Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1998 18:22:02 -0400
To: mfriedman@oc.fda.gov, mfriedman@bangate.fda.gov
From: betty martini <Mission-Possible-USA@Altavista.net>
Subject: Straight Talk To The FDA
         Stop Sending Out Lying Propaganda on Aspartame!
         PROPAGANDA ANSWERED WITH REFERENCES.

Dear Dr. Friedman:  First, I filed under Freedom of Information for
complaints in l996, 97 and 98, but I specifically asked that the ones we
have sent from Mission Possible be included.  I received 96 and 97
which I already had  but you failed to include the ones we have sent and
1998.  FDA says it was compiled but it was dated on the 24th; last year
it was compiled on the 25th.  Does that mean the FDA released it the
next day? 

About complaints on aspartame, you can't cover them up anymore.  They
are being taken from consumers all over the world.  When I interviewed
Richard Wilson whose wife Joyce went blind from aspartame and died, he
said that the FDA had 10,000 complaints in the early 80's, and that
Joyce who had Aspartame Victims And Their Friends  of Georgia until her
death had a hotline that contained way in excess of 10,000 complaints. 
Then Shannon Roth who had Aspartame Victims And their Friends of Ocala,
Florida also had a hotline which probably had more than Joyce since she
started earlier. Shannon went blind in one eye and it is rumored that
she settled with the manufacturer.  There was also a group taking
complaints in Pennsylvania some years ago and one in Texas.  Mission
Possible International takes them from all over the world but there are
individual organizations in different locations such as Mission Possible
South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma,
Louisiana, San Diego, Los Angeles, West Palm Beach, Florida, Brookville,
Florida, Ocala, Florida, New Jersey, Capital Area (Virginia and
Washington, D.C.), West Virginia, and on and on.  There are also Mission
Possible volunteer forces warning other countries and taking case
histories such as Mission Possible New Zealand, Australia, Sweden,
Holland, Scotland, United Kingdom, Mexico, Peru, Italy, Finland, etc.,
etc..  There are physicians lecturing throughout countries warning
all consumers off this deadly poison. 

How do all these operations and many more take complaints on the
reactions to aspartame if there are as few as you try to tell the
media?  And when there are thousands of complaints of the same type over
and over again so that Aspartame has been declared a disease (by H. J.
Roberts, M.D.) does the FDA continue with the fixation that these
horrible complaints are anecdotes.

Mark Gold who has www.holisticmed.com/aspartame has the Aspartame
Toxicity Center and he also takes aspartame complaints.  Unfortunately,
there is not enough cyberspace to list each one so a few lines are
taken out of each letter from each consumer.   I'm sure you have already
been on the web site and read some of the horror stories of the deadly
symptoms, diseases, blindness and even death caused by aspartame, a
deadly poison the FDA marketed for human consumption. One man attempted
to download all the reactions and complained that it crashed his printer
and his computer and it took him three days to get back on Internet.  It
goes along with what Dr. James Bowen told the FDA many years ago that
aspartame was "mass poisoning of the American public and more than 70
countries of the world." 

Then remember that doctors who now know what aspartame causes are seeing
patients with the aspartame symptoms.  Dr. Roberts has written books on
aspartame quoting from  his database of patients suffering from
Aspartame Disease and within a few months his new medical text on the
world plague of Aspartame Disease will be available to the public, and
its just full of consumer reactions to aspartame.  Dr. Russell Blaylock,
neurosurgeon, who wrote Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills said on
Mission Possible Radio that he gets calls from all over the country,
especially those who were users of aspartame who have brain tumors.  Dr.
John Olney, famed researcher who founded the field of
neuroexcitotoxicity also gets calls.  Dr. Jayshree Barua, an ophthalmic
surgeon in India when she realized how many people were suffering from
aspartame symptoms wrote a 16 page article in the Diabetic Journal of
India on www.dorway.com   Other doctors like Sandra Cabot, M.D., Mission
Possible Australia lectures on aspartame all over the world and has our
warning flyer in her book Boost Your Energy. 

Last week I was on TV for two days on the aspartame issue and mentioned
the symptoms.  Consumers are still calling in after realizing why they
are ill. Even the medical center called as they too received consumer
calls on aspartame poisoning.  Researchers at MIT surveyed 80 people who
had brain seizures after consuming aspartame years ago and the Community
Nutrition Institute told you that these 80 cases met your own definition
of an imminent hazard to the public health which requires FDA to
expeditiously remove a product from the market!  In l986 the Community
Nutrition Institute petitioned the FDA to ban aspartame as people went
blind, but the FDA ignored the petition in loyalty to Monsanto instead
of the people.  Today the cases of seizures and blindness still come
in. 

