Aspartame: BREAST CANCER AND GULF WAR SYNDROME?

ARTIFICIAL SWEETENER, ASPARTAME, (EQUAL, NUTRASWEET) LINKED TO BREAST CANCER AND GULF WAR SYNDROME A compilation of relevant research evidence By Carol Guilford Strong statistical evidence links the artificial sweetener, aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet) to breast cancer. Aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet) is added to over 5,000 food and drink products and is sold in almost 100 countries. There is chemical proof that the synthetic amino acids that compose aspartame-- phenylalanine, aspartic acid, and the methanol in which they are bound, are poison, neurotoxins. Phenylalanine (50% of aspartame) causes seizures and degrades into DKP, a tumor causing agent. Aspartic acid (40% of aspartame) caused holes in the brains of mice (Dr. John Olney, neuroscientist, Washington University, St. Louis, Mo.) Methanol (wood alcohol, 10% of aspartame) is a cumulative toxin in the body. Since it is "free" methanol", appearing without ethanol (the antidote for methanol toxicity always present in natural food such as fruit juice), the methanol in aspartame is lethal. Methanol destroys the optic nerve and can cause blindness. Fetal tissue cannot tolerate methanol. In addition, the methanol in aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet) breaks down into formaldehyde (embalming fluid) and formic acid which has the chemical composition of ant venom. Formic acid is used commercially in products such as paint stripper. There is actual proof from recent records released by the Freedom of Information Act that aspartame caused dozens of mammary tumors in animals tested from 1971 to 1974 by G.D. Searle, the pharmaceutical company, responsible for aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet). Searle falsified results of their animal testing when they presented evidence of aspartame safety to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) for approval as a "food additive". The U.S. Government trusts the manufacturer of a product to perform its own safety tests. To verify the breakdown of aspartame into its toxic by-products (phenylalanine into DKP and methanol into formaldehyde) Jennifer Cohen, eleven, a student in the sixth grade did her own experiment. Jennifer bought a case of diet Coke, and she took three cans to a food- testing laboratory that found the aspartame amount in one can was 0.06%. Jennifer stored seven cans of the diet Coke in the refrigerator, seven cans at room temperature (68 to 70 degrees) and seven cans in an incubator at 104 degrees Fahrenheit. "I chose that temperature because in 1983, the National Soft Drink Association (NSDA) said that 104 degrees was the average daily high for July in Phoenix, Arizona." Jennifer checked the temperatures of the diet Cokes daily and after seventy days took them out of storage and performed a double blind experiment (neither the subject nor the tester knows who gets what) on ten adult subjects. "I was going to do a taste in my sister's fourth grade class, but the school nurse said that I couldn't because of all the bad things people say about aspartame." "I put all of the cans in a cooler and covered them with ice. I gave each person a small cup of the soda from the refrigerator, from the incubator, from my room, and from a new can of soda fresh from the supermarket. I asked them to rate the taste on a scale of one to four, four being the worst and one being the best." The subjects preferred the new can of diet Coke, and the average rating was 2.0. The refrigerated sample was rated 2.5. Lab analysis showed this coke contained 0.058% aspartame, 0.001% DKP and 53.5 parts per billion of formaldehyde. The diet Coke sample at room temperature was rated 2.6 and lab analysis showed 0.051% aspartame left with conversion to 0.002% DKP and 231.0 parts formaldehyde, (the most formaldehyde in the test.) The diet Coke stored in the incubator rated the worst taste at 3.8. All that was left of the 0.06 % aspartame was 0.02%. The aspartame had turned onto 0.010 % DKP and 76.2 parts per billion of formaldehyde. The experiment to prove aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet) breakdown into formaldehyde and DKP cost Jennifer $1200. (dorway.com, Chemical News,) 1997) A twenty-five year old trade memo reveals Searle's concern about aspartame's stability: "We have no way of estimating maximum likely abuse, and hence need to utilize data based on almost complete conversion to DKP. We stand a good chance of ending up with nothing." Among the findings Searle Laboratories ended up with in a complete conversion to DKP were mammary tumors, brain tumors, uterine polyps, enlarged pituitary and thyroid glands and atrophied testes, The animals under test in the 115 Week Oral Tumor Study in the Rat, with DKP, were 360 albino rats, 21 days old. Rats are less sensitive than human beings and the amount of DKP fed to the test animal correlates to human ingestion. "In any such study of even a few hundred test animals, it takes no more than a dozen or so of them to exhibit a particular lesion... to associate with the test agent, i.e., aspartame or its related chemicals ." (Dr. Adrian Gross, FDA toxicologist, in a letter to Senator Metzenbaum, Oct. 30, 1986. DOrway.com) Here is a description of mammary tumors found in Female Rat.No.M17LF, (a low dose female) fed DKP in rat chow. "In toto" means the tissue has been left to deteriorate before microscopic examination, one of the felonious things Searle did to hide negative.results. Mammary Gland Mass (1) A 3 X 3 X 2.5 cm. SpheroidalMultinodular yellowish non-adherent to the surrounding muscles or tissue (submitted in toto), Mass (2) 2X5 X 2X1 cm. Irregularly shaped, spheroidal, smooth, yellowish white firm mass located subcutaneously and adjacent to the above described mass (submitted in toto) mass non-adherent to the surrounding muscles or tissues. Mass (3) A 2.3 X 1cm. Irregularly shaped, multinodular, yellowish white, firm mass located subcutaneously on the rt. Axillary area. Mass non-adherent to the surrounding muscles or tissues (submitted in toto). Mass (4) A 3X1X1 cm. Elongated, multinodular, yellowish white, firm mass located subcutaneously on the left inguinal area. Mass non-adherent to the surrounding muscles or tissues (submitted in toto.) Mass (5) A 2X1.5 X 1 cm. Flat, multinodular, yellowish white firm mass located subcutaneously of the rt. Inguinal area. Mass non-adherent to the surrounding muscles or tissues (submitted in toto.) All the other organs were grossly normal and unremarkable. Pathologist Dr. Charles H. Frith spent 3 days with the FDA to review 145 animals from Searle's DKP toxicity study. Sufficient slides substantiated 73 female animals with grossly observed masses. (Bressler Report to FDA, DORway.com) To hide the mammary tumors, Searle scientists excised them and returned the animals to the study or removed the tumors, post-mortem (after death). Malignancies were made to appear benign. Searle explained that a computer "programming error" was responsible. Dr. Gross interviewed all concerned with the tests and concluded that "to accept the Searle explanation is to believe that the unfavorable mammary malignancy data were innocently omitted from the summary table four separate times by three different individuals (Congressional Record, 1985.) The following statistics are from SEER, (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program) of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) The statistics are age standardized and computed to account for slight surges, due to mammogram screening. Breast cancer is the leading cause of death in women between the ages of 35-54. In 1971, a woman's lifetime risk for contracting breast cancer was one in fourteen. Today it is one in eight. (The Breast Cancer Prevention Program, Samuel S. Epstein, M.D. and David Steinman), Macmillan, 1997) (*** insert CHART showing dramatic rise in breast cancers ***) (1961 approx. 