevita Company’s products. In desperation to get the shipments released by FDA, Oscar Rodes told Stevita Co. attorney, James Turner to inform FDA that as of May 13, Stevita Company is ceasing distribution of all the books.
May 19, 1998
A fax was received from James R. LaHar, Compliance Officer in the Dallas District Office of FDA, stating that investigators from his office were coming to Stevita’s facilities to witness destruction of the literature and books.
A fax was received from James R. LaHar, Compliance Officer in the Dallas District Office of FDA, stating that investigators from his office were coming to Stevita’s facilities to witness destruction of the literature and books.
May 19, 1998 (11:30 AM)
FDA inspectors, Pauline Logan and Margarito Uribe walked into the office. They proceeded to take inventory of all products and literature. Oscar Rodes believed they were sent by Mr. LaHar to witness destruction of all the books. Stevita Co. employees videotaped most of the so-called inspection – including the part when one of the inspectors is marking the cookbooks (Cooking With Stevia by James Kirkland) for destruction. FDA Compliance Officer, James R. Lahar faxed a letter to Stevita Co. addressing the destruction of 2,500 books he deemed “offending,” at a cost to the company well in excess of $10,000. The letter threatens that investigators will conduct a current inventory and “witness the destruction of the cookbooks, literature, and other publications for the purpose of verifying compliance” upon visiting Stevita Co. for a fourth time in one year.
FDA inspectors, Pauline Logan and Margarito Uribe walked into the office. They proceeded to take inventory of all products and literature. Oscar Rodes believed they were sent by Mr. LaHar to witness destruction of all the books. Stevita Co. employees videotaped most of the so-called inspection – including the part when one of the inspectors is marking the cookbooks (Cooking With Stevia by James Kirkland) for destruction. FDA Compliance Officer, James R. Lahar faxed a letter to Stevita Co. addressing the destruction of 2,500 books he deemed “offending,” at a cost to the company well in excess of $10,000. The letter threatens that investigators will conduct a current inventory and “witness the destruction of the cookbooks, literature, and other publications for the purpose of verifying compliance” upon visiting Stevita Co. for a fourth time in one year.
May 20, 1998
Both inspectors return to Stevita’s facilities for more inspection and counting of inventory.
Both inspectors return to Stevita’s facilities for more inspection and counting of inventory.
May 22, 1998
The same two inspectors arrive again at Stevita Co. at 3:30 PM – asking company owner, Oscar Rodes to sign some typewritten affidavits. Rodes said, “They also told me they wanted to look around.”
The same two inspectors arrive again at Stevita Co. at 3:30 PM – asking company owner, Oscar Rodes to sign some typewritten affidavits. Rodes said, “They also told me they wanted to look around.”
June 6, 1998
Banned cookbook author, James Kirkland made a shocking presentation at a Town Hall meeting, convened by Congressman Joe Barton, by holding up The Anarchist’s Cookbook, a book that talks about how to construct killer “homemade bombs,” a popular hard-core porn magazine and a copy of his book – telling how to cook with an herb. “Which of these publications is illegal?” he asked. Congressman Barton shrugged. The author then pointed to his cookbook on how to cook with stevia. “This isn’t right.” Kirkland added to thunderous audience applause. He then went on to elaborate. Kirkland’s book, Cooking With Stevia, published by Morris Press of Kearney Nebraska has been “marked” by FDA for immediate destruction and recall. FDA is also attempting to “regulate” web sites on the Internet by telling Stevita Co. to delete their web site links to other pages. Congressman Barton is Chairman of the Oversight and Investigation Subcommittee in Washington, which oversees the Food and Drug Administration.
Banned cookbook author, James Kirkland made a shocking presentation at a Town Hall meeting, convened by Congressman Joe Barton, by holding up The Anarchist’s Cookbook, a book that talks about how to construct killer “homemade bombs,” a popular hard-core porn magazine and a copy of his book – telling how to cook with an herb. “Which of these publications is illegal?” he asked. Congressman Barton shrugged. The author then pointed to his cookbook on how to cook with stevia. “This isn’t right.” Kirkland added to thunderous audience applause. He then went on to elaborate. Kirkland’s book, Cooking With Stevia, published by Morris Press of Kearney Nebraska has been “marked” by FDA for immediate destruction and recall. FDA is also attempting to “regulate” web sites on the Internet by telling Stevita Co. to delete their web site links to other pages. Congressman Barton is Chairman of the Oversight and Investigation Subcommittee in Washington, which oversees the Food and Drug Administration.
Media covered the Town Hall event and that evening, the CBS TV News affiliate in Dallas aired a story showing the “banned books” and telling the Stevita Co. story of harassment by FDA. This news segment was picked up by other CBS affiliates and aired around the U.S.
