Gun control

History

Aspartame, an artificial sweetener which is frequently used in diet sodas and other beverages and foods, is approximately 200 times sweeter than sucrose (table sugar.)98

Artificial sweeteners are desirable compared to sugar because they impart sweetness to food without contributing an appreciable amount of calories. For example, a 12 ounce soft drink sweetened with aspartame contains less than 1 calorie, while a soft drink sweetened with sugar may contain over 100 calories.

Aspartame has a slightly different taste profile than sugar, but is the closest to sugar of all artificial sweeteners.99

Aspartame is marketed under multiple brand names, including Equal and Nutrasweet.

Aspartame is non-natural. It is synthesized from the amnio acids L-phenylalanine and L-aspartate. Because of this, it is undesirable to use in baking because high temperatures and high pH may break down the bond between the constituent amino acids.100

James M. Schlatter, a chemist, discovered aspartame in 1965 while working for G. D. Searle & Company. It was produced accidentally while attempting to manufacture a drug to help with stomach ulcers. Schlatter discovered its sweet taste when he licked his finger, which had some residual aspartame on it.101
? Aspartame

Metabolism

Upon ingestion, aspartame is metabolized into three components: aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol.

Aspartic acid is an extremely common amino acid which is found in every protein we eat and is found in every protein in the human body.

Similarly, phenylalanine is found in every protein. It is an essential amnio acid and is required for normal growth and maintenance of life.

This amnio acid is a concern for people who have the genetic disorder phenylketonuria (PKU.) People with PKU are unable to metabolize excess phenylalanine, so it can build up to dangerous levels in the body. These people must be conscious of avoiding excess phenylalanine in all areas of their diet.

Three times as much phenylalanine is yielded from consuming an egg as compared to a 12 ounce can of diet soda. There is five times as much phenylalanine in a glass of milk, and 9 times as much in a hamburger.

Methanol, a chemical normally present in fruits and fruit juices, is quickly converted into formaldehyde and then converted to formic acid by the liver. The kidneys then clear formic acid from the body. This process is so rapid that levels of formaldehyde and formic acid are typically not detectable in the body.

Much of the concern with aspartame is from alarmist propaganda that claims formaldehyde and formic acid produced by the metabolism of methanol can build up to toxic levels.

A glass of tomato juice contains approximately 85 milligrams of methanol, apple juice contains approximately 21 milligrams, and a 12 ounce can of diet soda contains approximately 20 milligrams. Therefore, a glass of all natural tomato juice would be four times more toxic than a diet soda.

Clearly, a 12 ounce can of diet soda contains far less quantities of phenylalanine and methanol than many natural and healthy foods.

Clinical studies have shown no evidence of toxic effects and no increase in plasma concentrations of methanol, formic acid, or phenylalanine with daily consumption of 50 milligrams per kilogram of aspartame (equivalent to 17 cans of diet soft drink daily for a typical adult.)102

Government Approval

Aspartame has been attacked by health alarmists ever since its approval for use in foods by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1974.

To gain approval, 168 studies supporting the safety of aspartame were submitted by G. D. Searle & Company to FDA Commissioner Alexander Schmidt for review by the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

The safety of aspartame was immediately challenged by food-additive critics. The FDA ultimately found that aspartame was indeed safe and reaffirmed its approval of the artificial sweetener.

Internet Hoax

In 1999, misleading and inaccurate information about aspartame spread widely on the Internet. This rash of Internet misinformation was based on an article by a supposed Nancy Markle, allegedly based on her talks at the "World Environmental Conference."103

This false information, spread as a hoax email, claimed that aspartame caused multiple sclerosis and lupus, that it builds up formaldehyde in the body, causes blindness, loss of hearing, depression, headaches, anxiety, slurred speech, cramps, and dizziness. The email claimed that aspartame is a deadly poison, causes seizures, birth defects, and Parkinson's. The email further claimed that aspartame will make the consumer fat, that it makes the consumer store poisons in their fat cells, and that it causes blood sugar levels to be completely uncontrollable in diabetics, and can cause death.104

The existence of "Nancy Markle" has never been confirmed. The content of this email was traced back to messages posted by Betty Martini to Usenet newsgroups in 1995 and 1996.105 Martini claims that an unknown person combined her original letter with other information and redistributed it as "Nancy Markle."

