By Mary Nash Stoddard of The Aspartame Consumer Safety Network (ACSN).
Everyone wants to indulge a sweet tooth, without suffering the inevitable consequences of weight gain. But, be aware of the hidden (not listed on ingredient labels) dangers of Neotame sweetener in almost everything consumed by humans, and now even in feed for livestock raised for human consumption.
In 1998, Monsanto applied for FDA approval for a monster molecule, "based on the aspartame formula" with one critical addition: 3-dimethylbutyl [listed on EPA's most hazardous chemical list]. Neotame is touted as being 13,000 times sweeter than sugar.
On July 5, 2002 - Monsanto's Neotame molecule was approved by the USFDA over formally registered objections of the Aspartame Consumer Safety Network and others. (Long term effects on humans are unknown.)
The food labeling requirements required for aspartame have now been dropped for Neotame, and no one is clear why this was allowed to happen. Neotame has been ruled acceptable, and without being included on the list of ingredients, for:
- USDA Certified Organic food items.
- Certified Kosher products with the official letter k inside the circle on labels.
Ever ready to give the public what it craves - guilt-free, low calorie treats that taste as good as sugar, is the multi billion dollar sweetener industry. The sugar industry pales by comparison, in the profit generating arena. Fake sugars, in the form of Aspartame and now the Aspartame super clone, Neotame, give 'foodies' and fitness fanatics false hope and the empty promise that all can 'have our cake and eat it, too.' Not necessarily so.
Controversy has swirled around the artificial sweetener, Aspartame, now also known as AminoSweet, since its FDA approval in 1982. Virtually all corporate sponsored scientific studies show aspartame to be perfectly safe. Virtually all independently done studies show just the opposite. In the lab, Aspartame was shown to cause the following forms of cancers: brain tumors, pancreatic tumors, breast tumors and uterine tumors. Five deaths are registered with FDA. In more recent tests, leukemia, lymphoma and kidney cancers were discovered as well.
There is a parallel issue with which to compare the Aspartame issue. That of cigarettes and the deadly effects of smoking. The massive Tobacco Industry is able to produce large volumes of scientific studies showing smoking does not cause: lung cancer, heart disease, strokes or death. Today, mainstream science accepts the fact that smoking can be deadly and addictive. So it is with Aspartame, whose approval was based, not on scientific fact, but as an issue of public policy.
One form of subliminal advertising, called Product Placement, was successfully used in the 30's through the 60's, by the Tobacco Industry, in films, later on television and in newspaper articles. Product Placement has been successfully employed, in like manner, for Aspartame products, such as diet sodas, etc. Popular actors on sit coms asking pointedly for a Diet Coke, for example. Only once, in the film, I Love Trouble, have I noted seeing a diet drink consumed by the villain. This was in a film about a mythical chemical company which produced a neurotoxic bovine growth hormone product. Sound familiar?
Ironically, prior to U.S. government approval of this controversial new sweetener, Neotame was approved by the regulatory agency in Australia, the day after Donald Rumsfeld (former CEO of the drug company that falsified tests to gain Aspartame approval in the U.S.), was in that country for a one day meeting with government officials. Coincidence? Maybe.
What's the latest, in-your-face, profit making method utilized by the makers of Neotame, partnering with a Health Care company in India? The most recent Press Release from the company explains novel new uses proposed for the ubiquitous new Aspartame formula-based sweetener, Neotame (Sweetos):
EnSigns Health Care Pvt Ltd and The NutraSweet Co USA have recently launched 'Sweetos', a cattle feed sweetener. Sweetos has been developed with Neotame, a high intensity sweetener.
Amino acids based sweetener Neotame is 8,000 to 13,000 times sweeter than sugar and is a patented product of the NutraSweet Co USA. Ensigns is one of the leading manufacturer of Sweetos, low calorie sweeteners for the food industry. Together the two companies have launched this sweetener to be added to cattle feed.
Presently, molasses is used as a feed sweetener to mask the low palatable taste of certain non-conventional feed ingredients. But, the prices of molasses have sky rocketed due to its use as a raw material in alcohol production and other chemical manufacturing industries. Besides, there are stringent regulatory measures for purchase and use of molasses.
"Sweetos is an economical substitute for molasses. Sweetos guarantees the masking of unpleasant tastes and odor and improves the palatability of feed. This product will be economical for farmers and manufacturers of cattle feed. It can also be used in mineral mixture," said Craig Petray, CEO, The NutraSweet Company.
Sweetos is 20 per cent cheaper than molasses, which costs Rs 14 per kg. While Sweetos is priced at Rs 11 per kg, which is available in both powder and liquid form. Ensigns' has a manufacturing facility at Wagholi, where the company manufactures low calorie sweeteners for the food and beverage (F&B) industry containing sucralose. "We are in talks with the animal husbandry department to reach out to farmers and are trying to tie up with extension services with co-operative societies as well. Cattle consume more fodder when mixed with Sweetos. This product has great export potential as well," said Mohan Nair, chairman, Ensigns Health Care.
The NutraSweet Company is looking at launching the same product in Brazil soon. It will also launch tabletop sweeteners and products in India. India also has approved the usage of Neotame in the F&B industry in July 2010. Ensigns, therefore, also plans to replace its sucralose based sweetening products with Neotame soon.
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Diet sweeteners being used to fatten cattle, by causing them to eat more feed, before they become your favorite burger, steak, cheese or other dairy product? This NutraSweet produced document proves our point that Aspartame, Neotame and related sweeteners cause weight gain, loss of appetite control (and cancers) - in animals and humans.
Find out more about which neuroexcitatory sweeteners are in your foods, beverages and chewing gums. Eliminating them could be a life saving decision.
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Mary Nash Stoddard is a freelance journalist, lecturer, expert medical witness, former member President's Council on Food Safety, voting member Texas Radio Hall of Fame and founder of Aspartame Consumer Safety Network and Pilot Hotline (1987-present). Mary edits the toxicology source book, Deadly Deception Story of Aspartame. Her articles appear regularly in print publications and on the Internet.