Fifteen thousand Killer Kola brochures were given away free in Atlanta
on the dangers of aspartame and a few weeks later there were so many
people waking up well from  medical problems no doctor could diagnose
after abstaining from aspartame, that calls and faxes came in
continually. People were coming into the organic market who gave out the
brochures shocked as those with vision problems began to see again and
those crippled began to walk again.  Headaches disappeared as well as MS
type symptoms. Victims even came to my home in shock! 

At the Atlanta Olympics when warning flyers on aspartame were
distributed consumers everywhere were telling us their horror stories
about aspartame. Then there are the people who say: "I used aspartame
when it first came out but had a horrible reaction, headache, vertigo,
etc., and never used it again."  This happened to thousands of people
who never wrote the FDA  but are still considered reactions.  Even Dr.
Kessler wrote in JAMA that only 1% of serious problems are reported to
the FDA. Most people don't even know to associate their symptoms because
Monsanto funds trade organizations that tell physicians aspartame is
safe.  But they are finding out and warning their patients off this
poison.  As a Dr. Herndon told me: "I read this article on aspartame and
started warning my patients off of it.  I was SHOCKED at how many
medical problems promptly disappeared." 

Over 1000 pilots have complained of problems with aspartame from
inability to make a decision, blackouts and seizures, vertigo, vision
loss, etc. Three American pilots who were  heavy users of aspartame have
now died, one in flight, and another has had a stroke.  Aviation is no
longer safe because of the FDA approval of aspartame. 

Authors and editors take case histories like Barbara Mullarkey who wrote
about aspartame for many years in the Wednesday Journal in Oak Park,
Illinois.  She also wrote Bittersweet Aspartame:  A Diet Delusion. 
Doctors like Louis Elsas, M.D., Pediatric Professor at Emory who
testified before congress in l987 that "aspartame is a neurotoxin and
teratogen" has written about cases of fetal brain damage.  Doctors like
Ralph Walton, M.D., sees these aspartame cases and in his case even did
a study that had to be stopped by the institution because the reactions
to real world aspartame were so severe and people were complaining of
being poisoned - they were! 

Walk down the street, Dr. Friedman, and talk to 10 people on aspartame.
You'll find out as we have that 6 of them will already have the symptoms
or some disease.  Yes, Dr. Friedman, it is mass poisoning of the
American Public and more than 100 countries of the world.  And there is
no way one organization can take all the complaints. 

Do you people stay up at night and figure out how to get rid of
aspartame complaints?  It was discussed in Congress how you went so far
as to forward them to the AIDS Hotline.  Then in l996 when  Dr. Kessler
granted blanket approval to a deadly poison, a drug that changes brain
chemistry and interacts with other drugs, he had to show a disease.  He
could have been more original than saying the bookkeeping system had to
be changed so hundreds of aspartame complaints had to be thrown away!! 
Then, of course, the FDA was telling people they were not taking
complaints.  I must admit if you want to show a disease throw away what
you got and refuse to take current complaints coming in. 

I have repeatedly told the Justice Department that the FDA should not be
allowed to send out propaganda that is nothing but lies.  These poor
people who have gone blind, gotten brain tumors, had their life
shattered, etc., have written the FDA only to be insulted with a
propaganda protecting Monsanto. 

Mark Gold wrote one senator who got the FDA baloney and answered it, and
I'm typing it in to be put on web.  We want the world to know how the
FDA repeatedly lies  and misleads the public.  And I personally will
send a copy with attachments to any publication that wants to publish it
to the world.  Also, you know that neotame is just a more potent
aspartame with the same breakdown products.  I have sent the formula to
a peptide chemist, biochemist and doctors for confirmation.  And with
all this knowledge if the FDA approves it for Monsanto this paper will
be on web as proof that FDA approved with full knowledge that is more
poison to poison thousands and thousands of more people.  Approving
neotame is grounds for indictment for genocide just as aspartame is! 

Below is Mark Gold's answer to FDA propaganda sent to a senator.   The
FDA's writings are in quotes and indented.  A copy is going to the
Justice Department and if necessary we will get a magazine that goes to
all of Congress to publish it.  We demand that you stop sending out
these lies.