In 1999, the American Council on Science and Health published an editorial debunking the hoax email:

The American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) is now receiving daily inquiries regarding one such health hoax about aspartame. The hoax links the sweetener to multiple sclerosis-like symptoms and systemic lupus using quasi-medical jargon. Like most of its kind, this Web scare appears to be credible, pointing to impressive-sounding names like the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, the "World Environmental Conference" and the mysterious "Dr. Espisto." Also like its compadres, this article is packed with misinformation that could frighten those, such as diabetics, who rely on aspartame.

In fact, aspartame, known as "NutraSweet" and "Equal," is safe. Aspartame is one of the most thoroughly tested substances in the U.S. food supply. Numerous authorities, including the Food and Drug Administration, the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives of the FAO/WHO, the European Community, and the American Medical Association have concluded that aspartame is a safe product, except in the rare cases of phenylketonuria. For more information on aspartame, please refer to ACSH's peer-reviewed booklet Low Calorie Sweeteners. And beware of Internet health hoaxes.106

In 2009, the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation (MSF) published a statement explaining that Nancy Markle's email was a hoax:

The report claiming aspartame causes multiple sclerosis, often referred to as the Nancy Merkle hoax, is believed to have been circulating since 1995. The message is attributed to "Nancy Merkle," yet no one has come forward claiming to be the author. No credentials, research or sources are cited. This hoax first came to the attention of the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation in 1998, when those circulating it added the false claim that the MSF was suing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to halt the sale and use of aspartame. The MSF neither condemns nor endorses aspartame, and has never filed suit against the FDA.107

Martini's email has been described as an "Internet smear campaign... Its contents were entirely false, misleading, and defamatory to various popular products and their manufacturers, with no basis whatever in fact."108

While the contents of this hoax email were completely false, it has succeeded in scaring millions of consumers away from using aspartame for over a decade.

Weight Gain

Alarmists claim that aspartame and other artificial sweeteners make people gain weight through a variety of unproven mechanisms. Some claim that aspartame will make the consumer crave carbohydrates, while others claim aspartame plays tricks on the body's metabolism.

These claims are usually based on a 2008 observational study that loosely looked at subjects' use of artificial sweeteners and their weight gain. Indeed, the study found that, generally, people who consumed the most artificial sweeteners gained the most weight.

However, the study did not conclude that aspartame is responsible for this weight gain. In fact, that is an impossible conclusion to draw because this type of study does not allow for definitive, or even likely, conclusions to be drawn.

This study had no controls. Any number of events could have been responsible for the weight gain of the subjects. For example, excess calorie consumption, or dining at mainly fast food restaurants, or performing the least exercise, or any number of other possibilities.

Instead of directly blaming aspartame, the authors of the study hypothesized:

There may be no causal relationship between artificial sweetener use and weight gain. Individuals seeking to lose weight often switch to artificial sweeteners in order to reduce their caloric intake. Artificial sweetener use might therefore simply be a marker for individuals already on weight-gain trajectories, which continued despite their switching to artificial sweeteners. This is the most obvious possible explanation of our findings. Increased fast food consumption among soda users might further confound apparent associations.109

Essentially the author is stating that the consumer who is eating fast food daily, but orders a diet soda instead of a regular one, is not going to lose weight, and is likely already heading down the path to weight gain.

To make the claim that aspartame causes weight gain, a randomized placebo-controlled trial would need to be performed. In fact, these studies have been performed.

