Sudden Death from Aspartame, now Epidemic

 The Atlanta Journal Constitution recently published an article from Science Magazine about sudden death.    It  reported  450,000 people drop dead each year and discussed  consumers with an irregular heart rhythm.  Aspartame notoriously triggers an irregular heart rhythm.   Frankly, this is probably an understatement as to deaths.  In fact, On Dec 16, 2001, the Sunday Telegraph  in the UK wrote an article on sudden death and epilepsy.  Aspartame is also a seizure triggering drug as proven on a pivotal study that approved it, a 52 week oral toxicity study where 7 infant monkeys were fed the toxin.  Five had grand mal seizures and one died.  The FDA report of 92 symptoms list 4 types of seizures triggered by this neurotoxin.  To make matters worse aspartame interacts with anti-seizure medication like Dilantin and like drugs. 

In this article it said:  .."many people, including doctors, have little idea that a disturbing number of patients, many of them young and in good health, die unexpectedly, often in their sleep.   Further it said:  "The unpredictable death syndrome has become known as Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy or Sudep.  In 1996, there were 969 epilepsy related deaths, twice as many as from sudden infant or "cot" syndrome, which is the subject of widespread inquiry." 

Dr. James Bowen wrote at the time:  "Sudden death during seizures is almost always due to cardiac standstill due to cardiac arrhythmias..  There are several ways this is due to aspartame damage.  Aspartame and methyl alcohol poisoning are noted for damaging myocardium and the specialized form of myocardium called the cardiac conduction system.  This kind of damage leads to susceptibility to arrhythmias.  The aspartame and methyl alcohol poisoning cause immense damage to the mitochondria and to MtDNA which perpetuates the mitochondria damage.  The myocardium and cardiac conduction system never get to rest. They are constantly at work pumping blood, therefore they are very highly concentrated in mitochondria to accommodate the metabolic needs of this tremendous work load.  So mitochondrial damage is more highly reflected in the heart.  Damaged mitochondria produce increased amounts of free radicals and other abnormal metabolites that produce arrhythmias. .."

Dr. Bowen continues about the unusual demands on the cardiorespiratory system and says that seizures due to NutraSweet occur more frequently and in spite of otherwise adequate anti seizure medication.  And then aspartame creates unusual medical toxicity from the anti-seizure medication.  He says it should be no surprise then that people are dropping dead from this aspect of aspartame toxicity.

On www.dorway.com you will see two reports about aspartame and sudden death:

Aspartame and cardiac and chest problems by H. J. Roberts, M.D.
Aspartame, MSG and Other Excitotoxins and the Hypothalamus by neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock, M.D.

Both have written books to discuss sudden death:

Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic, www.aspartameispoison.com or www.sunsentpress.com or 1 800 814 - 9800.    H. J. Roberts, M.D.

Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills by neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock, M.D., www.amazon.com

Today we are taking case histories for class action on aspartame triggered seizures, brain tumors, eye deterioration and blindness. 

With the recent article about sudden death and the constant reports on athletes dropping dead who probably are using diet drinks, proteins drinks, etc. laced with aspartame, Dr. Bowen has written an indepth report on aspartame and sudden death as reported below.  September 7th and 8th is Aspartame Awareness Weekend.  We hope everyone can help by sending this report to cardiologists, athletic organizations, neurologists, the media and mass mailing lists to get to the general public.  Because of length this report  below has been cut down from its original, dealing only with aspartame and sudden death, and not the politics and influence that has caused what may be one of the largest plagues in world history, Aspartame Disease.  Betty Martini, Founder, Mission Possible International, 9270 River Club Parkway, Duluth, Georgia 30097   770 242-2599

From James Bowen, M.D:

         EPIDEMIC SUDDEN DEATHS in those EXPOSED TO ASPARTAME:
 

The horrendous toxicity of Aspartame has been well documented ever since its inception. 

Sudden deaths logically arise from several of its many toxicities. For example, Christina Onassis, Patty Crane, and Carol Hamm are amongst those that I know of who were using Aspartame and were addicted to it, and visibly deteriorating under its influence when they suddenly, and unexpectedly died therefrom.  Patty Crane was found dead amongst a litter of diet Pepsi cans. When her mother, Betty Hayland, who was exposing Patty's "Nutra Death" on TV, came to me to learn the biochemical basis of its deadliness; she after learning some of the biochemistry, asked: "Dr Bowen, how could such a poisonous chemical ever be on the market?" I answered "Betty! This is organized crime in our government." She became furious with me! "That I should suggest there is organized crime in the US government! What a nut!" A few days later they called and threatened her life. A couple days later two men tried to drag her into a car. She was able to make her escape by breaking free and running. A couple days later her husband Dave, who now has no question that organized crime runs our government, came home and found her shot dead in a puddle of blood on the floor.  Carol Hamm was a close friend, but not my patient so medical confidentiality does not prevent my discussing her tragedy. We played cards together a couple of times per week and she constantly had diet drinks in her hands while she played. She, over a short period of a few weeks use, visibly deterorated physically right in front of my eyes, and mentally. Her card playing deteriorated as well! She would defiantly look me right in the eye as she drank diet to let me know that she didn't care that I had warned her of what I knew about Aspartame. She was going to satisfy her addiction by damn! Come what may! What came was that, one night she didn't show for cards, and her daughter Debby called the police. When we arrived at her house she was lying dead in bed with bloody fluid running out of her mouth. In all three cases the autopsy report revealed only "unexplained pulmonary edema".

That is the difference between death from Aspartame metholism and regular alcholism, you can't smell it on the breath, and medical politics forbids attributing anything evil to "Nutra Sweet." Jim krossik was an employee at Searle's first Aspartame plant in Phoenix. He developed neural toxicty from breathing the Aspartame dust in the air in the plant and passed out on the plant floor. When he recovered and returned to work, he found that all employees were required to wear face masks lest they breath the deadly Nutra Sweet dust! He complied, but absorbed enough through his skin that he passed out on the floor dead! The autopsy report revealed a "severe alcholic cardiomyopathy" as its only finding. Jim used no beverage alcohol! I have published extensively on www.dorway.com. My articles such as "Sperm Warfare", "Aspartame and methanol revisited" etc. enlarge upon the unique methanol toxicity from Aspartame. It metabolizes in a toxic axis of Aspartame to methanol, to formaldehyde, to formic acid, to carbon monoxide. Aspartame, to a striking degree, carries toxic heavy metals into the body, as well as generating toxic superoxide free radicals in the metabolic channels that are poisoned by it,. A good overview of the Aspartame problem is my book "Billions of Victims" which is available as free advice at many educational/informational sites on the net. Since it educates about Chemical Hypersensitivity, (CHz), it is essential reading for a full understanding of the issue of sudden deaths from Aspartame.