*********************************************************************

RESPONSE TO FDA LETTER TO SENATOR ____________ AND THE FDA TALK
PAPER REGARDING ASPARTAME TOXICITY AND STEVIA SAFETY.

August  2, l998                                         BY Mark D. Gold,

"FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) established
the Adverse Reaction Monitoring System (ARMS) in order to monitor the
complaints of individuals who have been exposed to food ingredients that
may cause adverse reactions.  FDA has received many consumer complaints
describing adverse reactions allegedly due to consumption of aspartame;
headache is the most commonly reported event.  The Agency has analyzed a
very large number of medical reports of these alleged adverse reactions
to aspartame as parts of ARMS.  These data do not provide credible
scientific evidence of a causal relationship between consumption of
aspartame and any of the alleged adverse effects."

It was in the late l970's that the Director of the FDA's CFSAN became a
Vice President of the National Soft Drink Association (See GAO
Documents: GAO/HRD-86-109BR).  Around that time, the actions at the FDA
changed from urging fraud prosecution of the aspartame manufacturer (See
Congressional Record, Volume 131, No. 106, August 1, l985, page S10827-
S10835) to presenting blatantly inaccurate information to the U.S.
Congress and the general public as you shall see below.  Please see the
History of Aspartame document in the Science & History Summaries (FAQs)
Documents for detailed information and, for your convenience, extensive
government document references.

The FDA has been caught forwarding aspartame toxicity reaction cases to
the AIDS Hotline.  It has been shown that they did not forward toxicity
reactions to their central offices for compilation in the ARMS system.
(See attached item#1).  Finally, the FDA likes to claim that they only
received 7 adverse reactions to aspartame in all of l996.  The truth is
that they admitted to Food Chemical News in l995 that they stopped
accepting adverse reaction reports and stopped monitoring aspartame
research.  (See attached item #2).  Independent organizations have been
receiving a growing number of aspartame toxicity reactions as you can
see from the enclosed samples. 

The FDA has never published a thorough examination of the adverse
reactions reported to ARMS.  Instead, they have relied on a short review
of a small number of seizure related cases where they simply tried to
discount every aspartame toxicity reaction experienced.  The FDA also
sends out a misinterpretation of a very old CDC review of aspartame
reactions.  Perhaps they sent their summary of the CDC review to you. 
If you want to find out what the review really said, you can view it on
the web at:

http://www.dorway.com/cdctext.txt

The FDA claims that headache is the most common adverse reaction to
aspartame.  They mention this in order to try and put a positive spin on
the situation.  The fact is that many of those "headaches" are severe
migraines, cluster headaches, or simply severe daily headaches which
went on for years before the victim discovered they were being poisoned
by aspartame.  You will see this in many of the sample case histories
enclosed. 

Finally, please keep in mind that less than 1% of all aspartame toxicity
reactions are reported to the FDA (with many of those reports
disappearing) and those are only the toxicity reactions that have been
discovered. Independent organizations are finding that a much larger
number of people are experiencing toxicity from long term use, but have
not yet made the connection.  If you are interested in the most likely
mechanism for aspartame poisoning, please see the "Chronic Methanol/
Formaldehyde Poisoning From Aspartame" Document in the Science & History
Summaries (FAQs) section of enclosed documents. 

"In addition, the Agency has reviewed scientific studies in both animals
and human subjects to determine if there is any discernible basis for
the reported adverse reactions.  To date, the results of independent
studies carried out in government, academic, and private laboratories
have been consistently reassuring about the safety of aspartame." 

Please notice that the FDA claimed that "independent studies ... have
been consistently reassuring about the safety of aspartame."  Attached
(Items #3) is a summary of a review of all of relevant scientific
literature on aspartame.  (The full review can be found in the
Scientific Documents articles enclosed).  This review was performed by
an independent researcher, Dr. Ralph G. Walton, MD, Chairman, The Center
for Behavioral Medicine, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Northeastern
Ohio Universities College of Medicine.  As you can see from the review,
nearly 100% of the independent research identified problems with
aspartame.  It is only the research funded by the aspartame industry
that claims it is safe.  The truth is exactly the opposite of what the
FDA told you!

 "FDA is aware of no reports of well-controlled clinical studies which
would question the safety of aspartame under normal use conditions. 
Nevertheless, please be aware that the Agency closely monitors the
scientific literature for information that might indicate potential
public health concern with a food ingredient."