62,000 to 1996 approx 182,000 cases) Breast cancer began to rise rapidly concurrent with the use of aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet), when it was approved in 1981 for use in dry foods and, in 1983, for use in sweetening carbonated beverages. Between 1940-1982, there was a steady, annual rate of breast cancer increase of about 1% per year. Between 1982-1987, the increase in breast cancer accelerated to 4%, annually. (ACS) Between 1983-1988 the per capita consumption of aspartame quadrupled (mgold, USDA,) Increased longevity is not the reason for the rise in breast cancer cases. Life expectancy rates have remained relatively stable since 1950, while the incidence of breast cancer has increased by about 55% (The Breast Cancer Prevention Program, Samuel S. Epstein, M.D. and David Steinman), Macmillan, 1997) Mammogram accounts for finding 10% of all breast cancer cases. The woman herself discovers the other 90% of breast cancer cases. Although the numbers are recorded separately from other breast cancers by the American Cancer Society, DCIS, Ductile Carcinoma in Situ accounts for 40% of all breast cancer detected by mammogram. DCIS is abnormal (sometimes called pre-cancerous) cells confined to the milk ducts of the breasts. On a mammogram, DCIS shows up as tiny specks of calcium.(Wessex Cancer Trust, England). Oncologists now categorize different kinds of DCIS (cribiform, comedo, papillary, solid type, low intermediate and high nuclear grade) One description of a case of DCIS, comedo type reads: Solid sheets of malignant cells fill the dilated (milk) ducts. The center of the involved ducts undergoes necrosis and calcification (Online, Management of Breast Diseases). . . From 1983-1989, the years in which aspartame use quadrupled, DCIS rose 52%. There were 23,000 DCIS cases in 1992; 30,000 in 1996 and 36 ,000 estimated for 1998, 200% higher than was projected in 1983. (Ductile Carcinoma In Situ of the Breast by Gil Lederman, M.D.) "A Diagnosis on the Rise." "Is It Really Breast Cancer?" "Weighing Treatment Options", and "A Mysterious Condition" are medical problems "Good Housekeeping" magazine tried to answer for their readers, in 1996. The problem is that there is no way to tell if early stage cancer, as DCIS is sometimes called will develop into invasive cancer. The only information about its natural course comes from three small studies which found 30% of women who had biopsies developed breast cancer within ten years of the biopsies, but it wasn't clear why this happened in some cases and not in others. DCIS is a poorly understood condition. A University of California, San Francisco report, found that while the number of cases of ductile carcinoma in situ has risen dramatically in the last 15 years, clinicians still do not know the best treatment approach. In 1992, 10,000 American women diagnosed with DCIS underwent a mastectomy. The increasing incident rates for DCIS "mirror what all of us have been seeing in practice for the last decade", says Dr. Hiram Cody, a breast cancer specialist at Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. "This study (from UCSF) creates the impression that a large number of women are being treated with mastectomy, but these numbers are declining all the time." Dr. Virginia Ernster, UCSF professor: "These findings (the unexpected increase in DCIS) underscore an urgent need to determine the best treatment for DCIS, as well as for research to define which DCIS cases will progress to invasive cancer." (And prevention? Cg.) When aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet) is exposed to temperatures above 86 degrees, it breaks down into its neurotoxins faster. During the 1991 Gulf War, free diet drinks were sent to the armed forces in Saudi Arabia. The diet drinks sat on palettes in the desert sun at 120% for up to eight weeks (bettym, as reported to her by a Gulf vet). The vet also told bettym, that there was nothing to do (in the desert) and "they sat around and drank diet drinks all day." Compare the citizen complaints about aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet) to the FDA with Gulf War Veteran's symptoms: FDA (released 1994) Veteran's Gulf War Net (Denmark) burning urination blood in stool or urine "can't think straight" confusion chest pains lung problems chronic cough chronic cough chronic fatigue chronic fatigue craving for food death death depression depression diahrrea diahrrea dizziness dizziness excessive thirst or hunger feel unreal fibromyalgia fibromyalgia flushing of face hair loss or thinning of hair hair loss headaches/migraines blinding headaches hearing loss heart palpitations cardiovascular symptoms hives hives impotency and sexual problems impotency and sexual problems inability to concentrate inability to concentrate infection susceptibility multiple chemical sensitivity insomnia sleep disturbances irritability irritability itching joint pains joint pains laryngitis "like thinking in a fog" "like thinking in a fog" marked personality changes mood disorders memory loss memory loss menstrual problems menstrual problems muscle spasms muscle pain numbness/tingling (extremities) phobias rashes rashes seizure and convulsions neurological damage slurring of speech swallowing pain tachycardia cardiovascular symtoms tremors vertigo equilibrium problems vision loss vision problems weight gain fluctuation of weight kidney damage thyroid disease multiple cancers auto-immune disease reduced IQ genetic alterations abnormal birth defects fever and nightsweats loss of smell The first survey of gender specific health studies on the 37,000 women who served in the Gulf War (1991) showed no difference between the health problems of female Gulf War Veterans deployed (positioned, ready for combat) and those not. Two years later, there were significant differences in reports of breast cysts and lumps-4.9 non-deployed to 10.4 for the deployed women (Gulf War Net Denmark). There were also differences in headaches, lung problems, abnormal pap smears or cervical exams and increased risk for uterine polyps.