The heart muscle is very sensitive to alchol poisonings. Such alcholic cardiomyopathies frequently terminate in sudden death. The Aspartame molecule is an alcohol poison about 20,000 times as toxic a poison as ethanol, (regular old sipping. or beverage alcohol) on a per weight basis! Moreover, myocardium never gets to rest except between heart beats, so things like the methanol from Aspartame which become more or progressively toxic upon metabolism in muscles are especially damaging to it. The myocardium is especially rich in mitochondriae to subserve this metabolic need. The mitochondriae and their DNA, (Mt DNA), are especially subject to these damages, and Mt DNA lacks the repair mechanisms of nuclear DNA, so damage to it is highly cumulative and is even passed on to the fetus by the mother! The Cardiac Conduction System is a specialized kind of tissue that is a hybrid of neuronal and muscle tissues, which is even richer in mitochondriae, and it never gets to rest. It is the clock that generates and effectively coordinates heartbeats and heart rythymns and contractions. Many various malfunctions of it precipitate sudden death. Its extreme mitochondrial concentration, and its dependence upon mitochondrial metabolism for its unresting labors make it a site intensely generative of the poisonous Aspartame cogeners and extremely subject to their resultant chemical, immune, mitochondrial and CHz damages.

When the methanol from Aspartame is metabolized it has obligatory first step metabolism to formaldehyde, the strongest organic base. This is a polymerizing agent which cross links sites on DNA so it can't reproduce or function to transmit genetic information nor essential metabolic instructions. The next step in the metabolism is to formic acid which is a chromosome shattering agent. (along with cyanide, and flouride it is called a "blister poison" because it is so damaging that it leaves blisters of dead tissue behind.) Formate is also recognized as fire ant poison. The whole, entire toxic axis are severe sensitizing agents. A fire ant can, because of the sensitivity it engenders, kill a human being that outweighs it billions of times. Thus, the myocardium and conduction system are rendered highly subject to attack both from the direct actions of the Aspartame poisons and their metabolic derangements along with the free radicals they generate via the impaired metabolic competence, and are highly succeptible to other toxics and "sick environments" via CHz, (Chemical Hypersensitivity). Damaged Mt DNA, as well, and its resultant mitochondrial dysfuction along with dysfunctions by and from immune and hyperdsensitivity reactions (CHz) are all associated with sudden deaths. Cardiomyopathies from damaged MtDNA are also well known to be passed to the child from the mother. Many other MtDNA diseases are inherited from mothers who have damaged MtDNA. Because the MtDNA is not in the nucleus but rather is located in the mitochondria of the cell, its transmission in the case of a given ovum is haphazard and random, so that infants from such mothers usually display varied, random, and often dissimilar disease patterns. One may be diabetic, another may have a cardiomyopathy, another pervasive developmental disorders such as autism, another, metabolically generated diseases like steatohepatitis, hypotonic obesity etc.(see my dorway and article, "Steato Hepatitis".)

Another whole related area is the damage done to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Repeated poisonous assaults, such as CHz, cause the activation fo the antishock mechanisms of the adrenal glands leading to either adrenal fatigue or a cushionoid status, both are conducive to sudden death, especially in response to toxic or other shock inducing states, such as the CHz response. The hypothalamus, along with many other brain structures is severely damaged by the dicarboxylic amino acid neuroexcitoxin component of the Aspartame poisoning. This alone can cause adrenal insufficiency and resultant sudden death. The phenyl alanine isolate poisoning from Asp leads to serotonin and dopamine depletion in some areas of the brain, and elevation of serotonin in others, leading to neuroendocrine disruptions which contribute to all of the above, as well as depression and schizophrenic episodes which have often lead to Aspartame related suicides.

Aspartame is a potent epileptogenic agent, causing seizures directly from its toxic effect, as well as when in withdrawal from same, along with seizures induced by the CHz when the patient is exposed to even minute amounts of sensitizing agents such as chemical contaminants, ie. sulphites from pulp mills (or the universally practiced new world order environmental abuse of illegally burning high sulphur coal in power plants), pollens, fungal blooms, and other "sick" environments, and food chemicals. Such seizures can result in sudden death, especially if the subject is alone and suffering from the other aforementioned Aspartame risk factors.

Sincerely, Dr Jim Bowen

Note from Martini:  Please read the 8 month investigation by UPI and NutraPoison on www.dorway.com  for the politics of aspartame approval.  The story of Patricia Crane and her death was on Pat Roberts show on aspartame some years ago.  He admitted that the autopsy of Christina O'nassis was identical to that of Patricia Crane.  Pat Roberts was also threatened not to expose the story. 

Sudden Death from Aspartame, now Epidemic

 The Atlanta Journal Constitution recently published an article from Science Magazine about sudden death.    It  reported  450,000 people drop dead each year and discussed  consumers with an irregular heart rhythm.  Aspartame notoriously triggers an irregular heart rhythm.   Frankly, this is probably an understatement as to deaths.  In fact, On Dec 16, 2001, the Sunday Telegraph  in the UK wrote an article on sudden death and epilepsy.  Aspartame is also a seizure triggering drug as proven on a pivotal study that approved it, a 52 week oral toxicity study where 7 infant monkeys were fed the toxin.  Five had grand mal seizures and one died.  The FDA report of 92 symptoms list 4 types of seizures triggered by this neurotoxin.  To make matters worse aspartame interacts with anti-seizure medication like Dilantin and like drugs. 

In this article it said:  .."many people, including doctors, have little idea that a disturbing number of patients, many of them young and in good health, die unexpectedly, often in their sleep.   Further it said:  "The unpredictable death syndrome has become known as Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy or Sudep.  In 1996, there were 969 epilepsy related deaths, twice as many as from sudden infant or "cot" syndrome, which is the subject of widespread inquiry." 

Dr. James Bowen wrote at the time:  "Sudden death during seizures is almost always due to cardiac standstill due to cardiac arrhythmias..  There are several ways this is due to aspartame damage.  Aspartame and methyl alcohol poisoning are noted for damaging myocardium and the specialized form of myocardium called the cardiac conduction system.  This kind of damage leads to susceptibility to arrhythmias.  The aspartame and methyl alcohol poisoning cause immense damage to the mitochondria and to MtDNA which perpetuates the mitochondria damage.  The myocardium and cardiac conduction system never get to rest. They are constantly at work pumping blood, therefore they are very highly concentrated in mitochondria to accommodate the metabolic needs of this tremendous work load.  So mitochondrial damage is more highly reflected in the heart.  Damaged mitochondria produce increased amounts of free radicals and other abnormal metabolites that produce arrhythmias. .."

Dr. Bowen continues about the unusual demands on the cardiorespiratory system and says that seizures due to NutraSweet occur more frequently and in spite of otherwise adequate anti seizure medication.  And then aspartame creates unusual medical toxicity from the anti-seizure medication.  He says it should be no surprise then that people are dropping dead from this aspect of aspartame toxicity.

