DEADLY DECEPTION STORY OF ASPARTAME

DEADLY DECEPTION STORY OF ASPARTAME by Mary Nash Stoddard

Table of Contents

Foreward
* Data doesn't lie, except when it might be profitable
* Scientific safeguards insufficient to detect fakes
* Medical research scrutinized
* Have You Had Any of these NutraSweet/Equal symptoms?
* Step by Step History of Aspartame
* Diagram of Aspartame molecule

Aspartame Consumer Safety Network Section:
* ACSN Founder's Bio
* New Dallas Group Urges Warning on NutraSweet
* Aspartame Activists Make A Stand
* Letter to Editor - Another danger ... MSG
* Woman wages aspartame fight on cooking class
* Product safety questions lead to class cancellation
* Aspartame Experts at a Glance - The Expert Witness Journal
* There's a Moral in the Land of the Sugar Plum Fairy (fiction)
* Patricia Crain's tragic death
* Christina Onassis addicted to Diet Coke
* Aspartame support group formed in Minnesota
* NutraSweet Battle Heats Up
* Spring Hill FL Women Fight Diet Product (Methanol poisoning case)
* Europe, Canada, Mideast Report Blood Disorder Cases (EMS)
* ACSN Position Paper on L-Tryptophan Deception
Research Section:
* NutraSweet Investigator Reports Increase in Brain Tumors Since 1984 (advent of NutraSweet in Diet Drinks)
* New Perspectives Concerning Alzheimer's Disease - On Call Palm Beach Co. Med. Soc.
* Does Aspartame Cause Human Brain Cancer? Journal of Adv. in Medicine
* Aspartame & Headache (New England Journal of Medicine)
* The Doctor's Corner - Aspartame, Trick or Treat?
* Environmental Hypothesis for Brain Diseases Strengthened by New Data (Aspartic Acid connection)
* Excitatory amino acid receptors, excitotoxicity, and the human nervous system
* Association of Birth Defect Children - The Aspartame Controversy
* Dermatology Rounds - Skin & Allergy News. Aspartame Associated With Case of Lobular Panniculitis
* Aspartame exacerbates EEG spike-wave discharge in children--Birth Defect Study - Neurotoxicology and Teratology
* Aspartame in Children's Medications (partial list)
* Adverse Reactions to Aspartame: Double-Blind Challenge in Patients from a Vulnerable Population - Dr. R. Walton Biological Psychiatry
* Aspartame, Methanol & the Public Health - Dr. W. Monte
* Use of Aspartame by persons with diabetes - Dr. H.J. Roberts
Letters from Senate Hearing Records:
* Louis J. Elsas, M.D., Dir., Div. of Med. Genetics, Prof. of Pediatrics -Emory Univ.
* William Pardridge, M.D., Prof. of Medicine - U.C.L.A.
* Morgan B. Raiford, M.D. Opthalmologist
* Orion T. Ayer, M.D., The Retina Institute
* Ralph Dawson, M.D. - University of Florida
* Gerald A. Schroeter, M.D., Neurologist
* Statement of James B. Turner, Attorney (co-founder A.C.S.N.)
* H.J. Roberts, M.D. - Palm Beach Inst. for Medical Research, Inc.
* New Artificial Sweeteners Rekindle Debate Over Health Risks
Flying & Aspartame:
* Aspartame and Flying - Extraordinary Science, March, 1995
* U.S. Air Force Flying Safety - Aspartame Alert
* National Business AircraftAssn. Digest - Bitter Aftertaste
* FAA Medical Examiner's Case Histories (James B. Hays, M.D.)
* Report links aspartame to pilot and driver error
* Aviation Medical Bulletin - Pilots & Aspartame
* Can Aspartame Cause Hypoxia at Altitudes? (G. Leighton)
* Safeguard - The Aviation Consumer
* Fit to Fly - Aspartame and Diet Drinks (CGAN art.)
* Pacific Flyer - This Could Save Your Life
* Letters to Editors (Flying Magazines)
* Gen. Aviation News - NutraSweet ... too good to be true?
* Australia's Aviation Safety Digest - Not for the Dieting Pilot
* Plane & Pilot - High on High (Getting High on Aspartame)
* London's The Food mag. - Aspartame safety review - Pilot safety fears over Aspartame
* Some Still Bitter Over NutraSweet
* "NutraSweet Tests Faked" - London's The Guardian newspaper
* International Council of Air Shows '95