(Dr. Penny Pierce, Professor of Nursing, University of Michigan.) Not coincidentally, G. D. Searle's two-year rat study on the toxicity of DKP had a high incidence of uterine polyps. "Other sporadic findings" was used to characterize the incidence of uterine polyps to the FDA in spite of the fact that Searle had done a statistical analysis of these findings. (Bressler Report) Former FDA Senior Scientist, Jacqueline Verrett, who testified at a 1987 hearing on Aspartame Safety, spoke to Gregg Gordon of the UPI. "This (DKP) is the famous study with the (12) uterine polyps... they disregarded them as being insignificant-you know, uterine polyps were not pre-carcinogenic. Well, I can rustle up 15 million women by this afternoon who will disagree with that." Many women veterans of the Gulf War left the service because of illness. The late Dr. Adrian Gross, the FDA toxicologist knew the medical disaster aspartame would bring. Dr. Gross knew his poisons. Gulf War Syndrome is aspartame poisoning. Approximately 45,000 to 100,000 of 697,000 Americans who served in the Gulf War, Desert Storm are suffering from aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet) poisoning because they drank diet soda which, unstable in the desert heat changed into a toxic cocktail of methanol, formaldehyde, formic acid and DKP. No one believed the Gulf War veterans when their complaints began. Officially, there was no such thing as Gulf War Syndrome. According to the experts, the men and women were merely suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome seen in veterans after other wars. In 1993, President Clinton designated the Secretary of Veteran's Affairs as coordinator of federal research on Gulf War Veteran's illnesses. Five years later, at a conference in July, 1998, 280 federally funded scientists and doctors and others from around the world came to Washington to "grapple" with the change in health status of Gulf War Veterans, Timothy R. Gerrity, Ph.D., from the VA Office of Research and Development told the attendees at the 1998 conference that "it is clear we still have much to learn about the nature of Gulf War veterans' illnesses... The key to better understanding the illnesses of Gulf War veterans is highly focused research that undergoes the rigorous scrutiny of scientific peer review all during the research process." Chemical warfare weapons were suspected as a possible cause for GWS. In southern Iraq, an enemy arsenal stored with sarin, a toxic nerve gas might have been blown up and the gas then might have drifted over the thousands of troops. There are several discrepencies in the theory. The first is that both Generals Colin Powell and Norman Schwazkopf deny it. Schwarzkopf, speaking on NBC's "Today" show, said the chemical agent most used by the Iraqis, sarin, "is the type that causes immediate casualties...It's not the type of thing that causes very, very long-term things." (Such as aspartame, Equal, NutraSweet Cg.) There are 1200 cases of GWS in 50,000 British troops who were no where near the front line or near where the toxic material was exploded, if it was exploded... None of the French troops became ill, and the Czechs reported no illnesses that were similar to GWS symptoms. Many of the troops were given experimental vaccinations to prevent nerve damage from enemy weapons-- the combination of the vaccinations and aspartame is anyone's guess. 115 million dollars has been spent to find the cause of Gulf War Syndrome.. On September 3, 1998, a Senate committee report was released that found no evidence that the troops in Desert Storm were exposed to chemical weapons. Yet the report blasted the Pentagon, accusing them of being ill-prepared to face chemical and biological weapons. Senator Jay Rockefeller and Senator Arlen Specter who serve on the U.S. Senate Committee on Veteran' Affairs, told a news conference they personally believed the evidence indicated nerve gas was a factor, though not the sole cause.of Gulf War illness. "Our troops are still unprepared," said Rockefeller, "We're not on top of it. We do have a great deal to fear." The conspiracy is so very deep-the deception so very blatant, it is difficult to believe that the truth has eluded one of the brightest, most compassionate men in the Senate, Jay (John D.,IV) Rockefeller. Life magazine photographed some of the children with birth defects, born to Gulf War veterans. In these children, one sees the full horror of aspartame poisoning. Searle Pharmeceuticals submitted 13 studies to the FDA to prove aspartame did not cause genetic damage. FDA scientists found deficiencies in all of them. In the DKP toxicity test on rats, 15 fetuses were missing from the submission. The Bressler Report found a researcher, in charge of a pivotal safety study involving fetal damage, "inexperienced" by a 1975 FDA task force. The researcher involved had only one credit--a field study of the cottontail rabbit for the Illinois Wildlife Service, and a seminar he attended once. Fetal tissue will not tolerate methanol. (10% of aspartame) or phenylalanine (50% of aspartame) which crosses the placenta and the blood brain barrier to destroy the nervous system. (DORway.com) The Association of Birth Defect Children says it has found the first cluster of defects in the offspring of U.S Gulf veterans-10 babies with severe Goldenhar's syndrome, a malformation of the face and body that usually strikes one in 26,000 according to ABCD executive director, Betty Mekdeci. Of 400 sick vets who answered Defense Department committee inquiries, a disproportionate 65% reported birth defects of immune-system problems in children conceived after the war. Coca-cola wouldn't do that to us. PepsiCo wouldn't either. Well, they are. Dr. H.J. Roberts, author of Aspartame (NutraSweet), Is it Safe? calls aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet) "molecular Auschwitz." How did this poison invade our food? Twenty-five years ago, I wrote in "The Diet Book", that a 'pot of gold' awaits the discovery of a safe, artificial sweetener, and a 'non-toxic, non-caloric sugar substitute'. (Pinnacle,1973; Drake,1974; Siglos, 1974. Mexico) Cyclamate, an artificial sweetener used in carbonated beverages combined with saccharin, was banned by the FDA in 1970, for causing cancer in the bladders of mice, We will assume that the (GRAS) generally recognised as safe, bitter-tasting saccharin was once again the only artificial sweetener in diet products. The apocryphal story of aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet) discovery is that in 1966, G.D. Searle Pharmaceuticals was searching for new drugs, including one for ulcers, an inhibitor of the gastrointestinal hormone, gastrin. Dr. James Schlatter, one of the scientists on Searle's research team, synthesized an intermediate chemical -- aspartyl-phenylalaline- methylester -- or aspartame. Dr. Schlatter accidentally spilled the "aspartame" onto the outside of the container. When he licked his fingers, he tasted the chemical's sweetness. The investigators first reported the discovery of the artificial sweetener in the Journal of the American Chemical Society stating.. ."Preliminary tasting showed this compound to have a potency of 100-200 sucrose... and to be devoid of unpleasant aftertaste." (mgold) In 1970, the discovery of