The Aftermath:
In a blatant move to intimidate valued customers of Texas-based Stevita Co., importers of the sweet-tasting herbal dietary supplement stevia and distributors of three “banned” books about the herb, FDA raiders began
relentlessly searching for their version of “the offensive literature” - according to a horrified eyewitness shopper at an Arlington, Texas Health Food Store.
In a blatant move to intimidate valued customers of Texas-based Stevita Co., importers of the sweet-tasting herbal dietary supplement stevia and distributors of three “banned” books about the herb, FDA raiders began
relentlessly searching for their version of “the offensive literature” - according to a horrified eyewitness shopper at an Arlington, Texas Health Food Store.
When called by a national cable television network news reporter, a Dallas District FDA spokesperson said they would neither confirm nor deny the allegation of literature search or seizure at health food stores, because it was part of an “ongoing investigation.” FDA Spokesperson in Washington D.C., Monica Ravel in her misleading statement late Wednesday, told another local network news reporter on tape, “We have not banned any books.” Stevita Co. has an FDA letter dated May 19,1998 signed by FDA’s James R. LaHar clearly stating they have.
These published books and literature offer the consumer information on the history, usage and scientific studies showing the safety of the legal herb stevia [aka stevia rebaudiana or stevioside]. One of three books in question is The Stevia Story – A tale of incredible sweetness & intrigue, by Linda Bonvie, Bill Bonvie and Donna Gates with Foreword by James S. Turner, author of The Chemical Feast. Ironically, Chapter Four of the book the FDA wants to destroy is titled: “What’s wrong with the FDA?” The other books are: Nature’s Sweet Secret – Stevia by David Richards and Cooking with Stevia by James Kirkland.
In the course of the following months, the FDA seized all of Stevita’s inventory, in an effort to force the company to comply with the recall and destruction order. This action, according to author, James Kirkland, “nearly put Stevita Company out of business.” Only after lengthy, costly litigation was the company allowed to resume distribution of some publications, but not Cooking With Stevia.
The following was taken from the Internet website of Linda and Bill Bonvie, authors of The Stevia Story, A Tale of Incredible Sweetness And Intrigue:
“Given stevia’s record as a completely safe and beneficial herbal product, and given that it now may be purchased legally in the U.S., just what is the FDA afraid of? That Americans will learn about stevia – that it is actually both sweet and non-caloric? Try it? Want to use it? The FDA’s prior attempts to control stevia as if it were a dangerous drug had the appearance to many of being a restraint of trade; now that it can be legally sold and used, the agency has gone further and is apparently trying to restrain ideas, information and criticism of its own behavior – trying, in essence, to act as a sort of ‘thought police.’ This is a very important issue which should be carefully followed by everyone – whether you like stevia or not – even if you’ve never tasted it.”
References:
- SoffrittiM., et al. Environ. Health Perspect, doi: 10.1289/eh.8711 (2005).
- Sugar-Free Cooking Wtih Stevia The Naturally Sweet & Calorie-Free Herb, 1998; Crystal Health Publishing, Arlington, Texas
- The Stevia Story – A Tale of Incredible Sweetness and Intrigue, Linda Bonvie, Bill Bonvie and Donna Gates, Atlanta: B.E.D. Publications, 1997.
- Deadly Deception – Story of Aspartame – Mary Nash Stoddard, Odenwald Press 1998.
- Nutrition and Healing, June 1998, Sweeteners Inspire Bitter Political Battle Between Feds and Consumers, Mary Nash Stoddard.
- The Mary Stoddard Show, Interview with authors, Tanya and James Kirkland on Real Talk Network, 2001.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
DEATH BY DIET POP
Death by Diet Pop
How Donald Rumsfeld Slipped Poison into Almost Everything You Eat and Drink
By Harvey Wasserman
The cargo of diet soda sat on the blistering tarmac as Operation Desert Storm raged all around. With temperatures soaring in the blazing Persian Gulf sun, the three chemical components of the pop's key ingredient—the bitterly controversial no-cal sweetener aspartame—turned poisonous.
At 86 degrees Fahrenheit, the wood alcohol/methanol (a deadly toxin) in aspartame began to convert to, among other things, formaldehyde and formic acid. Most of the cans would be re-refrigerated, but when our thirsty troops drank the chemical brew it would join with other toxins to help create, some believe, Gulf War Syndrome.
At that point, the four-day Gulf War had apparently killed precious few Americans. But in the years since, hundreds of thousands of Gulf War veterans have been crippled by a horrifying range of toxic ailments. Under brand names like NutraSweet and Equal, the same aspartame that may have harmed them is now embedded in over 6,000 food and drink products consumed by hundreds of millions of humans in more than 90 countries.