On www.dorway.com you will see two reports about aspartame and sudden death:

Aspartame and cardiac and chest problems by H. J. Roberts, M.D.
Aspartame, MSG and Other Excitotoxins and the Hypothalamus by neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock, M.D.

Both have written books to discuss sudden death:

Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic, www.aspartameispoison.com or www.sunsentpress.com or 1 800 814 - 9800.    H. J. Roberts, M.D.

Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills by neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock, M.D., www.amazon.com

Today we are taking case histories for class action on aspartame triggered seizures, brain tumors, eye deterioration and blindness. 

With the recent article about sudden death and the constant reports on athletes dropping dead who probably are using diet drinks, proteins drinks, etc. laced with aspartame, Dr. Bowen has written an indepth report on aspartame and sudden death as reported below.  September 7th and 8th is Aspartame Awareness Weekend.  We hope everyone can help by sending this report to cardiologists, athletic organizations, neurologists, the media and mass mailing lists to get to the general public.  Because of length this report  below has been cut down from its original, dealing only with aspartame and sudden death, and not the politics and influence that has caused what may be one of the largest plagues in world history, Aspartame Disease.  Betty Martini, Founder, Mission Possible International, 9270 River Club Parkway, Duluth, Georgia 30097   770 242-2599

From James Bowen, M.D:

         EPIDEMIC SUDDEN DEATHS in those EXPOSED TO ASPARTAME:
 

The horrendous toxicity of Aspartame has been well documented ever since its inception. 

Sudden deaths logically arise from several of its many toxicities. For example, Christina Onassis, Patty Crane, and Carol Hamm are amongst those that I know of who were using Aspartame and were addicted to it, and visibly deteriorating under its influence when they suddenly, and unexpectedly died therefrom.  Patty Crane was found dead amongst a litter of diet Pepsi cans. When her mother, Betty Hayland, who was exposing Patty's "Nutra Death" on TV, came to me to learn the biochemical basis of its deadliness; she after learning some of the biochemistry, asked: "Dr Bowen, how could such a poisonous chemical ever be on the market?" I answered "Betty! This is organized crime in our government." She became furious with me! "That I should suggest there is organized crime in the US government! What a nut!" A few days later they called and threatened her life. A couple days later two men tried to drag her into a car. She was able to make her escape by breaking free and running. A couple days later her husband Dave, who now has no question that organized crime runs our government, came home and found her shot dead in a puddle of blood on the floor.  Carol Hamm was a close friend, but not my patient so medical confidentiality does not prevent my discussing her tragedy. We played cards together a couple of times per week and she constantly had diet drinks in her hands while she played. She, over a short period of a few weeks use, visibly deterorated physically right in front of my eyes, and mentally. Her card playing deteriorated as well! She would defiantly look me right in the eye as she drank diet to let me know that she didn't care that I had warned her of what I knew about Aspartame. She was going to satisfy her addiction by damn! Come what may! What came was that, one night she didn't show for cards, and her daughter Debby called the police. When we arrived at her house she was lying dead in bed with bloody fluid running out of her mouth. In all three cases the autopsy report revealed only "unexplained pulmonary edema".

That is the difference between death from Aspartame metholism and regular alcholism, you can't smell it on the breath, and medical politics forbids attributing anything evil to "Nutra Sweet." Jim krossik was an employee at Searle's first Aspartame plant in Phoenix. He developed neural toxicty from breathing the Aspartame dust in the air in the plant and passed out on the plant floor. When he recovered and returned to work, he found that all employees were required to wear face masks lest they breath the deadly Nutra Sweet dust! He complied, but absorbed enough through his skin that he passed out on the floor dead! The autopsy report revealed a "severe alcholic cardiomyopathy" as its only finding. Jim used no beverage alcohol! I have published extensively on www.dorway.com. My articles such as "Sperm Warfare", "Aspartame and methanol revisited" etc. enlarge upon the unique methanol toxicity from Aspartame. It metabolizes in a toxic axis of Aspartame to methanol, to formaldehyde, to formic acid, to carbon monoxide. Aspartame, to a striking degree, carries toxic heavy metals into the body, as well as generating toxic superoxide free radicals in the metabolic channels that are poisoned by it,. A good overview of the Aspartame problem is my book "Billions of Victims" which is available as free advice at many educational/informational sites on the net. Since it educates about Chemical Hypersensitivity, (CHz), it is essential reading for a full understanding of the issue of sudden deaths from Aspartame.

The heart muscle is very sensitive to alchol poisonings. Such alcholic cardiomyopathies frequently terminate in sudden death. The Aspartame molecule is an alcohol poison about 20,000 times as toxic a poison as ethanol, (regular old sipping. or beverage alcohol) on a per weight basis! Moreover, myocardium never gets to rest except between heart beats, so things like the methanol from Aspartame which become more or progressively toxic upon metabolism in muscles are especially damaging to it. The myocardium is especially rich in mitochondriae to subserve this metabolic need. The mitochondriae and their DNA, (Mt DNA), are especially subject to these damages, and Mt DNA lacks the repair mechanisms of nuclear DNA, so damage to it is highly cumulative and is even passed on to the fetus by the mother! The Cardiac Conduction System is a specialized kind of tissue that is a hybrid of neuronal and muscle tissues, which is even richer in mitochondriae, and it never gets to rest. It is the clock that generates and effectively coordinates heartbeats and heart rythymns and contractions. Many various malfunctions of it precipitate sudden death. Its extreme mitochondrial concentration, and its dependence upon mitochondrial metabolism for its unresting labors make it a site intensely generative of the poisonous Aspartame cogeners and extremely subject to their resultant chemical, immune, mitochondrial and CHz damages.

When the methanol from Aspartame is metabolized it has obligatory first step metabolism to formaldehyde, the strongest organic base. This is a polymerizing agent which cross links sites on DNA so it can't reproduce or function to transmit genetic information nor essential metabolic instructions. The next step in the metabolism is to formic acid which is a chromosome shattering agent. (along with cyanide, and flouride it is called a "blister poison" because it is so damaging that it leaves blisters of dead tissue behind.) Formate is also recognized as fire ant poison. The whole, entire toxic axis are severe sensitizing agents. A fire ant can, because of the sensitivity it engenders, kill a human being that outweighs it billions of times. Thus, the myocardium and conduction system are rendered highly subject to attack both from the direct actions of the Aspartame poisons and their metabolic derangements along with the free radicals they generate via the impaired metabolic competence, and are highly succeptible to other toxics and "sick environments" via CHz, (Chemical Hypersensitivity). Damaged Mt DNA, as well, and its resultant mitochondrial dysfuction along with dysfunctions by and from immune and hyperdsensitivity reactions (CHz) are all associated with sudden deaths. Cardiomyopathies from damaged MtDNA are also well known to be passed to the child from the mother. Many other MtDNA diseases are inherited from mothers who have damaged MtDNA. Because the MtDNA is not in the nucleus but rather is located in the mitochondria of the cell, its transmission in the case of a given ovum is haphazard and random, so that infants from such mothers usually display varied, random, and often dissimilar disease patterns. One may be diabetic, another may have a cardiomyopathy, another pervasive developmental disorders such as autism, another, metabolically generated diseases like steatohepatitis, hypotonic obesity etc.(see my dorway and article, "Steato Hepatitis".)