aspartame is reported in the publication, "Science." A G.D. Searle trade memo indicates that Searle is in the race for an artificial sweetener to replace the banned cyclamate. Searle approached Dr. Harry Waisman, a biochemist and Professor of Pediatrics, at the University of Wisconsin's Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Memorial Laboratory and an expert in phenylalanine (50 % of aspartame) toxicity. Dr. Waisman agreed to conduct a study of the effects of aspartame on primates. The study began January 15,1970 and was terminated April 25, 1971. Dr. Waisman died unexpectedly, in March 1971. In this pivotal study, seven Rhesus monkey infants were given aspartame with milk. One died after 300 days. Five others had grand mal seizures. The monkeys were then fed powdered Similac for three months. The monkeys had no more seizures. Searle submitted false results of the Waisman study to the FDA. In 1971, neuroscientist Dr. John Olney told G.D. Searle that aspartic acid, (40% of aspartame) caused holes in the brains of mice. Ann Reynolds, one of Searle's own researchers hired to disclaim Dr. Waisman's findings, instead confirmed aspartame's neurotoxicity in infant mice. Ms. Reynolds later refused to testify at a congressional hearing. On March 21, 1973, G.D.Searle petitioned the FDA for approval to market aspartame as a sweetening agent. On July 26, 1974, aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet) was approved for limited use as a free-flowing sugar substitute and as tablets for sweetening hot beverages, cereals, gum, and dry bases. Dr. John Olney and Consumer Interest attorney, James Turner met with Searle to discuss the results of Olney's experiments that aspartic acid caused holes in the brains of mice. Searle representatives claimed that Olney's data "raises no health concerns." Olney and Turner filed a formal objection stating that they believed aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet) could cause brain damage. . A controversy started within the FDA as to the quality and validity of G.D. Searle's tests on aspartame, The result of the FDA battle was the appointment of the 1975 FDA Task Force, headed by Philip Brodsky and assisted by FDA toxicologist, the late Dr. Adrian Gross... The 1975 FDA Task Force was assigned to examine the original test material on aspartame, submitted by Searle. On July 10, 1975, Senator Edward Kennedy chaired a hearing on drug- related research. The discrepancies occurring in G.D Searle's safety tests on aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet) were discussed. On December 5, 1975, the FDA put a hold on the approval of aspartame. "Some of our findings suggest an attitude of disregard for FDA's mission of protection of public health by selectively reporting the results of studies... Experiments have been poorly conceived, carelessly executed, or inaccurately analyzed or reported." (mgold, et al) The Task Force report submitted March 1, 1976 was a stinging indictment of Searle which contained recommendations for regulatory action including referral to the Justice Department for review of possible criminal violations of the law. On April 8-9 and July 10, 1976, Senator Edward Kennedy chaired a hearing of the Senate Sub-Committee on Labor and Public Health. Commissioner Alexander Schmidt of the FDA: Today I would like to report to you the final results of the Food and Drug Administration's detailed investigation of animal studies performed by Searle... Senator Kennedy: Let me ask you this. These are the conclusions of the Task Force appointed to that study. Do you agree with those conclusions?" Dr. Schmidt: Yes I do. Senator Kennedy: Yes, you do. Is this the first time, to your knowledge, that such a problem has been uncovered of this magnitude by the Food and Drug Administration? Dr. Schmidt: It is certainly the first time that such an extensive and detailed examination of this kind has taken place. We have never before conducted such an examination as we did at Searle. From time to time, we have been aware of isolated problems, but we were not aware of the extent of the problem in one pharmaceutical house... Senator Kennedy: The extensive nature of the almost unbelievable range of abuses discovered by the FDA on several major Searle products is profoundly disturbing. In July 1976, the FDA decided to investigate 15 key aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet) studies in which the 1975 Task Force discovered problems. Three of the studies were to be investigated at the FDA by a second 5- member Task Force headed by FDA veteran Inspector, Dr. Jerome Bressler. (mgold from Graves, Congressional Record, 1985, US Senate, 1987.) In August of 1976, G.D. Searle representatives met with the FDA and convinced them to allow them to hire a private agency, University Associates for Education in Pathology (UAREP), and pay them $500,000 to "validate" the other 12 studies. (US Senate, 1987) In a letter to an FDA official, Dr. Gross expressed his anxiety at the suggestion of the UAREP review and asked for the "'ludicrous plan to be aborted." Dr. Gross wrote, "It seems to me that no-one but the FDA can have the responsibility for... undertaking this... our mission we are being paid from public funds to carry out. Such a report may well be interpreted as nothing short of an improper whitewash." On January 10, 1977, FDA Chief Counsel Richard Merrill requested U.S. Attorney for the northern district of Illinois, Samuel Knox Skinner to set up a Grand Jury to investigate G.D. Searle for violations of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the False Reports to the Government Act. Three of Searle's responsible officers (including Robert McConnell, Director of Pathology and Toxicology) were named for their "willful and knowing failure to make reports to the FDA and for concealing material facts and making false statements in reports of animal studies conducted to establish the safety of the drug Aldactone and the food additive, aspartame" (Equal, NutraSweet). On January 26, 1977, Sidley & Austin, the law firm representing G.D .Searle requested a meeting with U.S. Attorney Skinner "before a grand jury is convened" (mgold from Gordon, Mullarkey, US Senate, 1987) President Jimmy Carter had just taken office as President and announced that Skinner would not be asked to remain. Skinner informed reporters that he had already begun "preliminary discussions" with Sidley and Austin.