Miscellaneous:* Science Fair Contestant - Aspartame Project Results
* Diet Soft Drink May Wash Away Pearly White Shine (Dental)
* NutraSweet Tries Being More of a Sweetie (Business Week)
* Artificial Sweetener News - Center for Science in the Public Interest
* Nutrition Week - A.C.S.N. On Top of Things
* Anecdote by Anecdote - Aspartame Not So Sweet
* Artificial Sweetener linked to Health Problems by Some
* FDA Director Kessler starts every day with a diet drink (Time)
* Vegetarian Times - Aspartame Still Bittersweet
* Diet Sodas - Do You Know What You're Drinking? (IDEA Today)
* U.N.T. Student Assembly Votes to Educate on Aspartame
* Aspartame Symposium at Univ. of North Texas
* NutraSweet Controversy Gains National Recognition
* Dr. Lendon Smith's The Facts - Greed vs Health, Which Will Win?
* American Dietetic Association receives $75,000 from NutraSweet
* Epilepsy Foundation Honors Samuel Skinner
* Dangers of Aspartame Ingestion Coming Through Loud & Clear
* How Aspartame Can Harm You - Dr. Julian Whitaker's Health & Healing, December 1994
* Sweet Poison - Hustler, December 1994
* Nutrition Week - May 26, 1995
* Nutrition & Healing - November 1995 - Dr. Jonathan Wright
* Advance (Journal for Nurse Practitioners) - June, 1996