Another whole related area is the damage done to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Repeated poisonous assaults, such as CHz, cause the activation fo the antishock mechanisms of the adrenal glands leading to either adrenal fatigue or a cushionoid status, both are conducive to sudden death, especially in response to toxic or other shock inducing states, such as the CHz response. The hypothalamus, along with many other brain structures is severely damaged by the dicarboxylic amino acid neuroexcitoxin component of the Aspartame poisoning. This alone can cause adrenal insufficiency and resultant sudden death. The phenyl alanine isolate poisoning from Asp leads to serotonin and dopamine depletion in some areas of the brain, and elevation of serotonin in others, leading to neuroendocrine disruptions which contribute to all of the above, as well as depression and schizophrenic episodes which have often lead to Aspartame related suicides.

Aspartame is a potent epileptogenic agent, causing seizures directly from its toxic effect, as well as when in withdrawal from same, along with seizures induced by the CHz when the patient is exposed to even minute amounts of sensitizing agents such as chemical contaminants, ie. sulphites from pulp mills (or the universally practiced new world order environmental abuse of illegally burning high sulphur coal in power plants), pollens, fungal blooms, and other "sick" environments, and food chemicals. Such seizures can result in sudden death, especially if the subject is alone and suffering from the other aforementioned Aspartame risk factors.

Sincerely, Dr Jim Bowen
Note from Martini:  Please read the 8 month investigation by UPI and NutraPoison on www.dorway.com  for the politics of aspartame approval.  The story of Patricia Crane and her death was on Pat Roberts show on aspartame some years ago.  He admitted that the autopsy of Christina O'nassis was identical to that of Patricia Crane.  Pat Roberts was also threatened not to expose the story. 

Subject: aspartame info

If you're still not convinced there's a conspiracy involved in the approval of aspartame, which I believe was actually created by the elite to kill people, or at least make them very sick, please read the following.  I know how addictive it is, but I kicked it and so can you.  Not only that, it makes you FAT!  Drink Waist Watchers soda if you have to have soda.  Better yet, kick the soda habit!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How Aspartame Became Legal - The Timeline
From Rich Murray
rmforall@att.net

12-24-02

From Norfolk Genetic Information Network (Taken from Welcome to the Spin Machine by Michael Manville http://www.freezerbox.com/archive/2001/04/biotech/
http://www.freezerbox.com/ )

In 1985 Monsanto purchased G.D. Searle, the chemical company that held the patent to aspartame, the active ingredient in NutraSweet. Monsanto was apparently untroubled by aspartame's clouded past, including a 1980 FDA Board of Inquiry, comprised of three independent scientists, which confirmed that it "might induce brain tumors."

 

The FDA had actually banned aspartame based on this finding, only to have Searle Chairman Donald Rumsfeld (currently the Secretary of Defense) vow to "call in his markers," to get it approved.

 

On January 21, 1981, the day after Ronald Reagan's inauguration, Searle re-applied to the FDA for approval to use aspartame in food sweetener, and Reagan's new FDA commissioner, Arthur Hayes Hull, Jr., appointed a 5-person Scientific Commission to review the board of inquiry's decision.

It soon became clear that the panel would uphold the ban by a 3-2 decision, but Hull then installed a sixth member on the commission, and the vote became deadlocked. He then personally broke the tie in aspartame's favor. Hull later left the FDA under allegations of impropriety, served briefly as Provost at New York Medical College, and then took a position with Burston-Marsteller, the chief public relations firm for both Monsanto and GD Searle. Since that time he has never spoken publicly about aspartame.The Aspartame/NutraSweet Timeline

http://www.swankin-turner.com/aspartame.html
http://www.swankin-turner.com/hist.html

Aspartame/NutraSweet: The History of the Aspartame Controversy

 

By James Turner, ESQ. Director of the National Institute of Science, Law, and Public Policy (NISLAPP)

 

National Institute of Science, Law, and Public Policy 1400 16th Street, NW, Suite 330, Washington, DC 20036 (202) 462-8800 Fax: (202) 265-6564 nislapp@swankin-turner.com

 

Timeline

 

December 1965-- While working on an ulcer drug, James Schlatter, a chemist at G.D. Searle, accidentally discovers aspartame, a substance that is 180 times sweeter than sugar yet has no calories.

 

Spring 1967-- Searle begins the safety tests on aspartame that are necessary for applying for FDA approval of food additives.

 

Fall 1967-- Dr. Harold Waisman, a biochemist at the University of Wisconsin, conducts aspartame safety tests on infant monkeys on behalf of the Searle Company. Of the seven monkeys that were being fed aspartame mixed with milk, one dies and five others have grand mal seizures.

 

November 1970-- Cyclamate, the reigning low-calorie artificial sweetener -- is pulled off the market after some scientists associate it with cancer. Questions are also raised about safety of saccharin, the only other artificial sweetener on the market, leaving the field wide open for aspartame. [Imho, the elite did this to make way for the need for another artificial sweetener, a deadly one, which would fall right in line with their genocidal program, since they think there are just too many of us..cb]

 

December 18, 1970-- Searle Company executives lay out a "Food and Drug Sweetener Strategy' that they feel will put the FDA into a positive frame of mind about aspartame. An internal policy memo describes psychological tactics the company should use to bring the FDA into a subconscious spirit of participation" with them on aspartame and get FDA regulators into the "habit of saying, "Yes"."

 

Spring 1971-- Neuroscientist Dr. John Olney (whose pioneering work with monosodium glutamate was responsible for having it removed from baby foods) informs Searle that his studies show that aspartic acid (one of the ingredients of aspartame) caused holes in the brains of infant mice. One of Searle's own researchers confirmed Dr. Olney's findings in a similar study.

 

February 1973-- After spending tens of millions of dollars conducting safety tests, the G.D. Searle Company applies for FDA approval and submits over 100 studies they claim support aspartame's safety.

 

March 5, 1973-- One of the first FDA scientists to review the aspartame safety data states that "the information provided (by Searle) is inadequate to permit an evaluation of the potential toxicity of aspartame". She says in her report that in order to be certain that aspartame is safe, further clinical tests are needed.