(Alex Constantine, Nutrapoison,) On April 13, 1977, an U.S. Justice Department memo urged Skinner to proceed with the grand jury, which could bring indictments against Searle before the Statute of Limitations on prosecution, ran out. On July 1,1977 Samuel Knox Skinner left his government job to work for Sidley & Austin. (Skinner, later was appointed to Secretary of Transportation and as Chief of Staff in the Bush White House.) Assistant U.S Attorney William Conlon convened a grand jury, but he let the Statute of Limitations run out on the aspartame charges despite complaints of delay from the Justice Department. Fifteen months later, Conlon, too, accepted a job with the Sidley and Austin law firm Robert McConnell, the director of G.D. Searle's Department of Pathology and Toxicology was to be prosecuted for criminal fraud for falsifying the aspartame animal studies. Instead, McConnell was awarded a $15,000 bonus and asked to take a 3-year sabbatical (for which he received $60,000/year) because he was a "political liability." (mgold, Gordon, US Senate Record) On June 1, 1977, Donald Rumsfeld became Chairman and CEO of G.D. Searle. Rumsfeld, straight out the White House as Gerald Ford's Secretary of Defense and before that his Chief of Staff, was a heavy gun for Searle to secure FDA approval of aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet). A hard-right Republican who served four terms in Congress (1962-69), Rumsfeld voted against food stamps, Medicare and anti-poverty funds. Rumsfeld's political ideology encompasses the stockpiling of chemical weapons, downsizing the Federal government, and eliminating funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In a 1995 speech to the Heartland Institute, Rumsfeld told his audience, "At G.D Searle, we reduced the centralized corporate activities to about 20 percent of their original size, divested businesses, sold assets and moved the stock from about $12 a share to $50-$60 a share." Testimony in the US Senate records show that G.D. Searle suffered a $28 million dollar loss in 1984, sold off 30 subsidiaries, and faced a lawsuit filed by 780 women claiming that Searle's intrauterine device caused them pelvic inflammatory disease. For Rumsfeld's part he was paid, between 1979 and 1984, 2 million dollars in salary and 1.5 million in bonuses. James Turner, the anti-aspartame advocate alleges that Searle hired Rumsfeld to handle the aspartame approval difficulties as a "legal problem rather than a scientific problem." Searle denies that Chairman Rumsfeld ever had any contact with the FDA, or the Carter and Reagan administrations to lobby for aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet), but the Wall Street Journal reported in 1977 that Rumsfeld "keenly understands the importance of a public image. So he has been mending fences with the FDA by personally asking top agency officials what Searle should do to straighten out its reputation." (Alex Constantine, Nutrapoison) What to do? H.R. Roberts, Director of the FDA's Bureau of Foods created a third Task Force of another five people, this time appointed from the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN). The CFSAN Task Force reviewed the Bressler Report and claimed that G.D. Searle's studies appeared to be authentic (meaning they were actually conducted) H.R. Roberts left the FDA to become Vice President of the National Soft Drink Association. Dr. Jerome Bressler works in the FDA's Chicago office. It seemed that no matter how serious the mistakes were, the FDA Bureau of Foods was determined to accept the studies by G.D. Searle. (mgold, Mullarkey, 1994 b, page 80) On December 13, 1978, the UAREP (paid $500,000 by Searle) submitted its results of 12 of G.D, Searles' aspartame studies. UAREP pathologists found "no discrepancies in any of the sponsor's (Searle) reports that were of sufficient magnitude..." but they were caught hiding their negative findings from the FDA. In one study, twelve animals actually had cancerous brain tumors: UAREP reported to the FDA that only three animals had such tumors. In 1978, research projects at the Department of Psychology, Northeastern Illinois University found that aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet) causes reproductive dysfunction in male and female animals, endocrine dysfunction in the pituitary, thyroid, ovaries and testicles, a decrease in locomotor function and an increase in body weight. Yet, in March of 1979, the FDA somehow concluded that G.D. Searle's aspartame studies could be accepted and decided to convene a Public Board of Inquiry (PBOI) which had been agreed to by Dr. John Olney and Consumer Attorney James Turner more than four years earlier. (mgold, Federal Register, 1979) On September 30, 1980, the PBOI voted unanimously to reject the use of aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet) until additional studies on aspartame's potential to cause brain tumors could be done. On January 21, 1981, the day after Ronald Reagan was innaugarated as President of the United States, Searle Pharmaceuticals reapplied to the FDA for aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet) approval. A former G.D. Searle salesperson, Patty Wood-Allott, revealed that Donald Rumsfeld, president of Searle, told his sales force that, if necessary, "he would call in all his markers and that no matter what, he would see to it that aspartame would be approved that year." (mgold, Gordon, US Senate Record) In "Nutrapoison," Alex Constantine writes,: "G.D. Searle, the pharmaceutical firm worked symbiotically with federal and congressional officials, bribed investigators when violations of law were exposed, 'anything' to move aspartame to market." In March of 1981, a newly innauguarated President Ronald Reagan fired his predecessor Jimmy Carter's FDA Commissioner, Jere Goyan, and appointed Dr.Arthur Hull Hayes, the new FDA Commissioner. In April of 1981, Hayes created yet another 5-member team, a Scientific Commission of scientists. The new group was to review the findings of the PBOI, which had reviewed the Bressler report which had reviewed the 1975 FDA Task Force that had reviewed Searle's original tests and reviews of the original tests by the UAREP and the EPL. The vote of the newly appointed Scientific Commission was 3 to 2, against aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet). Satya Dubey a member of the panel said the brain tumor data was "so worrisome" that he couldn't recommend approval. Another member was then added to the Commission, a toxicologist asked to comment on isolated issues, creating a deadlocked vote of 3-3. FDA Commissioner Dr. Arthur Hull Hayes, citing a late study that had come in (from Japan's Ajinomoto, Searle's partner in crime) broke the deadlock. (mgold, Gordon, Mullarkey, US Senate). On July 18, 1981, FDA Commissioner Arthur Hull Hayes, Jr, approved aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet) for use in dry foods, overruling the Public Board of Inquiry and ignoring several laws of the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act. The FDA U.S. Food Code states: A food safety hazard is a biological, chemical, or physical property that may cause a food to be unsafe. Aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet) should be recalled under the HACCP standards. (HACCP is the acronym for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point). The wood alcohol (methanol) and embalming fluid (formaldehyde) in aspartame are poisons--surely hazardous. Two FDA officials admitted in 1985 that Hayes was determined to clear all obstacles to NutraSweet approval. Florence Graves, in "Common Cause" magazine reported being told, 'people at the top' were closed to questions concerning the quality of the tests submitted by Searle. (Who? Cg) James