In the enclosed "Scientific Documents" section, there are a number of
examples of well-controlled studies showing toxicity reactions from
aspartame.  All of these are independent studies.  The FDA's statement
above is deceptive in that they try to deny the existence of these
research papers knowing that most of the public and the U.S.
Congressional Representatives do not have the time to look for research
in medical school libraries.

These independent studies are usually much better designed than studies
funded by the aspartame industry.  For example, the industry's studies
related to aspartame and seizures  (a commonly seen toxicity reaction)
a) were short-term studies, b) the participants were given anti-
convulsive drugs during the study, c) the aspartame was chemically
different than that purchased in stores, and d) the aspartame was
encapsulated thereby reducing the toxicity of its metabolites (because
the body has a better chance to detoxify with slower absorption).  
Another study that the industry commonly presents is a 6 month study
where the researchers a) removed the population group most likely to
experience toxicity reactions, b) found many more aspartame toxicity
reactions, but was able to hide it by statistical games and a carefully-
worded summary, and other problems similar to "c" and "d" in the first
example.  Unfortunately, the FDA ignored independent research which
finds toxicity reactions from aspartame, telling people and U.S.
Senators that it doesn't exist, and relies completely on poorly-
designed, aspartame industry-funded studies.

"Should the need arise, the Agency will take the appropriate action to
protect public health." 

A growing number of people know that the FDA is totally out of control
and would never take appropriate action to protect the public health if
it conflicted with a goal of the aspartame manufacturer, Monsanto. 
Please see Dr. Whitaker's recent article in the Stevia Documents section
which is read by tens of thousands of people and pretty much sums up
what many people think of the FDA. 

"As to stevia and stevia-derived substances, the Agency has expressed
concern about these products  because of two published scientific
studies which suggest that the consumption of  aqueous extracts of
stevia reduce the fertility of female laboratory animals.  Other
published studies raise concern over the  possible effect of stevia on
glycemia (blood sugar) and on the cardiovascular (heart) and renal
(kidney) system."

The truth is that only one very old study raised the question about the
effects of stevia on the fertility of laboratory animals - a 1968 study
by Planas and Kuc'.  Since that time a significant number of studies
have been conducted to prove that the Planas and Kuc' study was in
error.  Attached (Items #4) is pages 21-23 of a detailed scientific
review (peer-reviewed) by sweetener expert, A Douglas Kinghorn, Ph.D.,
Professor of Pharmacognosy, University of Illinois at Chicago.  (The
full review can be found in the Stevia Documents section.)  On those
pages, Dr. Kinghorn summarizes the lack of effects of stevia on the
fertility of laboratory animals and humans.  We know that in countries
where stevia has been used for many decades (and centuries in many
cases), there is no widespread fertility problem seen in the population
that uses it. 

The other "concerns" are more wishful thinking on the part of FDA
officials than  true concerns in the scientific community.  As Dr.
Kinghorn concluded in his review, "It may be concluded that the vast
majority of the scientific safety evaluation studies which have been
performed to date endorse the use of Stevia rebaudina leaf and
stevioside as sucrose substitutes.  This is substantiated by the
extensive use in Japan of these products without a single adverse report
to date."  Stevia has been used as a sweetener for hundreds of years in
South America and in addition to its wide use in Japan, it is used in
many countries around the world. 

"There are no petitions currently pending before the Agency for the use
of stevia or stevia-derived substances in food products." 

Since stevia has been shown to have a long history of use in commercial
products (including soft drinks) outside the United States, it is
illegal for the FDA to prevent its use as a sweetener.  This is because
it qualifies for an exemption from the Food Additive provision as does
many common foods and spices.  Please see excerpt from a recent Petition
for Stevia approval from the American Herbal Products Association (Item
#4) (Full petition and supplement to the petition can be found in the
Stevia Documents section.) (Note:  Even without the exemption, stevia
has been shown to be safe in laboratory studies and long-term use
without any adverse reactions.)

