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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1229
(New Mexico) State plans sweetener (aspartame) hearings; critics --
aspartame linked to cancers, Jackie Jadrnak, Albuquerque Journal,
Santa Fe North: Murray 2005.10.05

Albuquerque Journal, Santa Fe North Wednesday, October 5 2005 Page 1

State Plans Sweetener Hearings:
Critics -- Aspartame Linked to Cancers

By JACKIE JADRNAK Journal Staff Writer JJadrnak@...

Could New Mexico become the first state to ban those little blue
envelopes of Equal on restaurant tables?

The state stepped into the middle of an international con­troversy
Tuesday with a deci­sion to hold hearings on the safety of aspartame,
common­ly known by the brand names NutraSweet and Equal.

The state Environmental Improvement Board voted to hold five days of
hearings next July on the artificial sweeten­er,
despite arguments from a lawyer representing the indus­try
that U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of the additive
preempted any state action.

The sweetener is used in 6,000 food and beverage prod­ucts,
such as diet sodas, according to industry informa­tion.

Critics of aspartame contend it has been associated with a number of cancers
and other health problems.

Voting in favor of the hear­ings, environmental board vice-chairman Clifford
Stroud questioned what role the board or state could serve if not "to
listen to petitioners to conceiv­ably protect the citizens of the state."

State law gives the board authority to enact rules con­cerning harmful
substances in food, according to Stevan Looney, attorney for petitioner
Stephen Fox.

Fox, a Santa Fe gallery owner who asked the board for a hear­ing on banning
aspartame, said after the vote, "State govern­ment actually can work quite
well."

Betty Martini, Georgia ­based founder of Mission Pos­sible International, a
group working to ban aspartame, said in an e-mail to supporters: "We have
won the Battle, now let's go to War.................... In July we have the
opportunity to ban aspar­tame in New Mexico and let it become a precedent
for the world to follow."

Board chairwoman Gay Dillingham made it clear Tues­day that the board's
decision didn't imply it would pass rules governing aspartame in the state;
it only allowed for a hear­ing on the matter.
She said no other state has banned aspar­tame within its borders.

One board member who vot­ed against the hearing was Greg Green.
"I'm a little ner­vous about a Pandora's box here, he said,
questioning if the board would be beset by people wanting to review
nico­tine, alcohol and fat substitutes, for example.
"I'm very uncom­fortable taking on this issue."

The board's decision included provisions that it would use an independent,
professional hear­ing officer and would find an independent medical expert
to advise the board on the issue.

Aspartame has been approved as a food additive by regulatory agencies in
more than 100 countries, according to information put out by the industry.
A number of other groups -- such as the American Diabetes Association, the
American Cancer Society and the American Medical Associa­tion,
have stated that it is not harmful in normal use.

Rich Murray, a member of the public speaking to the board Tuesday, said
aspartame is a source of methanol,
which breaks down in the body to formaldehyde.
He said formaldehyde accumulates in the body and causes long-term damage.

The industry has contended that the products formed in the body from
aspartame also appear from the digestion of many foods,
and that none of those products stay in the body.
It has said a serving of tomato juice provides six times more methanol than
an equivalent amount of a diet soda with aspartame.
It also has argued that studies showing potentially harmful effects of
aspartame have resulted from levels far higher than a person would eat
or drink.
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Albuquerque Journal, Santa Fe North JSFNorth@...
328 Galisteo Street, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501
Mark Oswald, Editor 505-988-8881 MOswald@...

ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL NEWSROOM
7777 Jefferson Street NE Albuquerque, N.M., 87109-4360 (505) 823-3800

Metro News Charlie Moore, Editor 505-823-3840 CMoore@...
http://www.abqjournal.com/letters_form.htm Letters to the Editor

NM State News 505-823-3911 John Robertson, Editor JRobertson@...
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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 150 members, 1,229 posts in a public, searchable archive
http://RoomForAll.blogspot.com http://AspartameNM.blogspot.com

Dark wines and liquors, as well as aspartame, provide similar levels
of methanol, above 100 mg daily, for long-term heavy users. Methanol
is inevitably largely turned into formaldehyde, and thence largely
into formic acid. It is the major cause of the dreaded symtoms of
"next morning" hangover.

Fully 11% of aspartame is methanol --
1,120 mg aspartame in 2 L diet soda, almost six 12-oz cans,
gives 123 mg methanol (wood alcohol).
If 30% ofthe methanol is turned into formaldehyde,
the amount of formaldehyde, 37 mg, is 18.5 times the USA EPA limit
for daily formaldehyde in drinking water, 2.0 mg in 2 L average daily
drinking water,
which is:

185 times the New Jersey limit,
615 times the California and Maine limits,
1850 times the Maryland limit.

The 1999 July EPA 468-page formaldehyde profile admits that four
states substantially exceed the federal EPA limit:

Environmental Protection Agency 2.00 mg in 2 L daily drinking water
California and Maine------------ 0.06 mg
Maryland----------------------- 0.02 mg
New Jersey--------------------- 0.20 mg

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1108
faults in 1999 July EPA 468-page formaldehyde profile:
Elzbieta Skrzydlewska PhD, Assc. Prof., Medical U. of Bialystok,
Poland, abstracts -- ethanol, methanol, formaldehyde, formic acid,
acetaldehyde, lipid peroxidation, green tea, aging: Murray 2004.08.08
2005.07.11

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/835
ATSDR: EPA limit 1 ppm formaldehyde in drnking water July 1999:
Murray 2002.05.30 rmforall

However, famous Americans who drink a dozen cans daily of diet sodas
for years include John Edwards, vice-presidential candidate, Joe
Trippi, Howard Dean's campaign manager, and Harvey Weinstein, movie
producer.

Both President George W. Bush and Governer Bill Richardson of New
Mexico are users.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1065
politicians and celebrities hooked on diet sodas (aspartame):
Murray 2004.03.24 rmforall

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1223
complete info on NM EIB aspartame ban meeting, Oct. 4, Santa Fe,
Leland Lehrman, www.MotherMedia.org: Murray 2005.09.30

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1224
Aspartame disease: an FDA-approved epidemic, H. J. Roberts, MD 2004:
Murray 2005.09.30

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1225
Aspartame -- the shocking story, Pat Thomas, The Ecologist, 2005
Sept., p. 35-51, full text: Murray 2005.09.30

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1226
USA National Institutes of Health National Toxicology Program aids
eminent Ramazzini Foundation, Bologna, Italy, in more results on
cancers in rats from lifetime low levels of aspartame (methanol,
formaldehyde), Felicity Lawrence, www.guardian.co.uk: Murray 2005.09.30

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1227
New Mexico EIB should use its authority to ban aspartame, a methanol
(formaldehyde) source, Gail Chasey Beam, NM CPAC:
California, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey set stronger limits than the
EPA, 468-page 1999 EPA formaldehyde profile, Murray 2005.10.02

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1228
NM EIB votes 4-2 for 5-day aspartame toxicity hearing July, 2006,
requesting a Hearing Officer and a medical expert from Environmental
Dept. and legal advice from NM Attorney General: Murray 2005.10.04

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1229
(New Mexico) State plans sweetener (aspartame) hearings; critics --
aspartame linked to cancers, Jackie Jadrnak, Albuquerque Journal,
Santa Fe North: Murray 2005.10.05
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