Turner Esq, comments that Arthur Hull Hayes, to arrive at his decision that aspartame is safe, "firewalked a path through a mass of scientific mismanagement, improper procedures, wrong conclusions and general scientific inexactness." (Alex Constantine, Nutrapoison) "I know that the average consumer has a devil-may-care something-is- gonna-kill-me-attitude, but they don't realize that before THIS stuff kills they are going to have a miserable declining existence with LOTS of pain and other problems (not to mention cancer, tumors, and maybe even Alzheimer or similar things) before death solves the problem." Signed, "An Aspartame Victim" (holisticmed.com) On October 1, 1982, in the U.S. Senate, an amendment to the Orphan Drug Act extended the patent on only one product-aspartame-by 6 years. The amendment did not mention aspartame or G.D. Searle by name and there was no debate or discussion on the amendment that was pushed through by Representative Henry Waxman and Senator Orrin Hatch. Waxman received contributions from the soft drink political action committee. Senator Orrin Hatch received $2,500 from the soft drink political action committee for his reelection and $1,000 each from Daniel Searle, past president of the company, Wesley Dixon (Daniel Searle's brother-in- law), and William Searle. Hatch of Utah repeatedly blocked hearings looking into the safety of aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet). (et al.) On October 15, 1982, G.D. Searle petitioned the FDA for approval to use aspartame in soft drinks and children's vitamins (mgold, Gorden, Graves, US Senate) In August, 1983 the NSDA, National Soft Drink Association raised: OBJECTIONS TO A FINAL RULE PERMITTING THE USE OF ASPARTAME IN CARBONATED BEVERAGES AND CARBONATED BEVERAGE SYRUP The NSDA cited serious and unresolved problems about the public health finding "a startling deficiency " in the stability studies of aspartame which they found to be "inherently, markedly unstable in liquid." The NSDA pointed to Searle's own stability tests. An orange beverage held at 104 degrees (average daily high for Phoenix during July) for eight weeks contained only 50 % of the original amount of aspartame. NSDA also strongly objected to the inability of Searle to account for and identify adequately as much as thirty-nine percent of the decomposition products. The studies were described as "inadequate and unreliable" ... " the safety of the major degradation products must be determined-reliable and competent data must be provided by the petitioner. "(NSDA text, DORway .com ) Market analysts later interpreted the National Soft Drink Association's actions as a ploy to drive down the price of the sweetener (Alex Constantine, Nutrapoison) PepsiCo did halt any effort to block approval of aspartame because of health concerns and never filed its 30 page objections. The members of the Soft Drink Association followed PepsiCo, turned around and lobbied for NutraSweet. . "You can sweeten a product for less with artificial sweeteners," said Bill Miller, director of the Beverage Research Center and the man widely credited with developing the first diet soft drink, Diet Rite (with Cyclamate) in the mid-1950's. (Jan 26, 1997 Omaha World-Herald) In 1983, aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet) was approved for use in carbonated beverages. Shortly after approval, Commissioner Arthur Hull Hayes left the FDA under investigation for accepting a bribe from General Foods, a major user of aspartame. Dr, Hayes was hired as Dean of New York Medical College and consultant, with G.D. Searle's public relations firm, for $1,000 a day. (mgold, Gordon, US Senate.) Dr. Hayes refuses to speak with the press. (That's what grand juries are for.) On July 8, 1983, James Turner filed a petition with the FDA on behalf of himself and Community Nutrition Institute objecting to the approval of aspartame .(Equal, NutraSweet) On November 23, the FDA denied the request to put the approval on hold "because public interest did not require it." (mgold, Federal Register) ... the people of this country expect and require a great deal more from that agency (FDA) charged with protecting their public health-in addition to mere fa�ade of window-dressing... they require a thorough and scientifically based evaluation by the Agency of the safety of the products it regulates. (Dr. Adrian Gross in a Nov. 3, 1987 letter to Senator Howard Metzenbaum.) In 1984, Dr. Richard Wurtman, MIT, and Dr. Woodrow Monte, Director of Science and Nutrition at Arizona State University, received over 1,000 complaints about aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet.) The most numerous complaints were dizziness, visual impairment, disorientation, ear buzzing, pancreatitus, tunnel vision, loss of equilibrium, severe retinal hemorrhaging, menstrual flow changes and depression. (Leading Edge Research) A car would be recalled for much less. (Cg) In 1984, diet Pepsi, restructured with aspartame, is in the market. Monsanto bought G.D. Searle in 1985. Monsanto, a corporate criminal, has been identified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as the "potentially responsible party" for no fewer than 93 contaminated sites in the U.S. Monsanto's Sauget, Illinois plant discharges an estimated 34 million pounds of toxins into the Mississippi River; its Muscatine, Iowa plant dumps 265,000 pounds of chemicals per year directly into the Mississippi. In 1985, 6,900,000 pounds of aspartame were "eaten." Monsanto calls their customers aspartame "eaters." In 1985, the U.S. Senate heard testimony relating to an amendment by Senator Howard Metzenbaum which would require the quantity of aspartame in a product to be labeled. Senator Metzenbaum berated Searle's flawed and fabricated tests and also faulted the AMA whose journal (JAMA) reported, with some significant disclaimers, that aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet) was safe for most people. Senator Metzenbaum, referring to the report said, " I wish that this (JAMA) report could ease my concerns. It does not. It merely restates the FDA position, which relies solely on the Searle tests. As I have indicated these tests are under a cloud. In addition, the concerns raised recently by the scientists... were not even included in the report." The senators heard testimony from scientists including Dr. Louis J. Elsas, Division of Medical Genetics at Emory University School of Medicine, Dept. of Pediatrics. Dr. Elsas explained that in the developing fetus a rise in maternal blood phenylalanine (50% of aspartame) and the effect of such an increased fetal concentration would express potential certain birth defects. (DORway.com) Executives of Searle countered that aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet) had been approved by foreign regulatory agencies and the World Health Organization. But Dr. H.J. Roberts reviewed the foreign studies and found that these agencies accepted the word of the FDA and Searle- sponsored research without doing independent, confirmatory studies (Alex Constantine, Nutrapoison) Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah along with G.D.Searle led the fight against the labeling amendment. The amendment was defeated. Those voting against the amendment included: Abdnor, Armstrong, Baucus, Bentsen, Biden, Bingaman, Boren, Boschwitz, Bradley, Bumpers, Cochran, Cohen, D'Amato, Danforth, DeConcini, Denton, Dixon, Dole, Domenici, Durenberger, Evans, Ford, Garn, Goldwater, Gore, Gorton, Gramm, Gassley, Hatch, Hawkins, Hecht, Heflin, Heinz, Helms, Hollings, Humphrey, Inouye, Kassebaum, Kasten, Laxalt, Leahy, Levin, Lugar, Mattingly, McClure, McConnell, Mitchell, Murkowski, Nickles, Nunn, Packwood, Pressler, Pryor, Quayle, Riegle, Roth, Rudman, Sasser, Simpson, Stafford, Stevens Symms, Thurmond, Tribe, Wallop, Warner, Wilson, Zorinsky. Those voting for the amendment were: Burdick, Byrd, Chafee, Chiles, Cranston, Dodd, Eagleton, Glenn, Harkin, Hart, Hatfield Johnston, Kennedy, Kerry, Lautenberg, Long, Mathias, Natsunaga, Melcher, Metzenbaum, Moynihan, Pell, Proxmire, Rockefeller, Sarbanes, Simon, Specter. In August, 1985, Senator Howard Metzenbaum of Ohio introduced a bill, "Aspartame Safety Act of 1985" which required a moratorium on new uses of aspartame until independent tests could be conducted. The bill was submitted to a Senate committee where it died under Orrin Hatch.(mgold) Between 1985-1988 Eli Lily, the Drug Company, contributed 17,500 to Orrin Hatch's campaign. "Hatch", reports the Wall Street Journal has "given his strong support of the pharmaceutical industries."(Alex Constantine, Nutrapoison) Mary Nash Stoddard who founded the Aspartame Consumer Safety Network, talked to students at Southwestern Medical School about her experience with aspartame. My youngest child began to use the sweetener in a drink called, Crystal Light. It came in the mail as sample packets to mix with water. She began to develop headaches (migraines), then she developed heart attack like symptoms. I took her to a heart specialist. Finally, they carried her in from a school field trip after she had suffered a grand mal seizure. (When) we discovered aspartame as a possible cause.... I eliminated that from her diet. She got well. Aspartame Safety Network has taken over 10,000 calls, and provides a "pilots hotline." Pilots have reported having grand mal seizures in the cockpit, just like Rhesus monkeys who had grand mal seizures during Dr. Waisman's pivotal safety test for phenylalanine (50 % of aspartame) toxicity. Some pilots have lost their license to fly. USAF Flying Safety magazine published aspartame warnings to military pilots in August 1992. In 1985, 14,400,000 pounds of aspartame were "eaten" in the United States. (USDA) In 1986, Community Nutrition Institute (CNI) filed suit against the FDA in District Court claiming that the FDA did not follow proper procedure in approving aspartame for beverages. The District Court dismissed their suit and the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals denied their request for a hearing stating they failed to "raise any material issues of fact..." (mgold) 15,700,000 pounds of aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet) were consumed in the U.S. in 1986 (USDA, 1988) In 1987, diet 7-up with aspartame, is in the market. The United Press reports on October 12, 1987 that more than 10 federal officials involved in the NutraSweet approval decision took jobs in the private sector linked to the aspartame industry. (mgold, Gordon, U.S. Senate, 1987) In 1987, Betty Martini founded Mission Possible, an anti-aspartame grass-roots movement involving people all over the world who, one by one, pass the word about the poison that is destroying human life and society. At a recent conference, Betty approached Donna Shalala, the Secretary of Human and Health Services and handed her a packet of information on aspartame. Secretary Shalala took the packet but did not speak. Dr. Shalala should speak, especially to the 280 federally funded investigators who are looking for the cause of Gulf War Syndrome. In 1987, 17,100,000 pounds of aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet) are eaten. (USDA, 1988) After 1987, NutraSweet stopped providing aspartame consumption data. (mgold) In 1988, Pepsi's diet Wild Cherry with aspartame is in the market. In 1989, diet Mello Yellow, with aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet) is in the market. In 1990, Dr. David Kessler who once was an aide to Orrin Hatch is appointed FDA Commissioner. In 1992, Dr. Kessler approved aspartame for use in heated food such as baked goods. Caffeine Free Diet Pepsi is in the market, with aspartame. The FDA issues an import ban on Stevia, a safe, herbal sweetener used in many countries including Japan-a country with a breast cancer incidence, three-quarters less than that of the U.S. In 1993, Pepsi Max with aspartame is in the market. In 1995, the FDA revises its ban on the import of Stevia and allows it to be sold as a food supplement, not as a sweetener. The revision represents a political compromise between the artificial sweetener aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet) and sugar lobbyists and the Natural Foods Industry and its representatives, mediated by the FDA (Ann Halloran, Bamboo Market, www) In 1995, a Harvard Group affirmed a mistake by the CDC, Center for Disease Control, in counting CFS, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome patients. An upsurge in CFS has occurred since aspartame has been in our food and it is one of the most frequent syndromes recognized in Gulf War veterans. The "gross underestimation" by CDC at Congressional hearings was 4-9 cases per 100,000 Americans. The Harvard research study led by Dr. Antony L. Komaroff, estimated that there are 75-267 cases of CFS per 100,000 people in the general population of the United States. The CDC admitted their mistake, praised the Harvard study and immediately (in a new study) revised its CFS count to 76-220 individuals per 100,000. (Neenya Ostrom Online News Index) Aspartame was given approval for use in all foods in 1996. FDA Commissioner, Dr. David Kessler, signed the blanket approval, in what health writer/researcher Mark Gold calls an "unconscionable act." After the "act", Dr. Kessler resigned from the FDA. He is now Dean of the Yale School of Medicine. Julie Kelly admonished Dr. Kessler before his resignation. Dear Dr. Kessler: How could you do it? How could you approve this poison in everything in the supermarket when you receive more complaints on aspartame than all other food additives combined, almost 80%... Is your loyalty to Monsanto so strong that the health of the American public and almost 100 countries means nothing to you? I am a diabetic and when aspartame was approved, I tried it. I had severe headaches, nausea, and vomiting, blurred vision, was incoherent, couldn't remember and my blood sugar climbed as I lost my equilibrium. I became deathly ill. I realized it was NutraSweet and got off of it... How could you, Dr. Kessler? How could you be party to this massacre? I know that the distribution of the Killer Kola brochure has warned a lot of pregnant mothers... Naomi Lawrence was so addicted to