Do You Really Want That Diet Soda?

I recently banned the use of artificial sweeteners in our house. I have been reading about the controversy surrounding them and decided it's not worth taking the risk if they are truly as unsafe as some claim. Here I'll share what I found.

The testing methods of G. D. Searle, the developer of Aspartame, have been continually called into question. When he first tried to get it approved it was denied 8 times. In 1977 the FDA requested Grand Jury proceedings against Searle. The US Attorney leading the investigation was offered a job that same year by the law firm representing Searle. The investigation was somehow delayed, he resigned from the US Attny's office, the statute of limitations ran out, the investigation was dropped, and he accepted the job. Hmmm.

In 1980 the FDA set up a review board for the safety of Aspartame. In 1981 a new FDA commissioner, Arthur Hull Hayes, was appointed. Of the 6 scientists on the review board, 3 of them advised against approval. It was approved anyway and Hayes subsequently left the FDA amid allegations of wrongdoing. He later went to work for the law firm representing Searle. Hmmmm.

The FDA urged Congress to prosecute Searle for marred test results. The 2 government attorneys assigned to the case decided not to prosecute and showed up working for, you guessed it, the law firm representing Searle. Hmmmm.

Nutrasweet and Equal contain Aspartame. There are supposedly 92 side effects from ingesting this artificial sweetener. Whether they are all valid or not, I like to focus on the facts that we know.

1) People with industry ties seem to find no harm in Aspartame while people with no industry ties claim it is unsafe.
2) Several people working initially for the government have moved to jobs with companies that have ties to Searle.
3) In 1997 the UK introduced new regulations requiring food companies to state clearly NEXT TO THE NAME of the product on the label "with sweeteners"...not just in the ingredient list.
4) New Mexico and Hawaii have introduced legislation trying to ban the use of Aspartame in their states.
5) In the UK, 3 supermarket chains, one of which is owned by WalMart, banned the use of Aspartame in their private label products as did Woolworth's in South Africa.
6) The allowable daily intake of Aspartame for an adult is the amount found in about 14 cans of diet soda.

I don't know anyone who drinks that much diet soda, but you need to consider all the other things with Aspartame...Do you put it in your coffee? Is it hiding in other things you eat? Refer to my earlier post on how I found Sucralose (Splenda) in my sandwich bread.
I personally don't care that someone has created an allowable daily intake. What if their amounts are wrong? I stopped drinking diet soda over 6 weeks ago and feel great. I don't miss it one bit. I threw away the yogurt I was giving my kids (Dannon Light and Lively) and they now eat the same Greek yogurt I do...and they love it. When in doubt, natural is better than chemicals. I encourage you to evaluate your use of artificial sweeteners and do your own research. I bet you'll get rid of it like I did.....or at least cut down.