http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1193
sincere response from JD Bullington re aspartame: Murray 2005.08.02

From: jdaci@...
To: "Rich Murray" <rmforall@...>
Subject: Re: time to give up corporate deceit re aspartame (methanol,
formaldehyde, formic acid) toxicity: JD Bullington, Association of Commerce
and Industry of New Mexico, Albuquerque Tribune editorial: Murray 2005.08.01
Date: Tuesday, August 02, 2005 12:04 PM

Rich, I've received several e-mail messages regarding this column. Most of
which I do not plan to respond to. And that is a new precedent for me. I
have always responded to every e-mail message sent to me.....Although, now
that I think about it, there were some e-mail messages attacking me for my
position against cockfighting that I also ignored.

However, I am responding to your e-mail because I wanted you to know how
much I appreciate the content and tone of your message.

Thank you for the information. I will review it with an open mind.

J.D. Bullington

Rich Murray <rmforall@...> said:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1191
brief: time to give up corporate deceit re aspartame (methanol,
formaldehyde, formic acid) toxicity: JD Bullington, Association of Commerce
and Industry of New Mexico, Albuquerque Tribune editorial: Murray 2005.08.01

August 1 2005

Dear J. D. Bullington,

I certainly agree that herbs and all products that impact humans have to be
thoroughly monitored for safety and effectiveness by absolutely independent
agencies.

The world public now must be fully and immediately involved and informed at
every stage of the process, from precommercial testing to compiling citizen
feedback to quickly and definitively settling any safety issues.

The greatest hoax on the Net is the constant PR refrain for 30 years:
"Aspartame is one of the most thoroughly studied food ingredients in
history."

You deserve and certainly the public deserves to know that there has been a
substantial mainstream research against aspartame since 1972, which, as a
medical layman volunteer, I have been conscientiously reviewing since Jan
1999, just six years ago, when the infamous, famous "Nancy Markle" warning,
crude, lurid, and clumsy with facts, swept the world.

My ex-wife sent it to me from Rhode Island, and, as I always do with
anything suspicious, started checking it out on the Internet, and within an
hour via PubMed found some of the substantial articles, especially the C.
Trocho and M. Alemany study in Life Sciences in June 26, 1998 on
formaldehyde adducts to DNA, RNA, and proteins in rats, given a low dose of
10 mg/kg aspartame for ten days.

Rats are 20 times more resistant to this toxicity than humans, according to
the just released Ramazzini Foundation study on 1500 rats fed aspartame at
various levels from 4 to 5000 mg/kg body weight for two years -- it was
decisively proved that aspartame is a cause of lymphomas and leukaemias,
almost certainly due to the inevitable, swift conversion of the 11% methanol
(wood alcohol) component in aspartame into formaldehyde and then formic
acid, both dire cumulative toxins, by the natural processes in rats and in
humans.

Compared to diet soda, there is twice as much methanol as an impurity in
dark wines and liquors, about 150 mg per liter (quart), about one part in
ten thousand, and it is the natural conversion of this methanol into
formaldehyde and then formic acid that is the major trigger for the dire
suffering of "morning after" hangover -- headache, nausea, dizziness,
weakness, fatigue, body aches, muscle spasms, irritability, anxiety,
depression, confusion, mind fog. However, about a quarter to a half of
those who get inebriated do not get hangovers, which indicates a
substantial, unexplained individual variation -- typical of all poisons. So,
it is very easy to orchestrate apparently scientific studies that appear to
make any poison seem safe.

My lengthly, overwhelming detailed reviews serve to help intelligent,
open-minded citizens get quickly up to speed on the vast amount of relevant
research on this crucial world public health problem, on the same scale as
alcohol, tobacco, sugar, salt, mercury, pesticides, and many other
substances that make billions for global corporate interests at an extreme
cost in human health, sanity, and functioning.

Coca-Cola and Pepsi have to respond to a mounting crisis by quickly
abandoning a decades-long coverup strategy that no longer can be maintained
against irrefutable research and an increasingly informed, widespread public
consensus. They stubbornly stand at the same brink of meltdown as did
Enron. Legitimate capitalism can no longer accept impairing the health of
people.

I suggest you start with this expert, nonpartisan review by Michelle
Bouchard's team at the University of Montreal in 2001:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1143
methanol (formaldehyde, formic acid) disposition: Bouchard M et al, full
plain text, 2001: substantial sources are degradation of fruit pectins,
liquors, aspartame, smoke: Murray 2005.04.02 rmforall

It is certainly high time to mount an immediate alert to professionals in
critical occupations who often depend on caffeine diet sodas to handle long,
demanding work shifts, often at night -- pilots, soldiers, police, nuclear
reactor operators, and medical practitioners.