diet Coke she always had a bottle- nobody could tell her. Eventually she went into diabetic convulsions and died. She had a very large abdomen and doctors decided to do an autopsy. They found an 85- pound tumor. I couldn't help thinking about all the material I read from Mission Possible about all the tumors in lab animals that consumed aspartame. No wonder the GAO did an investigation of the relationship of the FDA and Monsanto over the bovine growth hormone. Why don't you just put Monsanto's address on your stationery with a quote" "We give them what they want, we are their loyal fan!" We have no use for an FDA Commissioner who would violate the trust of the people and commit the crime of approving poison in all food and drink in the marketplace, so it can be consumed by men, women, children, infants, pregnant women and the very sick and aged. I wonder if we will ever know how many thousands have died from symptoms and diseases. May God have mercy on you soul, Dr. Kessler- I doubt anyone else will! (Mission Possible, dorway.com) In 1996, Donald Rumsfeld who was responsible for the approval of aspartame as Searle's CEO, was chairman of Bob Dole's presidential campaign. Incidentally, while Rumsfeld was working for Searle in 1984, he participated in a covert operation involving an Israeli secret offer of arms to Iraq.. (Howard Teicher affidavit, on Iraqgate) In 1996, Dr. John Olney, having fought aspartame for 20 years, published an analysis of National Cancer Institute data that found that the number of brain tumors jumped by 10 percent in 1984, a year after the FDA approved aspartame for widespread use in food and soft drinks. The U.S. increase-about 1,310 cases per year-was marked by rising diagnoses of the same type of highly malignant tumor found in laboratory rats in an aspartame study in the 1970's. Dr. Michael Friedman, the FDA's deputy commissioner since Commissioner Kessler's departure, says there are "serious methodological questions about Dr. Olney's conclusions. Neither the NCI nor the FDA's own scientists who reviewed the data find even a weak association between aspartame and brain tumor incidence in the United States. No further study is needed." A spokesman for the Illinois-based NutraSweet Kelco Co. that sells close to $1 billion of aspartame annually said the researchers (Dr. Olney,) "manipulated the data to make their point." On November 22, 1996, a news story by Gregg Gordon reported: that "Food and Drug Administration officials have for years resisted proposals from government scientists for comprehensive studies of the safety of the artificial sweetener aspartame, which 100 million Americans consume as NutraSweet.' Between the early 1980's and 1994, scientists at the National Institutes of Environment Health Sciences (NIEHS) proposed at least four times that the government's leading program for toxicology research fund such studies. After each of these "nominations" NIEHS officials elected not to pursue the research at the urging of FDA officials, who said they were satisfied with industry-sponsored research that found no health risks.. "It's a wonderful way to ensure that it isn't tested," said David Rall, who retired in 1990 after directing NIEHS and overseeing the National Toxicology Program for 19 years. "Discourage the testing group from testing it and then say it's safe." Rall said he personally took one of the proposals to the FDA, but that Sanford Miller, then chief of the Center for Food, Safety and Applied Nutrition, asked him "to put if off a year or two.' On December 29, 1996, 60 minutes aired a segment about aspartame and brain tumors. Excerpts from 60 Minutes: Wallace: (Voiceover) Dr. Debra Davis is a leading epidemiologist who serves on the faculty of the Strang-Cornell Cancer Prevention Center. She's published widely on the environmental causes of brain cancer. Wallace: (on camera) Is brain cancer mortality increasing in industrial countries? Dr Davis: Without any question, it is. Wallace: Why? Dr. Davis: There are multiple factors we have to look at, but one of them may be, for some people, increased consumption of aspartame. (Close-up of products containing aspartame including Lipton iced tea, Equal, Dannon yogurt, Vermont syrup, Kellogg's All Bran cereal, Ocean Spray juice, Riccola cough drops, Diet Dr. Pepper, Diet Schweppes Ginger Ale, Welch's fruit juice bars, Jell-O gelatin, Carnation cocoa mix,; Weight Watchers Chocolate Mousse; crystal Light iced tea and lemonade mixes, child drinking Diet Sprite.) Dr. Virginia Weldon (Monsanto): I believe that aspartame is one of the safest food ingredients ever approved by the Food and Drug Administration. I believe it's safe for any American or anyone around the world to drink products containing aspartame. Wallace (Voiceover): Former Senator Howard Metzenbaum's staff investigated the aspartame approval process. Since he's retired from the Senate, he has become chairman of the Consumer Federation of America. Senator Metzenbaum: The FDA officials themselves were so upset they sent the file the US attorney's office in Chicago for the purpose of presenting it to the grand jury as to whether or not there should be indictments. It wasn't presented. It was delayed. Wallace (Voiceover): Dr. Michael Friedman is a FDA deputy commissioner. Dr. Friedman: There's no evidence there that challenges in my mind the safety of aspartame. Wallace: The critics say that because aspartame's approval is based on Searle's flawed tests, they say, "Well, then, how can we be certain that aspartame is safe?' Dr. Friedman: And the scientists looking at that information decided that the basic strength of the conclusions remains intact. Wallace: So even though they mixed up the animals, even though they failed to tag the animals, even though they-they-they used decomposed tissue: even though even though? Dr. Friedman: I-I don't think you're characterizing that exactly correctly. But the question really is--Do those issues detract from the basic solidity of the conclusion? Wallace: ...Dr. Ralph Walton found that the results of industry- sponsored research turned out very differently form the non-industry- sponsored studies. Dr. Walton (Northeastern Ohio University's College of Medicine): I looked at the medical literature addressing the safety of aspartame. I found 164 studies. Seventy-four were funded by the NutraSweet industry. Every single one of them attested to the safety of aspartame. Of the 90 independently funded studies, 83 identified a problem. Wallace: The FDA says they will carefully consider any future adverse data on aspartame that they find convincing enough to warrant investigation. Meantime, NutraSweet is being test-marketed in China, a potential market of about a billion people. In 1998, Hansen's put their new low-calorie cola on the market, sweetened with aspartame. The poisoning of the world food supply with aspartame is the crime of the century. Carol Guilford is the author of The New Cook's Cookbook (McMillan, 1969), The Diet Book (Pinnacle, 1973), Carol Guilford's Main Course Cookbook (Hawthorne, 1974), and The Easiest Cookbook (Lippincott, 1981)