There are no petitions because the FDA has consistently prevented
petitions from being heard.  They simply keep asking for more irrelevant
information from the petitioner.  In fact, the FDA has taken their
campaign against stevia one step further by attempting to force a
company selling stevia and stevia cookbooks to destroy the books that
mention the use of stevia as a sweetener.  The article on the FDA's
attempted book-burning has been picked up by newspapers in various parts
of the country.  I have attached an article that I wrote for my web page
on the subject.  (See attached item #5)

"FDA Talk Paper
 November 18, l996

 "A recently published medical journal article raises the question
whether any increased incidence in the  number of persons with brain
tumors in the United States is associated with the marketing of
aspartame, an artificial sweetener, following the Food and Drug
Administration's approval of that food additive in l981. The following
can be used to answer questions:"

Before we get into more of the FDA's miss-statements, it is important to
have some background information presented.  The study they are
referring to was published in the world's most respected neuroscience
research journal, the Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental
Neurology, in l996. The lead researcher, Dr. John W. Olney, is one of
the most respected neuroscientists in the world and has recently won a
lifetime achievement award for his discovery of and research in the
field of excitatory amino acids.  The data was analyzed  with the
assistance of one of the world's foremost epidemiologists, Dr. Lee
Robins.

"Analysis of the National Cancer Institute's public data base on cancer
incidence in the United States -- the  SEER program -- does not support
an association between the use of aspartame and increased incidence of
brain tumors.  Data from the SEER program show that overall incidence of
brain and central nervous system  cancers began increasing in l973 and
continued to increase through l985 in the United States.  Since l985 the
trend line has flattened for these cancers, and in the last two years
recorded (l991 to l993), the incidence  has slightly decreased."

By making this statement, the FDA is now forced to choose between either
admitting that they did not read the study they are referring to (Olney,
et al. l996) or that they are blatantly lying to the American public. 
The fact is that the article had essentially nothing to do with the
overall brain cancer rates!  Please see Figure 2 and Figure 4 in the
attached study.  (Items #6) You will see that the very deadly brain
tumors, Glioblastomas and Anaplastic Astrocytomas had a significant
increase since not long after aspartame came on the market, but that the
much less deadly brain tumors, Astrocytomas, had a very large decrease
since not long after aspartame came on the market.  It appears that in
susceptible individuals, aspartame contributes to the conversion of
Astrocytomas to the much more deadly Glioblastomas and Anaplastic
Astrocytomas.  It would be too soon to see the development "from
scratch" of aspartame-caused brain tumors (as it hasn't been on the
market long enough), but the first signs of causing the conversion to a
much more deadly brain tumor is what would be expected and what is
seen.  In addition, Dr. Olney showed that a breakdown product of
aspartame is mutanigenic and that preapproval studies showed that
aspartame caused brain tumors in rodents. 

Of course, the overall brain tumor rate is somewhat the same since there
has been a large increase in the more deadly brain tumors and a large
decrease in the less deadly brain tumors in susceptible population
groups. The discussion of overall brain tumor rates proves that the FDA
did not read the research or is simply making up statements to placate
citizens and congressional Representatives. 

The FDA has come up with additional statements trying to make it seem as
if there is no concern about this independent research by Olney, et al. 
These statements are similar to their statements about overall brain
tumor rates in that they make good sound bites, but are deceptive. 
Please see the document entitled "Quick Review of Monsanto/NutraSweet's
PR Statements Regarding the Aspartame/Brain Cancer Research" in the
Science & History Summaries (FAQs) section of the enclosed documents. 
For even more detail, please see the web page: 

http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/aspart.p9 with references to this document at:

http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/aspart.p20

 "The question of a relationship between brain tumors and aspartame was
initially raised when the  Agency began considering approval of this
food additive in the mid-l970s.  The Agency resolved the  brain tumor
issue before the initial approval of aspartame in l981.  A Public Board
of Inquiry (PBOI)  was convened in l980 by the Agency to review the
scientific data presented by G. D. Searle and  company relating to the
safety of aspartame.  These independent scientific advisors to the
Agency  concluded that aspartame did not cause brain damage.  At the
same time, they said that there was  not sufficient scientific evidence
presented to the PBOI that aspartame did not cause brain tumors  in
rats.  Therefore, the PBOI recommended against approval of aspartame at
that time and concluded  that further study was needed."

It is important to understand that out of the three panelists for the
Public Board of Inquiry (PBOI), only one of them was an experienced
neuropathologist qualified to make judgements about the aspartame/brain
tumor connection.  This was Peter J. Lampert, Professor and Chairman of
the Department of Pathology, University of California (San Diego) and
the President of the Association of Neuropathologists. 

