 By Rob Holston November 19, 2007
James Schlatter, Ph.D. was conducting research for the G.D. Searle Company on an ulcer treatment drug. In December 1965 Dr. Schlatter mixed a substance in a container with methanol (wood alcohol). Some of the substance accidentally spilled onto part of the flask. After handling the flask, the substance was now on his fingers. Moments later the Dr. licked his fingers to pick up a piece of paper and noticed a decidedly strong "sweet" taste. He realized that the sweetness had come from the contents of his experiment and was the birth of what we now consume as Aspartame, NutraSweet or Equal. Normally a new food or drug must have extensive testing on laboratory animals and then tested on humans before being produced for human consumption. If the product is not found to be "reasonably safe" it will not be allowed. This standard translates into.. ".is found to cause cancer is less than three in one million people." The company that produces Aspartame is accused of falsifying test results to the FDA and engaging in unethical deals with the Attorney General's Office. Independent reports continue to mount that show Aspartame use leading to headaches, memory loss, seizures and even death! What is now known about Aspartame shows that in the body it breaks down into: methanol, aspartic acid, phenylalanine and diketopiperazine (DKP). Each of these individual components is itself a know TOXIN. The base product of Aspartame is wood alcohol, Methanol, that has caused blindness in alcoholics and is used as a paint thinner and industrial cleaner. When metabolized in the human body, it becomes formaldehyde (i.e. embalming fluid) and formic acid. Steadman's Medical Dictionary describes methanol as 'a toxic mobile liquid used as an industrial solvent, antifreeze and in chemical manufacture; ingestion may result in severe acidosis, visual impairment and other effects of the central nervous system." Consumption of methanol causes symptoms of lethargy, fainting, headaches, nausea, vomiting, blindness, cough, breathing difficulties and vision problems. Methanol has contributed to birth defects in developing fetuses. It is no wonder that Aspartame has been outlawed in progressive countries such as Japan. What does this mean to parents? A child consuming one packet of NutaSweet will result in over 10X's the amount of methanol allowed for consumption by the Environmental Protection Agency. With information like this it should NOT be surprising but certainly alarming to many of us that in the two years following the introduction of Aspartame (NutraSweet) into diet sodas, that brain tumors increased 600%! The rise continues today, as does Aspartame use. Go figure. One study of Aspartame was done on monkeys. An FDA task force found that some of the monkeys suffered seizures. Their bodies were disposed of without autopsies and these findings were not considered in the approval process. The Bressler Report (google Bressler Report) states that an investigation in 1977 found that a study involving 196 lab animals resulted in 98 animal deaths! That's 50%. In 1986, Senator Howard Metzenbaum released documents related to his investigation that showed during at least one Searle research project on primates, every monkey that received either medium or large doses of NutraSweet suffered debilitating seizures. These facts were withheld from the FDA, and Aspartame runs rampant through our food chain. How can this be? How did this occur? It was a cover-up of immense magnitude and the Editor and Publisher Magazine; a periodical for journalists reported in July of 1985 that "The Food and Drug Administration NutraSweet cover-up" as one of the most under-reported stories of the year. If you missed Part
1, read it. Stay tuned for part 3, the "cover-up."
On the Web: Contact Rob at holston[at]kpunet.net ©2007 Publish A Letter on SitNews Read Letters/Opinions
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