Aspartame Pilot Hotline and Gulf War Syndrome

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Aspartame, Diet

Drinks & Gum - Contributors To
GWS And Other Illnesses By Mary Nash Stoddard

Dallas -- When stored or heated above 85 degrees F, as in desert heat, Aspartame in "diet drinks" breaks down into neurotoxic substances: Methanol (wood alcohol), Formaldehyde (embalming fluid), Formic Acid (ant sting venom) and DKP (brain tumor agent). The major soft drink companies shipped free diet soft drinks (Businessweek, Dec.'90) to our Desert Storm troops, where they broke down in storage into highly toxic substances. The symptoms reported by many sufferers of "Gulf War Syndrome" mimic the ones of those reporting problems associated with Aspartame use here ... but, the military personnel symptoms are greater because they were drinking/eating "expired" Diet Pepsi and then some! Since Aspartame is capable of changing the DNA (in lab tests), birth defects in offspring can be readily addressed. Family members are also experiencing illness, possibly from their continued use of these products. What is the real reason behind Gulf War Syndrome? Based on volumes of available research, we believe it was partially due to what they were eating, chewing and drinking containing degraded Aspartame in extreme desert heat.   ACSN Founder, Mary Nash Stoddard (a veteran's widow) is available to answer questions and support allegations regarding this important issue and how it is adversely affecting 3 out of 5 who use it. ACSN's special Pilot's Hotline has logged over 800 pilot-related calls. Pilots are having grand mal seizures in the cockpits of commercial airline flights, and others are crashing the flight simulator at training facilities while in seizure. Dozens have lost their flying status because of Aspartame. Seizures, loss of vision, vertigo, suicidal depressions, heart problems, etc. are routinely reported to ACSN. Many consumers report bizarre psychological symptoms as well. This happens when the Phenylalanine in Aspartame depletes levels of the neurotransmitter, Serotonin, a brain chemical which regulates aggressive behaviors and sleep patterns, among other things.   The U.S. Air Force has formally warned all pilots to abstain from consuming Diet Drinks in their official Flying Safety publication (May & August 1992.) Their Aspartame Alert article was based on that of the U.S. Navy to pilots earlier in Navy Physiology. 78% of all consumer complaints to the FDA are about reactions to Aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal, etc).   Recently, a letter was sent to COPA in which a pilot expressed his concerns over questionable adverse effects from consumption of diet drinks containing aspartame. By 1986, the FDA and the Centre for Disease Control in the U.S. had evaluated 3,000 known complaints. Fellow pilots who may have had similar side effects may be interested in the information below:   The January, 1990, Plane and Pilot magazine featured an article on drugs and alcohol vis-a-vis safe flying practices that also talked about food additives. It explained that diet soft drinks are sweetened artificially by Aspartame (NutraSweet and Equal), and that Aspartame contains 10% methanol. That caught my attention! I know that methanol (wood alcohol) is a poisonous substance, which on ingestion causes blindness and death; two teaspoons full are considered lethal.   The article disclosed that methanol destroys the brain, albeit a little at a time, and that effects are cumulative. Depending on a person's physical state and tolerance level, immediate effects can either be severe (resulting in epileptic seizures, including grand mal, blindness, chest palpitations), or less noticeable (causing blurred vision, bright flashes, tunnel vision, ringing or buzzing in ears, migraine headaches, dizziness, loss of equilibrium, lip and mourth reactions); less noticeable effects might be passed off as temporary or caused by something else. But everyone is affected in one way or another, since methanol causes toxic reactions, not just allergic ones in a few unfortunates.   Here are some direct excerpts from the article: "An Air Force pilot traced the patterns of tremors and seizures he suffered for two years directly to his patterns of NutraSweet consumption. When he travelled to areas where diet sodas were not avialable, he was free of the symptoms. But, when he resumed intake of the beverages, his tremors resumed, grew more severe and culminated in a grand mal seizure that ended his flying career. His medical problems ceased when he quit ingesting NutraSweet, but it was too late to restore his flying status."   "Another pilot suffered similar symptoms only when using Aspartame products. But FAA revoked his medical certificate when it was informed of the symptoms. After only two cups of artificially sweetened hot chocolate, a pilot experienced blurred vision so severe he was unable, in flight, to read the instruments and very narrowly avoided a tragic landing. Safely on the ground, he related his symptoms to the secretaries in his office. Both of them told of experiencing similar symptoms after ingesting Aspartame products."   I, too, had bad experiences with Aspartame. It replaced saccharin about 10 years ago. As a marathon runner in his 30s, I consumed litres of diet drinks daily at that time. When I first drank pop with Aspartame, it had immediate and severe effects upon my consciousness and vision. After a few scary incidents, pop consumption and problems seemed related.   I described symptoms and circumstances to my doctor. He ran tests, but never seriously listened to my concern of relating pop with the effects. He was a reasonably competent G.P., but not ready to distrust, let alone blame, an FDA approved sweetener. Eventually, I quit ingesting Aspartame and have not had incidents since. Employed in the professions and a post-graduate, I conduct research occasionally and am aware of the difficulty of matching cause and effect (and the danger of doing it improperly.) But, there is no doubt in my mind that "tests" with my body proved that Aspartame is bad (at least for me.)   When I spoke about this to a non-flying, weightlifting gym friend, he volunteered for a test. After drinking one can of diet pop, his ears started ringing within minutes and he got a pulsating sensation in his brain.   Apparently, the other main components of Aspartame, Phenylalanine [50%], Aspartic Acid [40%], combined with the Methanol [10%], create a witch's brew of 16 breakdown products after digestion that cause illness. Animal tests revealed brain tumors, some cancerous; holes in the brain, womb tumors, uterine tumors and reproductive dysfunctions. Studies on humans indicated that pregnant women and young children run especially high risks. There is evidence of birth defects in offsprings, including severe retardation, genetic damage, especially in women who carry the PKU (Phenylketonuria) gene, heart problems and emotional and psychiatric disorders.   If pilots want more information, I encourage them to call 214.387.4001 (or Email) Aspartame Consumer Safety Network in Dallas, Texas U.S.A. and talk to ACSN Worldwide Pilot Hotline Founder, Mary Nash Stoddard. Also visit: Stoddard's POV on blogspot and www.aspartamesafety.com. Order from ACSN:  DEADLY DECEPTION STORY OF ASPARTAME - 200 pg. collection of scientific studies and Flying magazine articles by Mary Nash Stoddard