In addition, the PBOI was never allowed to examine the quality of the
manufacturers studies.  Please remember that only a few years earlier,
before the Director of the FDA's CFSAN and many others at the FDA went
to work for the aspartame and soft drink industry, the FDA had been
urging that the manufacturer be prosecuted for fraud in their pre-
approval research.  Here is one statement from one FDA Investigator:    
"They (G.D. Searle) lied and they didn't submit the real nature of their
observations because had they done that it is more than likely that a
great number of these studies would have been rejected simply for
adequacy.  What Searle did, they took great pains to camouflage these
shortcomings of the study. As I say filter and just present to the FDA
what they wished the FDA to know and they did other terrible things for
instance animals would develop tumors while they were under study.  Well
they would remove these tumors from the animals."  (Congressional
Record, Volume 131, No. 106, August 1, l985 S10826-S10827).

Unfortunately, the PBOI panelists were not allowed to even consider that
the research conducted by the manufacturer was a target of a fraud
investigation.

"In l981 after extensive review of the record by FDA scientists, then
Commissioner Arthur Hull Hayes  approved aspartame as a food additive."

Left out of this statement is the fact that the FDA scientists who
"extensively reviewed" aspartame were against the approval of aspartame
because of the brain tumor issue.  (Please see page 499 of U.S. Senate
Committee on Labor and Human Resources, November 3, l987 regarding
"NutraSweet Health and Safety Concerns," Document #Y4.L 11/4:S.HR6.100).
In addition, shortly after Dr. Hayes approved aspartame, he became a
highly paid consultant for the Public Relations firm of the aspartame
manufacturer. (See GAO Document:  GAO/HRD-86-109BR). 

"In his decision Hayes noted that additional scientific data from a
Japanese study about the brain tumor issue corroborated his decision. 
The PBOI chairman later wrote in a letter to Hayes that the Japanese
data would have caused that panel to give aspartame an "unqualified
approval."  "As data stood, we were unable to reach a communal feeling
of confidence in aspartame's innocuousness on this score and expressed
this unease in our report to you.  By the same token, we wish to express
our endorsement of your final decision in this matter."  wrote Walle J.
H. Nauta, M.D., Ph.D., of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology."

What the FDA did not mention is that the only scientist on the PBOI
panel who was qualified to make determinations about aspartame and brain
cancer, Peter Lampert, never swayed from his decision and later told Dr.
Olney that from looking at the pathology slides it appeared that the
aspartame-fed animals were exposed to a brain tumor causing agent. (See
U.S. Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources, November 3, l987
regarding "NutraSweet Health and Safety Concerns,"  Document #Y 4.L 11/
4:S.HR6.100,page 468-476)

The FDA Commissioner was prevented by law from considering the Japanese
study in his decision and contrary to what was implied in this Talk
Paper, he did not consider it (but he did mention it in the Federal
Register).  If you have been the victim of reading Dr. Hayes' decision
in the Federal Register, you need to read the summary presented at

http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/aspart.p9 to get detailed and
independent information on the subject.

In conclusion, the FDA Talk Paper is full of inaccuracies.  But even
more important is the fact that it does not discuss the aspartame
poisoning reactions that are being reported by so many people.

Mark D Gold
Director
Aspartame Toxicity Information Center

http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/

********************************************************************

Dr. Friedman, the above concludes the FDA propaganda answered. It will
be put on web and lists that have journalists from all over the world. 
The FDA MUST stop misleading the public with this false information. 
Aspartame was never proven safe and the FDA's own audit on the original
studies is on www.dorway.com, the Bressler Report.   Pure and simple the
FDA approved a deadly poison for human consumption.  Dr. Elsas told
Congress aspartame is a neurotoxin.  A neurotoxin is a toxin that
attacks brain cells.  A toxin is a poisonous substance.  Aspartame has
no redeeming value.  It destroys the brain, the central nervous system,
the optic nerve, triggers an irregular heart rhythm, brain tumors ,
Alzheimer's, interacts with other drugs, and ravages every organ in the
body.  Because of what the FDA did we now have a worldwide plague on our
hands.  Dr. Roberts said in his first press conference that something
should be done then so a plague would not recur.  But again the FDA did
not listen, as it did not listen on the seizure issue and when the
petition to recall was presented because people were going blind.  When
Mission Possible demanded the recall the only thing you people did was
grant blanket approval for a deadly poison to be used like sugar.  The
FDA has no defense.  The FDA is there to solve the problem but instead
has become the problem! 

In approving a poison for human consumption the FDA has undermined the
health of this nation and the world.  As Judge Lambreth said on July 30,
l998:  "The FDA exaggerates its overall place in the universe."   And I
would add:  "In poisoning 100 countries of the world with the approval
of aspartame has caused the greatest scandal in U.S. History." 

Betty Martini, Mission Possible International