Aspartame's Sickeningly Sweet Controversy

If you want to get a good discussion going on a controversial subject, just say the word “aspartame.”

“It’s hard to believe such a chemical would be allowed into the food supply, but it was, and it has been wreaking silent havoc with people’s health for the past 30 years,” according to Dr. Joseph Mercola, author of Sweet Deception.

Dr. Mercola, a licensed osteopathic physician (DO), writes in the Huffington Post that the FDA approval for aspartame for use in food was the most contested in FDA history, having been previously listed by the Pentagon as a biochemical warfare agent! He goes on to explain deceptive marketing campaigns, health hazards, and the reasons he believes the FDA was pressured into approving the substance.

Aspartame is sold under several names and can be found in thousands of foods and drinks, especially those sold as low-calorie or diet products. Complaints have been pouring in to the FDA for years, ranging from neurological disorders to gastrointestinal problems.

Aspartame has been blamed for causing everything from multiple sclerosis to cancer. A viral email warning of aspartame’s dangers has been circulating online for years. I’ve been the recipient of these emails dozens of times.

Not everyone agrees with Dr. Mercola. In 2007, the FDA issued a statement on the European Aspartame Study entitled Long-Term Carcinogenicity Bioassays to Evaluate the Potential Biological Effects, in Particular Carcinogenic, of Aspartame Administered in Feed to Sprague-Dawley Rats and said: “FDA reviewed the study data made available to them by ERF and finds that it does not support ERF's conclusion that aspartame is a carcinogen. Additionally, these data do not provide evidence to alter FDA's conclusion that the use of aspartame is safe. FDA finds no reason to alter its previous conclusion that aspartame is safe as a general purpose sweetener in food.”

The Mayo Clinic seems to go along with the FDA and a 1999 Time article calls it a “health rumor."

Snopes.com says the claims that aspartame has been proven responsible for cancer, brain tumors, and multiple sclerosis are false, citing several publications which support that view.

From The National MS Society: “No scientific evidence supports the claims on several Web sites that aspartame, an artificial sweetener used in many diet soft drinks and other foods, causes MS.”

From the International Food Information Council Federation: “Prior to its approval, aspartame underwent one of the most thorough scientific reviews ever conducted, and regulators consider it one of the most widely tested ingredients in the food supply. The safety of aspartame has been affirmed by the FDA and leading independent health groups, such as the American Medical Association, the American Dietetic Association, and the American Diabetes Association.”

The American Cancer Society: “Research on artificial sweeteners, including aspartame, continues today. Current evidence does not demonstrate any link between aspartame and an increased risk of cancer. Aspartame has not been linked with other health problems except among people with the genetic disorder, phenylketonuria. People with this disorder should avoid aspartame in their diet.”

Regarding diet soda in general, The American Diabetes Association’s Diabetes Forecast Magazine (May 2008): “You may want to put down that diet soda. New research inserts a question mark after the “diet” part of your drink. In the study, people who drank a can or more of diet soda daily showed a 34-percent higher risk of developing the metabolic syndrome: a cluster of cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk factors including elevated waist circumference and high blood pressure, blood lipids, and fasting glucose levels.”

You need only do a brief search on the Web to discover that these excerpts are only the tip of the iceberg. There is a lot of conflicting information... so what’s a layperson to do?

Since Aspartame is not a substance our bodies need for good health and nutrition, it may be better to err on the side of caution.

Feel free to leave your thoughts on this!