 

May 1974-- Attorney, Jim Turner (consumer advocate who was instrumental in getting cyclamate taken off the market) meets with Searle representatives to discuss Dr. Olney's 1971 study which showed that aspartic acid caused holes in the brains of infant mice.

 

July 26, 1974-- The FDA grants aspartame its first approval for restricted use in dry foods. [!!!!!]

 

August 1974-- Jim Turner and Dr. John Olney file the first objections against aspartame's approval.

 

March 24, 1976-- Turner and Olney's petition triggers an FDA investigation of the laboratory practices of aspartame's manufacturer, G.D. Searle. The investigation finds Searle's testing procedures shoddy, full of inaccuracies and "manipulated" test data. The investigators report they "had never seen anything as bad as Searle's testing."

 

January 10, 1977-- The FDA formally requests the U.S. Attorney's office to begin grand jury proceedings to investigate whether indictments should be filed against Searle for knowingly misrepresenting findings and "concealing material facts and making false statements" in aspartame safety tests. This is the first time in the FDA's history that they request a criminal investigation of a manufacturer.

 

January 26, 1977-- While the grand jury probe is underway, Sidley & Austin, the law firm representing Searle, begins job negotiations with the U.S. Attorney in charge of the investigation, Samuel Skinner.

 

March 8, 1977-- G. D. Searle hires prominent Washington insider Donald Rumsfeld as the new CEO to try to turn the beleaguered company around. A former Member of Congress and Secretary of Defense in the Ford Administration, Rumsfeld brings in several of his Washington cronies as top management.

 

July 1, 1977-- Samuel Skinner leaves the U.S. Attorney's office and takes a job with Searle's law firm. (see Jan. 26th)

 

August 1, 1977-- The Bressler Report, compiled by FDA investigators and headed by Jerome Bressler, is released. The report finds that 98 of the 196 animals died during one of Searle's studies and weren't autopsied until later dates, in some cases over one year after death. Many other errors and inconsistencies are noted. For example, a rat was reported alive, then dead, then alive, then dead again; a mass, a uterine polyp, and ovarian neoplasms were found in animals but not reported or diagnosed in Searle's reports.

 

December 8, 1977-- U.S. Attorney Skinner's withdrawal and resignation stalls the Searle grand jury investigation for so long that the statute of limitations on the aspartame charges runs out. The grand jury investigation is dropped.

 

June 1, 1979-- The FDA established a Public Board of Inquiry (PBOI) to rule on safety issues surrounding NutraSweet.

 

September 30, 1980-- The Public Board of Inquiry concludes NutraSweet should not be approved pending further investigations of brain tumors in animals. The board states it "has not been presented with proof of reasonable certainty that aspartame is safe for use as a food additive."

 

January 1981-- Donald Rumsfeld, CEO of Searle, states in a sales meeting that he is going to make a big push to get aspartame approved within the year. Rumsfeld says he will use his political pull in Washington, rather than scientific means, to make sure it gets approved.

 

January 21, 1981-- Ronald Reagan is sworn in as President of the United States. Reagan's transition team, which includes Donald Rumsfeld, CEO of G. D. Searle, hand picks Dr. Arthur Hull Hayes Jr. to be the new FDA Commissioner.

 

March, 1981-- An FDA commissioner's panel is established to review issues raised by the Public Board of Inquiry.

 

May 19, 1981-- Three of six in-house FDA scientists who were responsible for reviewing the brain tumor issues, Dr. Robert Condon, Dr. Satya Dubey, and Dr. Douglas Park, advise against approval of NutraSweet, stating on the record that the Searle tests are unreliable and not adequate to determine the safety of aspartame.

 

July 15, 1981-- In one of his first official acts, Dr. Arthur Hayes Jr., the new FDA commissioner, overrules the Public Board of Inquiry, ignores the recommendations of his own internal FDA team and approves NutraSweet for dry products. Hayes says that aspartame has been shown to be safe for its proposed uses and says few compounds have withstood such detailed testing and repeated close scrutiny.

 

October 15, 1982-- The FDA announces that Searle has filed a petition that aspartame be approved as a sweetener in carbonated beverages and other liquids.

 

July 1, 1983-- The National Soft Drink Association (NSDA) urges the FDA to delay approval of aspartame for carbonated beverages pending further testing because aspartame is very unstable in liquid form. When liquid aspartame is stored in temperatures above 85 degrees Fahrenheit, it breaks down into DKP and formaldehyde, both of which are known toxins.

 

July 8, 1983-- The National Soft Drink Association drafts an objection to the final ruling which permits the use of aspartame in carbonated beverages and syrup bases and requests a hearing on the objections. The association says that Searle has not provided responsible certainty that aspartame and its degradation products are safe for use in soft drinks.

 

August 8, 1983-- Consumer Attorney, Jim Turner of the Community Nutrition Institute and Dr. Woodrow Monte, Arizona State University's Director of Food Science and Nutritional Laboratories, file suit with the FDA objecting to aspartame approval based on unresolved safety issues.

 

September, 1983-- FDA Commissioner Hayes resigns under a cloud of controversy about his taking unauthorized rides aboard a General Foods jet. (General foods is a major customer of NutraSweet) Burson-Marsteller, Searle's public relation firm (which also represented several of NutraSweet's major users), immediately hires Hayes as senior scientific consultant.

 

Fall 1983-- The first carbonated beverages containing aspartame are sold for public consumption.

 

November 1984-- Center for Disease Control (CDC) "Evaluation of consumer complaints related to aspartame use." (summary by B. Mullarkey)

 

November 3, 1987-- U.S. hearing, "NutraSweet: Health and Safety Concerns," Committee on Labor and Human Resources, Senator Howard Metzenbaum, chairman.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/857 RTM: www.dorway.com

original documents and long reviews of flaws in aspartame toxicity research 7.31.2 rmforall

http://www.dorway.com/upipart1.txt  UPI reporter Gregory Gordon: 96K 3-part expose Oct 1987

"Survey of aspartame studies: correlation of outcome and funding sources," 1998, unpublished: http://www.dorway.com/peerrev.html
Walton found 166 separate published studies in the peer reviewed medical literature, which had relevance for questions of human safety. The 74 studies funded by industry all (100%) attested to aspartame's safety, whereas of the 92 non-industry funded studies, 84 (91%) identified a problem. Six of the seven non-industry funded studies that were favorable to aspartame safety were from the FDA, which has a public record that shows a strong pro-industry bias. Ralph G. Walton, MD, Prof. of Clinical Psychology, Northeastern Ohio Universities, College of Medicine, Dept. of Psychiatry, Youngstown, OH 44501, Chairman, The Center for Behavioral Medicine, Northside Medical Center, 500 Gypsy Lane, P.O. Box 240 Youngstown, OH 44501 330-740-3621 rwalton193@aol.com
http://www.neoucom.edu/DEPTS/Psychiatry/walton.htm

Former FDA Investigator Exposes Aspartame As Deadly Neurotoxin that Never Should Have Been Approved

4-22-3

Open Statement concerning the artificial sweetener, Aspartame, by Arthur M. Evangelista, a former FDA Investigator...

