>From palnet@servint.comFri Feb 2 17:24:36 1996 Date: Sun, 28 Jan 1996 19:54:41 -0500 From: Mail AutoResponder To: bettym19@mindspring.com Subject: Regarding your mail "info mp_bittersweet" ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 5 Jul 1995 18:17:20 -0400 From: ElaineHF@aol.com To: bettym19@mindspring.com Subject: BITTERSWEET This is one of the latest I've done up. CREATIVE LOAFING MAGAZINE - 2/4/95 LETTER TO THE EDITOR.. BITTER SWEET The Editors: I am a former FDA Investigator. Along with my investigative experience, my background in the medical sciences, training and education have led me to write to you and uncover some facts. I have no stake in this debate, except to clear the air about NutraSweet, objectively and logically, and raise some serious questions about this issue. Referring to the letter from Dr. Robert Moser [Jan.14], one has to question Dr. Moser's objectivity. To begin with, as he is under contract to the NutraSweet Co., it would be safe to assume that anything in Dr. Moser's article would support NutraSweets claims to being safe. After all, that's his job. As such, there are serious doubts as to the objectivity and accuracy of his letter, and that's just for starters. In my opinion, NutraSweet is a poisonous neurotoxin. In 1965, while searching for an anti-ulcer drug, NutraSweet's producer, G.D. Searle, found that it had a strong sweet taste. A few years later, at the manufacturer's request, Dr. Harry Waisman (physician and biochemist) from the University of Wisconsin conducted a study of aspartame and its PKU (pheylketonuria) effects. Although there were reports of negative findings, Searle deleted this information before sending the report to the FDA. In 1971, another doctor, from Washington University School of Medicine, informed Searle Co. that aspartic acid caused holes in the brains of the animals he was testing. A researcher, hired by Searle itself, confirmed these findings. Searle had submitted 13 tests. FDA scientists who reviewed these tests found serious deficiencies in all of them. Despite these major concerns (and, in my opinion, a need for further investigation), FDA managers decided that the tests could be relied upon. In July of 1974, aspartame was approved for use in dry goods, including chewing gum. Just one month later, an objection to FDA's approval of aspartame was filed. The objection cites brain lesions and neuro-endocrine disorders in test animals. A hearing was requested on the purported safety of aspartame. An investigation was ordered in July of 1975 to determine if Searle submitted false information to the FDA. By December 1975, FDA investigators concluded that Searles research practices were so severely flawed, they were basically unreliable. Contradicting the findings of their own investigators, the FDA upheld the aspartame approval. On April 8, 1976, at a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing regarding G. D. Searle Co. and the FDA, it was stated that an astonishing, almost unbelievable scope and range of abuses or deficiencies uncovered by the FDA on several Searle products was profoundly disturbing> Even more disturbing, many people associated with this issue had questionable motives. One U.S. Attorney left the case and then received a position with the law firm Sidley and Austin, of which Searle is a client. This happened with the assistant U.S. Attorney, too. A member of Congress became Searle's president. The bureaucratic whitewash went on like this for three more years, until, in direct contradiction to accumulated evidence, aspartame was approved for many food types, including a packaged, tabletop sweetener in 1981. Just a year before, a Public Board of Inquiry concluded that it had not been shown any proof that aspartame was safe as a food additive. A six-person review panel was established to review these issues. Three of the six advised against approval. The FDA commissioner approved aspartame for its proposed uses, citing a study to support that fact. The study, by the was, was conducted by Ajinomoto, the Japanese manufacturer of aspartame. NutraSweet, a.k.a. aspartame, is a compound of the following chemicals: methanol (wood alcohol); aspartic acid; and phenylalanine. Aspartame readily breaks down into its component parts, and this decomposition is hastened by heat. Methanol breaks down further into formaldehyde and formic acid (ant sting poison). In 1983, a warning that phenylalanine is present was placed on some labels of aspartame-containing products for individuals with phenylketonuria. During this period, the Arizona Dietetic Association and the Central Arizona District of the Association filed a suit seeking to order the FDA to hold a hearing regarding adverse effects of aspartame. Supported by too-numerous-to-ignore consumer complaints, reports about aspartame poured in. By early 1994, the federal government reported 6,888 complaints concerning the adverse effects of aspartame. As a matter of fact, aspartame accounted for 75 percent of all complaints in the Adverse Reaction Monitoring System. Hardly a counter-placebo effect, Dr. Moser. how much did they pay you for that psychological cow-chip? NutraSweet adverse reactions suggested this was a strong neurotoxin. Some of these symptoms are: aggressive behavior, disorientation; hyperactivity; numbness of the extremities; excitability; memory loss; visual impairments and loss of depth perception; liver dysfunction; seizures; tumors; severe mood swings; and major neurological degeneration. If we carefully scrutinize Dr. Moser's letter, we can see that he clearly name-calls those people who have spoken out against aspartame, yet cannot offer any evidence or rationale to support the product itself. A. Michael Evangelisia Consultant, F.D.A. Regulatory Affairs Atlanta ##### Elaine