In 1991, a systematic review examined the claims that aspartame (and saccharin, and acesulfame-K) leads to increased hunger and weight gain. The review found that most investigations found that aspartame is associated with decreased or unchanged ratings of hunger. Both short-term and long-term studies have shown that consumption of aspartame-sweetened foods or drinks is associated with either no change or a reduction in food intake. Further, the review found that aspartame may be a useful aid in a complete diet-and-exercise program or in weight maintenance. The review concluded that intense sweeteners have never been found to cause weight gain in humans.110

In 2010, a study examined the effects of aspartame on food intake, satiety, and after meal glucose an insulin levels. The study found that aspartame was not associated with any additional food intake, that aspartame made users feel just as full as table sugar, and that there was no difference in after meal glucose or insulin levels between table sugar or aspartame.111
?Clearly, no evidence supports the false assertion that aspartame causes weight gain.

Safety

Aspartame is possibly the most widely and rigorously tested food ingredients to date.112 113

It's important to note that the safety of aspartame and its metabolic constituents was established through extensive toxicology studies in laboratory animals, using much greater doses than people could possibly consume.

Its safety was further confirmed through studies in several human subpopulations, including healthy infants, children, adolescents, and adults; obese individuals; diabetics; lactating women; and individuals heterozygous (PKUH) for the genetic disease phenylketonuria (PKU) who have a decreased ability to metabolize the essential amino acid, phenylalanine.

Aspartame has been deemed safe for human consumption by over 100 regulatory agencies in their respective countries, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the UK Food Standards Agency114, the European Food Safety Authority,115 and Canada's Health Canada.116

There is no evidence that aspartame is associated with cancer. Multiple studies and reviews have been performed and show no evidence that aspartame causes cancer in animals, damages the genome, or causes cancer in humans at doses currently used.

The U.S. National Cancer Institute states that results from carcinogenicity studies of aspartame find no evidence of an association with cancer in humans.117

In 1994, and again in 2004, the FDA released a statement answering the question "Is aspartame safe?":

After reviewing scientific studies, FDA determined in 1981 that aspartame was safe for use in foods. In 1987, the General Accounting Office investigated the process surrounding FDA's approval of aspartame and confirmed the agency had acted properly. However, FDA has continued to review complaints alleging adverse reactions to products containing aspartame. To date, FDA has not determined any consistent pattern of symptoms that can be attributed to the use of aspartame, nor is the agency aware of any recent studies that clearly show safety problems.118

In 2002, a systematic review evaluated the safety of aspartame and concluded:

The safety testing of aspartame has gone well beyond that required to evaluate the safety of a food additive. When all the research on aspartame, including evaluations in both the premarketing and postmarketing periods, is examined as a whole, it is clear that aspartame is safe, and there are no unresolved questions regarding its safety under conditions of intended use.119

In 2007, a systematic review evaluated the safety of aspartame. The review of acute, subacute, and chronic toxicity studies found no adverse effect of aspartame. They found no evidence that aspartame is carcinogenic. They found no evidence that aspartame in the human diet will affect nervous system function, learning, or behavior. The review concluded that the weight of existing evidence is that aspartame is safe at current levels of consumption as a nonnutritive sweetener.120

In 2009, the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation published a statement explaining that aspartame does not cause multiple sclerosis:

While nothing can be considered 100 percent safe, aspartame has undergone extensive testing. With the exception of a few very mild side effects, aspartame appears to be quite safe. Those individuals, who experience problems after consuming aspartame, should eliminate foods and beverages that contain this sweetener from their diet. 121

Despite all data pointing to aspartame being safe and without significant side effects, dishonest health alarmists still tout it as being a dangerous chemical that will cause cancer and poison the brain.

References:

98 Magnuson BA, Burdock GA, Doull J et al. (2007). "Aspartame: a safety evaluation based on current use levels, regulations, and toxicological and epidemiological studies". Critical Reviews in Toxicology 37 (8): 629-727.