I am a former investigator who worked with the US Food and Drug Administration: This is what I have to say about Aspartame and the people who brought it to our tables.

As a former FDA investigator, I was charged with overseeing two major projects for the FDA. These concerned Pesticides and Chemicals in Foods and Illegal Drug Tissue Residues in Animals (including milk related issues). I worked closely with the sister Federal and State agencies, oversaw contracts, I was a co-ordinator and lead investigator on projects involving EPA and USDA. The FDA, in the mid-70's to mid-90's was not a large organization, having an annual budget no greater than a medium-sized hospital by 1995.

The problems with aspartame include not only the biochemical nature of this toxin but also it sheds light on the political nature of the players involved. The changes in regulatory policies and regulations resulting from corporate-government ties and the politicians closely associated with these ties. What I can tell you, regarding toxicology, histology and biochemistry, is that aspartame is neurotoxic. Its components easily transcend the blood-brain barrier, interfering with normal nerve cell function. This affects the glutathione and calcium mechanisms in place, destroying nerve call integrity. The methanol then breaks down into formaldehyde-formic acid components, which denaturizes/mutates the DNA: a known scientific fact. The subsequent result from this interaction and from isolates of genetically modified amino acids, the methanol, is nerve cell necrosis and subsequent organ system degradation.

The hypothalamus alone (the major controller for much of the endocrine system), is at especially high risk to these effects...thereby, affecting many other organ systems. I have seen first hand the effects on symptoms when individuals have abstained from ingesting the artificial sweetener, aspartame. Make no bones about it, aspartame is a major factor in many symptomologies due to its effects upon brain chemistry.

ORGANIZED RHETORIC

Coming from a family and relatives of physicians, I know only too well that if there was even a chance that something was wrong with a patient, a truly committed physician would thoroughly investigate any etiology (or cause) regarding an illness (both chronic and sub chronic), rather than retain a close-minded approach to the available data. This just boggles my mind when those, who are supposed to know better; choose to adhere to the organized rhetoric of industry-backed misinformation, without giving the true scientific facts an opportunity to sink in. At the least, consider the possibilities. I guarantee, the truth will then become self-evident!

The biggest lie told, is one of self-deceit; not to mention, all the people made ill and killed in the process of 'ignorant medicine' eg a doctor has sold his skills and MD diploma to industrial chemical manufacturers, pharmaceutical firms or even to governmental associations!! Money is money...right, Doc?

Prior to the approval of aspartame, the FDA sent two specialized teams to G.D. Searle and found a ghastly 95% level of misdirected testing; concealed tests, collusion between corporate and their company-funded research; inappropriate ante-mortum issues; withholding of material facts; alterations of records: lying to investigators, lost records, no records; falsification of reports, bribery, poor test methodology or design...et al.

FDA investigators Brodsky and Bressler, both seasoned federal investigators, each led investigative teams to review Searle's lab practices. These practices at Searle were despicable and should have been thrown out. This is a fact. The actual report are displayed on http://www.dorway.com Unfortunately, many ethics in the law were also violated during this time period, by the various government departments in the USA. This was further corrupted by politicians involved with corporate constituents who in turn  affected the regulatory process in favour of these constituents. Another name for this, of course, is 'bribery'.

FAVORABLE INFLUENCES

This was nothing less than full-blown collusion. The 'revolving door' at the FDA, is very much a reality. Former corporate officials, who began working for the Food and Drug Administration (and vice versa), were very cavalier about issues uncovered at Searle surrounding their drug processing and issues involved with aspartame. Some, with a hidden agenda of promised secret money or better jobs, actively hindered the investigation into G. D. Searle's laboratory practices. It is obvious when you see the records and numbers and where those jobs were. These are a matter of public and Congressional Record. Subsequently, many former FDA officials, due to their 'favorable influences' with regulatory enforcement and rulings, were in fact, rewarded with corporate positions and lucrative incomes, including former FDA Commissioner Arthur Hull Hayes, who was about to be brought up on ethics and misconduct charges!

The whole process was (is still) rotten throughout. The various dependent research completed on aspartame proves this (in part, a chemical warfare agent) is a neurotoxin. It is unlike any other compound on the market. Each of its three components are toxic. The only people I have met or communicated with, who have steadfastly refused to look at this picture for what it is, have been found to have other agendas, other than the truth. Not even a sceptic, like my brother (a chief microbiologist) could ignore the factual evidence of aspartame's neuro-toxicity when presented with the evidence. Being a sceptic is one thing, but to deny the evidence, the motives and the pieces of a rather complex and sordid puzzle with common denominators, is ludicrous; you would have to be brain dead. To still adhere to the narrow focus of the corporate spin-doctors and corporate-back rhetoric from federal regulators, means that you have clearly chosen to purposefully close your mind to the evidence and/o you are operating with a pro-industry (hidden) agenda.

There is rampant corruption in these processes and it behoves all educated, law enforcement and scientific-minded individuals to look at the entire picture to piece together one of the biggest travesties in public health history. The common thread which ties everything together is; the strong political influences, the monumental amounts of money used to purchase the souls of those who have placed greed above common sense, public health and the trust of public office.

REMEMBER AGENT ORANGE?

As an investigator, I found this hard to believe at first, that so many factors have come together to collude in such a way, to allow aspartame into our food supply. Regardless of how I initially felt about it, the evidence is factual ....it happened. Now we have to do something about it, because it is nothing less than MASS MURDER. Additionally and historically, many recalled products, including FDA regulated products, were once thought safe. DDT was once thought to be safe, remember?

History of the regulatory problems, fraud, deceit and scientific corruption with various drug products would serve you well to remember here. Regulatory problems and corruption resulting in mass-illness or deaths with various prescription drugs and drug-tissue residues in foods (antibiotics) which was known by the FDA since the mid 80's, perpetuating further our problems with antibiotic resistant germs.

Remember Agent Orange? How long did it take the US government to even acknowledge that there was a problem with spraying a dioxin compound all over the Asian forests during Vietnam? Monsanto never said a word during this period; no chemical manufacturer did. It was years before the veterans, who gave their lives or whose lives were ruined, were even given the acknowledgement that there was a problem. The Gulf War Veterans were in the same boat for a while. Maybe someone will pay attention to their plight.