Fittingly, Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense under Gerald Ford and George W. Bush, was the former CEO of G.D. Searle & Company, a worldwide pharmaceutical company, and original owner of the aspartame patent. After he helped legalize the mass use of aspartame, Rumsfeld pocketed at least $12 million when Searle was absorbed by Monsanto Company, while the veterans of the Gulf War—and the rest of us—still pay dearly.
Aspartame took Rumsfeld's Searle Company out of the financial trash heap. The many companies that now sell it make billions in profits from the white powder that is believed to have spawned a devil's headstone of diseases. These include Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, lupus, multiple sclerosis, cancer, brain tumors, blurred vision and blindness, dementia, epilepsy, grand mal seizures, migraines, autism, in utero brain damage, diabetes, and—surprise!—obesity.
Today aspartame is produced and distributed by hundreds of companies worldwide. It's in almost every wrapped or bottled substance you eat or drink. It may be the source of a rampant, hugely expensive public health epidemic that's crippling America and other nations around the globe.
Aspartame was discovered in 1965 by a chemist named James M. Schlatter who was looking for an anti-ulcer drug for G.D. Searle & Company . When Schlatter accidentally licked his finger, he tasted a substance almost 200 times sweeter than sugar, but with no calories. Teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, Searle knew what it had. America wanted to be slim and slender at the same time it consumed the mountains of sugar that were pouring into soft drinks and packaged food. Aspartame was looking like a cash bonanza. Nevermind that the substance is comprised of three excitotoxins that put holes in baby mouse brains and is suspected of seriously damaging human nervous systems.
For years Searle chiseled away at the Food and Drug Administration, demanding Schlatter's miracle powder be approved for general use. But aspartame's brew of aspartic acid, phenylalanine and methanol had deadly side effects. In 1967 a Searle scientist fed seven monkeys aspartame in milk: One died, five had grand mal seizures. In 1971 Washington University neuroscientist Dr. John W. Olney warned Searle that aspartic acid can perforate the brains of lab animals.
The phenylalanine had serious impacts of its own but the methanol (a/k/a wood alcohol) was worse. When heated it turned into formaldehyde, which is used to embalm dead bodies, and then to formic acid, the same toxin found in the venom of bee and ant stings. Both can poison a wide range of animals, including human beings; leave an opened can of diet soda at room temperature for more than ten days, and that's what you'll get.
In 1974, over widespread scientific objections, the FDA approved aspartame's limited use in dry products. Official investigators reported they "had never seen anything as bad as Searle's testing." The FDA asked the US Attorney to convene a grand jury.
In 1977, as proceedings began, chief investigator Samuel Skinner left the government and joined Searle's own law firm. The company then recruited Rumsfeld as its new CEO. Dubbed a "ruthless little bastard" by his mentor, Richard Nixon, Rumsfeld ran Gerald Ford's White House, and then, as part of the Reagan transition team (and while still CEO of Searle) he pushed aspartame through the FDA.
But the flood of warnings continued. Lab tests showed a 25% increase in tumors and brain damage in monkeys, according to Olney. Mississippi-based health researcher Dr. Russell Blaylock descried Searle's methods and findings as "bizarre," and warned that humans may be far more sensitive to damage from aspartame than mice and monkeys.
Searle's "scientific" methods were called "sloppy" by the head of the FDA at the time. He said their "research" was filled with "clerical errors, mixed-up animals, animals not getting the drugs they were supposed to get, pathological specimens lost because of improper handling, and a variety of other errors, [which] even if innocent, all conspire to obscure positive findings and produce falsely negative results." A 1980 FDA Board of Inquiry found that aspartame "might induce brain tumors" in violation of the Delaney Clause, passed in 1958, which requires that any product shown to cause cancer in lab animals must be taken off the market.
Aspartame's defenders now call it one of the "most studied products in history." But nearly all the studies with independent funding show the product to be deadly.
Such findings didn't stop Rumsfeld. When Ronald Reagan took the presidency in 1980, Rumsfeld used his stronghold on the transition team to dump the head of the FDA. He installed Dr. Arthur Hull Hayes, whose very first official act was to rig an advisory team and approve aspartame—now called NutraSweet™—for mass use in dry products. Two years later, while being shoved out the door for ethical violations, Hayes's last act as FDA Commissioner was to approve it for use in soft drinks. The certification came despite objections from the National Soft Drink Association, which warned aspartame's safety had not been proven.
Hayes landed at Burson Marsteller. They were the prime PR firm for Searle and for Monsanto, which bought Searle in 1985 for $2.7 billion. Reagan mainstay Rumsfeld personally netted some $12 million.