99 O'Donnell, Kay (2006). "6 Aspartame and Neotame". In Mitchell, Helen Lucy. Sweeteners and sugar alternatives in food technology. Blackwell. pp. 86-95. ISBN 1405134348.

100 David J. Ager, David P. Pantaleone, Scott A. Henderson, Alan R. Katritzky, Indra Prakash, D. Eric Walters (1998). "Commercial, Synthetic Non-nutritive Sweeteners". Angewandte Chemie International Edition 37 (13-24): 1802-1817.

101 Lewis, Ricki (2001). Discovery: windows on the life sciences. Oxford: Blackwell Science. pp. 4. ISBN 0-632-04452-7.

102 Aspartame. In: Gelman C R, Rumack B H, Hess A J, eds. DRUGDEX System. Englewood, Colorado: MICROMEDEX, 1998. Edition expires 1999.

103 Aurora Saulo Hodgson. "Falsifications and Facts about Aspartame." Food Safety and Technology. Aug. 2001 FST-3.

104http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/aspartame.asp

105 Betty Martini (1995-12-03). "World Environmental Conference & Multiple Sclerosis".http://www.dorway.com/environ.html

106 Lukachko, Alicia. "ACSH Debunks Internet Health Hoax." American Council on Science and Health. Jan 28 1999.http://www.acsh.org/healthissues/new...sue_detail.asp

107 Guthrie, Ellen Whipple. "Examining the Safety of Aspartame." The Multiple Sclerosis Foundation. 2009.http://www.msfocus.org/article-detai...x?articleID=40

108 Newton, Michael (2004). The encyclopedia of high-tech crime and crime-fighting. Infobase Publishing. pp. 25-27. ISBN 0816049793.

109 Fowler SP, Williams K, Resendez RG. Fueling the Obesity Epidemic? Artificially Sweetened Beverage Use and Long-term Weight Gain. Obesity (2008) 16 8, 1894-1900.

110 Rolls BJ. Effects of intense sweeteners on hunger, food intake, and body weight: a review. Am J Clin Nutr 1991;53:872-878.

111 Antona, SD. "Effects of stevia, aspartame, and sucrose on food intake, satiety, and postprandial glucose and insulin levels." Appetite. Volume 55, Issue 1, August 2010, Pages 37-43.

112 Mitchell, Helen (2006). Sweeteners and sugar alternatives in food technology. Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell. p. 94. ISBN 1-4051-3434-8.

113 Whitmore, Arthur. "FDA Statement on Aspartame." U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Nov 18 1996. T96-75.

114 "Aspartame". UK FSA.http://www.food.gov.uk/safereating/c...ners/55174#h_2

115 "Aspartame". EFSA.http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/topics/topic/aspartame.htm

116 "Aspartame". Health Canada.http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/securit...artame-eng.php

117 National Cancer Institute. Fact Sheet. Artificial Sweeteners and Cancer.http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/f...ial-sweeteners

118 U. S. Food and Drug Administration. FDA Consumer. Food Allergies: Rare but Risky. May 1994; Updated December 2004.

119 Butchko HH, et al. "Aspartame: review of safety." Regul Toxicol Pharmacol. 2002 Apr;35(2 Pt 2):S1-93.

120 Magnuson BA, et al. "Aspartame: a safety evaluation based on current use levels, regulations, and toxicological and epidemiological studies." Crit Rev Toxicol. 2007;37(8):629-727.

121 Guthrie, Ellen Whipple. "Examining the Safety of Aspartame." The Multiple Sclerosis Foundation. 2009.http://www.msfocus.org/article-detai...x?articleID=40

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TLDR; Aspartame is perfectly safe. It does not cause weight gain. The "weight gain association" certain biased studies find is most likely secondary to people's overestimation of caloric savings, and that people who use artificial sweeteners are likely already on weight gaining trajectories.