Many policies, I found out, were not made to protect the public health, but rather, to provide leverage at appropriation time before Congress and to protect the industry and their political government. This is especially true when they were paid for their 'services' by the pharmaceutical or chemical industries. This is what I call 'social cancer'. Many systems for protecting the public health are (were) less than effective...making very little difference on public health issues. Much of it was for 'show' and for funding. It was the folks in Rockville and Washington who made the final decisions on how to play most of these issues out. Unfortunately for us, it was not to favor the public health processes. The entire process reeks of political and corporate influence. Many mainstream media newscasts and reports have exposed this problem.

SPIN-DOCTORS

There are regulatory or enforcement agencies that have questionably close ties with industry, aside from an unethical revolving door. These ties are even illegal in some aspects and compromise an agency's ability to regulate. It compromises not only the integrity of the agency, but the information being disseminated, as well. Everything becomes suspect. Then the spin-doctors are called into action.

THE EVIDENCE IS THERE

So tell me then, why do government agencies support and make policies around industrial concerns, like pharmaceutical or chemical manufacturing firms? The answer is easy: Money and/or power! Why aren't government agencies remaining impartial? Somebody has a little influence, that is why and, this influence is not in the public's best interest. Follow the money trail.

The truth has been difficult to come by. Investigators, lay people, teachers, educators, regulators and whistleblowers have, piece by piece, put this highly complex puzzle together and now see this issue for what it is. The evidence is there. Unfortunately, I have found that many physicians, including those who can make substantial incomes from treating the effects of the neurotoxin aspartame (and other medically 'healable' issues) would rather people did not find out about its effects on brain chemistry. Giving doctors the benefit of the doubt, if they do not consider aspartame poisoning as a cause for concern or instigator of symptoms, they are simply not very good investigators. Then may be the doctor should try carpentry or other non-patient related work.

In truth, doctors have a business. This is a sub-set of business treatment practices that is making money based on the introduction of a poisonous product. I also found out that the large government health association and many other so-called health groups, have received substantial money, contributions, or stipends from industry regarding their products.

BUSINESS GOES BEFORE PUBLIC HEALTH

This includes certain public health associations - the very people who are supposed to be helping the public, who for legal reasons cannot be named here, they like many others, diabolically support aspartame and the money it has made them. They are businesses... and business goes before public health. Look at any health association and check out the list of their contributors and tell me what you see.

FACTS:

Regarding aspartame, I have written articles about this substance, they explained the processes that allowed aspartame into the marketplace, through various reports and information uncovered whilst I was with the agency and afterwards, with the help of other investigators and agency data. Much of this information is available for review, you can draw your own conclusions.

Open your mind. Know that the government-corporate issues have shocked us before, to our collective dismay. I urge you to consider all the factors; ... the political, physiological and regulatory processes which created the mistaken and unfortunate acceptance of this toxin in our food supply. This information is not 'what I think' nor how I feel...

...It is a fact, that ASPARTAME SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN APPROVED based on the information submitted to the FDA, including the information that was not submitted. It is a fact that politics and those with 'hidden agendas' illegally affected the regulatory processes, misused and abused their authority, to bring to market this toxic food additive.

If you drink aspartame and have experienced health problems, then cease your consumption of it (and its cousin MSG) for 60 days and see if your symptoms disappear. You have nothing to lose. If you do not follow this simple experiment for 60 days, you could lose your life. Additionally, educate yourselves. It is your body, your health and your life.

BE WISE:

For further information see the following websites:

http://www.dorway.com Experts on Aspartame, government records, UPI and CDC investigations, books by physicians, protest of National Soft Drink Assn, Class Action, support groups, etc.

http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame Aspartame Toxicity Center

http://www.truthinlabeling.org MSG

http://www.sunsentpress.com Books by H. J. Roberts, M.D. including Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic, medical text on global plague

http://www.ana-jana.org Russell Blaylock, M.D., neurosurgeon, book, Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills on aspartame and MSG and his new book on how to get well, Health & Nutrition Secrets To Save Your Life. or

www.amazon.com

Note from Betty Martini, Founder, Mission Possible International

(www.dorway.com - 770 242-2599), global unpaid volunteer force warning the world off aspartame: Updates: The European Parliament has voted to re-examine aspartame. They will also examine Stevia which got outlawed for no reason except to keep consumers using the toxin aspartame. There are at least 500 studies on Stevia showing safety and you can contact the Stevita Company in Dallas, Texas, Oscar Rodes (petro@mindspring.com). The actual consumption by humans without a single report of undesired side effects over a long period of time (30 years in Japan, 15 years in Brazil in the extract form, and centuries in Paraguay and Brazil on the leaves form) demonstrates that the product is safe for its intended use - that is as a sweetener. It is the salvation of diabetics as it helps in the metabolism of sugar whereas aspartame can precipitate diabetes, keeps blood sugar out of control, destroys the optic nerve, can cause diabetics to go into convulsions and even interacts with insulin. It is particularly pushed on diabetics. It has caused an epidemic of diabetes and obesity, as it is a drug that makes you crave carbohydrates so you gain weight. See protest of National Soft Drink Association on www.dorway.com and Aspartame Makes You Fatter by Sandra Cabot, M.D. Also read Aspartame and Diabetes and Hypoglycemia by diabetic specialist H. J. Roberts, M.D.

No drug is safe on the market as long as aspartame exists as it interacts with just about every drug used to treat the problems it causes completely outlined in a chapter on drug interaction in Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic by Roberts. One out of four are having drug interactions! Two-thirds of the population in America and 40% of our children are using this deadly chemical poison that interacts with drugs and as a chemical hypersensitization agent interacts with vaccines, other toxins and unsafe additives.

I have filed a Citizens Petition with the FDA based on the fact their records show aspartame to be deadly and yet they lie to the public. They have been told not to send their FDA propaganda rag, the FDA Consumer or a packet of Federal Registers. The law requires they answer in six months. It has been 10 months and they have not answered. To read the entire Board of Inquiry report of the FDA saying not to approve aspartame and the famed Dr. John Olney's paper to the Board of Inquiry telling them what would happen to the brains of our children go to www.greatfallspro.com Mission Possible Maine. They supply special equipment to read the original documents.

Please contact Betty Martini, Bettym19@mindspring.com (770 242-2599) if you have suffered brain tumors, seizures or blindness or eye deterioration from aspartame for class action.

I leave you with the profound words of James Bowen, M.D., who has Lou Gehrig's from aspartame in his paper Aspartame Murders Infants, Violates Federal Domestic Genocide Law: "Aspartame is sold as NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, Canderel, Benevia, E951, etc., and is in thousands of foods and diet drinks. At every point in the fertility process aspartame destroys, beginning with the gleam in Mom and Pop's eyes. It ruins female sexual response and induces male sexual dysfunction. Beyond this, aspartame disrupts fetal development by aborting it or inducing defects. And if a live child is born aspartame may have heinously damaged the DNA of the baby, cursing future generations."

Is NutraSweet a Neurotoxin? You bet your aspartame! It's only appropriate use is as a rat killer and to kill fire ants.

