Methanol from aspartame is released in the small intestine
when the methyl group of aspartame encounters the enzyme
chymotrypsin (Stegink 1984, page 143). Free methanol rapidly
forms in liquid aspartame-containing products at
temperatures over 145oF (62oC) (Mullarkey 1992, page 9).
Free methanol is absorbed and metabolised somewhat
differently than methanol from freshly-prepared aspartame as
pointed out by researchers for the NutraSweet industry
(Stegink 1983a). Methanol is absorbed in the stomach and
more quickly when it is in its free form (Ranney 1976, Monte
1984, Stegink 1981a). There may be a greater toxicity for
the quickly absorbed free methanol as discussed by Monte
(Mullarkey 1992, page 9). Monte goes on to point out that
when people are dieting or have not eaten for a while there
is little gut fermentation producing the protective factor,
ethanol. Whether absorbed quickly as free methanol or
somewhat slower in the small intestine from fresh aspartame,
the total amount of methanol absorbed will be approximately
10% of aspartame ingested.

The absorbed methanol is then slowly converted to
formaldehyde by alcohol dehydrogenase in the liver (DHHS
1993a, Liesivuori 1991). If methanol is co-ingested with a
significant amount of ethanol, the methanol conversion is
temporarily blocked since ethanol has nine times the
affinity for alcohol dehydrogenase as does methanol (DHHS
1993a). This allows the body time to eliminate methanol via
the lungs and urine before it gets converted to
formaldehyde. The formaldehyde is then converted to formic
acid by aldehyde dehydrogenase in the liver, by formaldehyde
dehydrogenase in the blood, or through the tetrahydrofolic
acid-dependent one-carbon pool (Liesivuori 1991).
  --------

Despite the claims of Monsanto:

1.  Methanol from alcohol and juices does not get converted to
    formaldehyde to any significant extent.  There is very strong
    evidence to confirm this fact for alcoholic beverages and fairly
    strong evidence for juices.

2.  Formaldehyde obtained from methanol is very toxic in *very small*
    doses as seen by recent research.  (See formaldehyde update on my web
    page, for example.)

3.  Aspartame causes chronic toxicity reactions/damage due to the methanol
    --> formaldehyde and other break down products despite what
    claimed otherwise by the very short, industry-funded experiments
    using a test substance that is chemically different and absorbed
    differently than what is available to the general public.
    "Strangely enough" almost all independent studies show that aspartame
    can cause health problems.

4.  A common ploy from Monsanto is to claim that aspartame is "safe"
    yet a few select people may have "allergic" reactions to it.
    This is typical Monsanto nonsense, of course.  Their own research
    shows that it does not cause "allergic" reactions.  It is there
    way of trying to minimize and hide the huge numbers of toxicity
    reactions and damage that people are experiencing from the long-term
    use of aspartame.

    author: Mark Gold
    URL   :  http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/