As aspartame poured into America's food and drink, over 10,000 health complaints poured into the FDA. America had become a test lab filled with human subjects and no pretense of science. Amidst the uproar, the late Senator Howard Metzenbaum (D-OH) held high profile hearings. "By ignoring the safety concerns which have been raised," he warned, "we are potentially jeopardizing the health and safety of over 100 million Americans who are ingesting NutraSweet in everything from soft drinks to pudding to children's cold remedies."
Metzenbaum then sponsored S 1557, which required independent studies of aspartame's impacts on brain chemistry, fetuses and pregnant women, seizures, interactions with other drugs, and neurological effects.
Monsanto had the bill killed in committee. In 2005 the FDA ceased collecting reaction reports or monitoring studies on aspartame .
Monsanto was selling the stuff by the hundreds of tons per year. Its Searle division became hugely profitable. Overall sales jumped from 220 tons in 1982 to 10,200 tons in 1995. A good part of that huge jump occurred in 1992 when, the patent having expired, dozens of companies added aspartame into their products.
In 1996 Dr. Ralph Walton of Northeastern Ohio Universities gave CBS-TV's 60 Minutes a survey of 165 studies on aspartame. All 74 sponsored by the industry showed zero health effects. But 84 of 91 funded from non-industry sources showed serious impacts. Six of the other seven came from the revolving-door FDA.
Research on toxic chemicals is generally done in laboratories, on rats, monkeys and other animals. But today's "experiment" with aspartame is being conducted on hundreds of millions of consumers all over the world. As much as half of the American population consumes something with aspartame in it every day.
Today's most vital aspartame research comes from medical doctors like Hyman Roberts. Ironically, and almost without exception, when people stop consuming "diet drinks," they lose weight.
The link to Gulf War Syndrome remains a nagging but instructive mystery. Bad vaccinations, desert fleas, chemical warfare, traumatic stress: Many other agents could have joined degenerated diet sodas in causing this wide range of symptoms that have debilitated a quarter-million veterans of a four-day war in which very few Americans died in actual combat.
Since Rumsfeld rammed aspartame through the FDA, human brain tumor incidence in the overall population has soared. So has a terrifying plague of devastating diseases that doctors like Roberts and Blaylock say consistently disappear as soon as the victims dump their diet drinks. Historians sometimes blame the fall of Rome on lead that leached into drinking water from the city's elaborate piping system. Since the 1970s, aspartame may have been doing the same to the American brain.
Legislators in Hawaii and New Mexico have tried to ban the stuff altogether. The U.S. as a whole needs to do just that, before our minds and bodies---and those of our children---are utterly destroyed by corporate America's sweetest, most profitable poison.
SIDEBARS
FLYING BLIND
There is substantial controversy in the airline pilot community about diet drinks and chewing gum (which is used by pilots to stabilize air pressure in their heads). Seizures and other perceptual problems suffered by pilots while flying may be related to aspartame, according to a number of mainstream airline industry magazines here and in Europe & Australia.
The most dangerous entry point for aspartame into your body may be chewing gum. FoodEssentials.com lists dozens of brands that contain it. "Taken in via the digestive tract, [aspartame] is made into at least six other toxic substances," says Mary Nash Stoddard of the Aspartame Consumer Safety Network and Pilot Hotline.
The problem, she warns, is that "the nerves that serve this area get their vascular supply directly from the brain," meaning the aspartame bypasses the spinal cord and blood brain barrier. It therefore can go directly into the brain and begin damaging cells. Virtually all gums sold today have aspartame or neotame in them. Some have been traced to seizures by those who chew them.
There is no formal study or ban.
OUTFOXED
Michael J. Fox, who developed Parkinson's at a very young age, has been a long-time spokesman for Diet Pepsi and apparently consumed (and may still consume) prodigious quantities of the stuff.
DRAFT SIDEBAR #3: Aspartame on Steroids
Neotame is a souped-up version of aspartame, and "the most potent chemical sweetener marketed today," according to the co-founder of the anti-aspartame Social Movement, Mary Nash Stoddard. Approved by the FDA in 2002, there are no labeling requirements for Neotame. "This is a new, potentially toxic form of aspartame," warns Mary Nash Stoddard of the Aspartame Consumer Safety Network (AspartameSafety.com). "It will be ubiquitous in the food supply," she states, having been approved for unlabeled use throughout Europe, China, Australia and elsewhere.
Neotame can be 7,000 to 13,000 times sweeter than sugar. Stoddard adds that "the new ingredient they added to aspartame to make Neotame—3.3-dimethylbutyl—was on the Environmental Protection Agency's list of 'Most Hazardous Chemicals' in 1998." Blaylock and Stoddard agree that Neotame's unlabeled presence in chewing gum, soft drinks, pudding, yogurt-type products, baked goods and more make it a leading threat to global health.
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