More on aspartame and the history

FACTS ABOUT ASPARTAME

gypsymama: Did you know that Aspartame was banned by the FDA twice? How is this product legal now?

The bittersweet argument over whether Aspartame is safe or not has been going on for a long time. On one side we have medical evidence that suggests we should avoid using it and on the other side we lean on the FDA’s approval that suggests it is safe. Since generally that seems to be the factor that many continue to hold trust based upon, I thought we could look into the Aspartame story to find out how it came to be accepted as safe by the FDA. You would think that something so widely used and so well accepted would have quite the pristine story leading to its acceptance. I imagine one will discover otherwise after reading this post.

It all starts in the mid 1960′s with a company called G.D. Searle. One of their chemists accidentally creates aspartame while trying to create a cure for stomach ulcers. Searle decides to put aspartame through a testing process which eventually leads to its approval by the FDA. Not long after, serious health effects begin to arise and G.D. Searle comes under fire for their testing practices. It is revealed that the testing process of Aspartame was among the worst the investigators had ever seen and that in fact the product was unsafe for use. Aspartame triggers the first criminal investigation of a manufacturer put into place by the FDA in 1977. By 1980 the FDA bans aspartame from use after having 3 independent scientists study the sweetener. It was determined that one main health effects was that it had a high chance of inducing brain tumors. At this point it was clear that aspartame was not fit to be used in foods and banned is where it stayed, but not for long.

Early in 1981 Searle Chairman Donald Rumsfeld (who is a former Secretary of Defense.. surprise surprise) vowed to “call in his markers,” to get it approved. January 21, 1981, the day after Ronald Reagan’s inauguration, Searle took the steps to re-apply aspartame’s approval for use by the FDA. Ronald Reagans’ new FDA commissioner Arthur Hayes Hull, Jr., appointed a 5-person Scientific Commission to review the board of inquiry’s decision. It did not take long for the panel to decide 3-2 in favor of maintaining the ban of aspartame. Hull then decided to appoint a 6th member to the board, which created a tie in the voting, 3-3. Hull then decided to personally break the tie and approve aspartame for use. Hull later left the FDA under allegations of impropriety, served briefly as Provost at New York Medical College, and then took a position with Burston-Marsteller. Burstone-Marstella is the chief public relations firm for both Monsanto and GD Searle. Since that time he has never spoken publicly about aspartame.

It is clear to this point that if anything the safety of aspartame is incredibly shaky.  It has already been through a process of being banned and without the illegitimate un-banning of the product, it would not be being used today. Makes you wonder how much corruption and money was involved with names like Rumsfeld, Reagan and Hull involved so heavily. In 1985, Monsanto decides to purchase the aspartame patent from G.D. Searle. Remember that Arthur Hull now had the connection to Monsanto. Monsanto did not seem too concerned with the past challenges and ugly image aspartame had based on its past. I personally find this comical as Monsanto’s products are banned in many countries and of all companies to buy the product they seem to fit best as they are champions of producing incredibly unsafe and untested products and making sure they stay in the market place.

Since then, aspartame has been under a lot of attack by scientists, doctors, chemists and consumers about it’s safety and neurotoxic properties. Piles of comprehensive studies have been completed that show aspartame is a cause for over 90 serious health problems such as cancer, leukemia, headaches, seizures, fibromyalgia, and epilepsy just to name a few. We have written several articles discussing various affects of aspartame. Aspartame Leukemia Link. Aspartame and Brain Damage.

For a full timeline on aspartame’s legal and safety battles, expand the box below.
Full Aspartame Timeline

Timeline

December 1965– While working on an ulcer drug, James Schlatter, a chemist at G.D. Searle, accidentally discovers aspartame, a substance that is 180 times sweeter than sugar yet has no calories.

Spring 1967– Searle begins the safety tests on aspartame that are necessary for applying for FDA approval of food additives.

Fall 1967– Dr. Harold Waisman, a biochemist at the University of Wisconsin, conducts aspartame safety tests on infant monkeys on behalf of the Searle Company. Of the seven monkeys that were being fed aspartame mixed with milk, one dies and five others have grand mal seizures.

November 1970– Cyclamate, the reigning low-calorie artificial sweetener — is pulled off the market after some scientists associate it with cancer. Questions are also raised about safety of saccharin, the only other artificial sweetener on the market, leaving the field wide open for aspartame.

December 18, 1970– Searle Company executives lay out a “Food and Drug Sweetener Strategy’ that they feel will put the FDA into a positive frame of mind about aspartame. An internal policy memo describes psychological tactics the company should use to bring the FDA into a subconscious spirit of participation” with them on aspartame and get FDA regulators into the “habit of saying, “Yes”.”

Spring 1971– Neuroscientist Dr. John Olney (whose pioneering work with monosodium glutamate was responsible for having it removed from baby foods) informs Searle that his studies show that aspartic acid (one of the ingredients of aspartame) caused holes in the brains of infant mice. One of Searle’s own researchers confirmed Dr. Olney’s findings in a similar study.

February 1973– After spending tens of millions of dollars conducting safety tests, the G.D. Searle Company applies for FDA approval and submits over 100 studies they claim support aspartame’s safety.

March 5, 1973– One of the first FDA scientists to review the aspartame safety data states that “the information provided (by Searle) is inadequate to permit an evaluation of the potential toxicity of aspartame”. She says in her report that in order to be certain that aspartame is safe, further clinical tests are needed.

May 1974– Attorney, Jim Turner (consumer advocate who was instrumental in getting cyclamate taken off the market) meets with Searle representatives to discuss Dr. Olney’s 1971 study which showed that aspartic acid caused holes in the brains of infant mice.

July 26, 1974– The FDA grants aspartame its first approval for restricted use in dry foods.

August 1974– Jim Turner and Dr. John Olney file the first objections against aspartame’s approval.

March 24, 1976– Turner and Olney’s petition triggers an FDA investigation of the laboratory practices of aspartame’s manufacturer, G.D. Searle. The investigation finds Searle’s testing procedures shoddy, full of inaccuracies and “manipulated” test data. The investigators report they “had never seen anything as bad as Searle’s testing.”

January 10, 1977– The FDA formally requests the U.S. Attorney’s office to begin grand jury proceedings to investigate whether indictments should be filed against Searle for knowingly misrepresenting findings and “concealing material facts and making false statements” in aspartame safety tests. This is the first time in the FDA’s history that they request a criminal investigation of a manufacturer.

January 26, 1977– While the grand jury probe is underway, Sidley & Austin, the law firm representing Searle, begins job negotiations with the U.S. Attorney in charge of the investigation, Samuel Skinner.

March 8, 1977– G. D. Searle hires prominent Washington..
 Sources:

http://www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-side-effects.html

http://rense.com/general33/legal.htm

http://dorway.com/