Let us cooperate for the immediate great benefit of all.

In mutual service, Rich Murray

Rich Murray, MA Room For All rmforall@... 505-501-2298
1943 Otowi Road Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505 USA
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/messages
group with 186 members, 1,191 posts in a public, searchable archive

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1186
aspartame induces lymphomas and leukaemias in rats, free full plain text, M
Soffritti, F Belpoggi, DD Esposti, L Lambertini, 2005 April, 2005.07.14:
main results agree with their previous methanol and formaldehyde studies,
Murray 2005.07.19

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1185
Ramazzini Institute (Italy) lifetime study with 1800 rats shows aspartame at
human use levels causes cancer (methanol, formaldehyde, formic acid), M
Soffritti and F Belpoggi: Felicity Lawrence, The Guardian (UK): Murray
2005.07.15

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1189
Michael F Jacobson of CSPI now and in 1985 re aspartame toxicity, letter to
FDA Commissioner Lester Crawford; California OEHHA aspartame critique
2004.03.12; Center for Consumer Freedom denounces CSPI: Murray 2004.07.27
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http://www.abqtrib.com/albq/bu_columnists/article/0,2565,ALBQ_19837_3969323,00.h\
tml

J.D. Bullington: Time to get over aspartame worries

By J.D. Bullington Tribune Columnist August 1, 2005

It has been 10 years since a massive hoax was launched warning us about the
"evils" of aspartame, the artificial sweetener marketed as NutraSweet and
used in more than 6,000 dietary food products.

Yet today, there are people, some of them I consider to be intelligent, who
still believe the bunk about brain tumors, multiple sclerosis, lupus,
blindness and a host of other ailments purported to be caused by ingesting
that product. It's just incredible.

The aspartame scare was started when an outrageous letter written by someone
claiming to be a "Dr." Betty Martini was sent around the Internet several
years ago. It was then recirculated by someone claiming to be a Nancy
Markle. It is now a certainty that Nancy Markle never existed and that Betty
Martini has no credibility or scientific expertise whatsoever. And yet they
live on, along with hundreds of Web sites that were spawned by this bogus
attack on a harmless artificial sweetener that never did anything wrong to
anyone, except help them lose weight and trim their calorie intake.

You can visit two Web sites devoted to exposing hoaxes at:
hoaxbusters.ciac.org and bighoaxes.com. You'll find the origins of the
aspartame hoax documented on these sites, along with many others, including
the Costa Rican flesh-eating banana virus scare and the cell phone "do not
call list" prank.

I started researching the aspartame issue because I wanted to find out what
this warning on the side of a diet soda can means: Phenylketonurics:
Contains Phenylalanine.

Phenylalanine is a natural, essential amino acid and is a component of
aspartame. Phenylketonurics are people who have a genetic enzyme deficiency
and cannot metabolize this amino acid properly. This condition, similar to
that of being lactose intolerant, is called phenylketonuria. If you have
this rare condition, you are a phenylketonuric and the warning is meant only
for you.

The groups that have attacked aspartame over the years have made several
outrageous claims. My favorite is the one that says aspartame breaks down
into formaldehyde (embalming fluid), ant poison and DKP, a brain tumor
agent, when it is heated to 86 degrees. A lot of people still believe this
nonsense, even though they're smart enough to tell you their own body
temperature is 98.6.

What was the agenda behind this campaign to scare you into boycotting
products that contain aspartame? Could it be because aspartame was created
by Searle, which was bought by Monsanto, which then spun off NutraSweet?

Ahh. Monsanto. The corporation everyone loves to hate. No wonder some of the
anti-aspartame Web sites infer connections between Monsanto, the Nazis and
the Jonestown massacre. Now it all makes sense.

These Web sites would actually benefit the public if they would replace
their aspartame propaganda with information about the nine natural herbal
remedies known to cause serious adverse reactions. This list includes
chaparral, comfrey, germander, jin bu huan, yohimbe, lobelia, ma huang
(ephedra), and an herbal preparation containing stephania and magnolia.
Ephedra was recently banned in the United States by the Food and Drug
Administration.

Beth Hubrich, registered dietitian and associate director of the Calorie
Control Council, says, "Aspartame is a safe product. It's one of the most
thoroughly studied food ingredients in history. More than 200 scientifically
valid studies have proven its safety and effectiveness. We have an obesity
epidemic on our hands. The products that contain aspartame can help people
manage their weight. Obesity is a serious health problem that requires a
variety of tactics to combat it."

There is no such thing as a good or bad food, but there are good and bad
diets and lifestyles. And Web sites.

J.D. Bullington is vice president of government affairs at the Association
of Commerce and Industry. He writes this column weekly.
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