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

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1275
Safety of aspartame still prompting debates, Joe and Teresa Graedon,
www.peoplespharmacy.com: Murray 2006.01.03

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/features/story.asp?ID=109030

Tuesday, January 3, 2006

People's pharmacy

Safety of aspartame still prompting debates
Recent study findings may prompt re-evaluation of product
Joe Graedon and Teresa Graedon, Ph.D.
King Features Syndicate

http://secure.peoplespharmacy.com/PPcart.asp?pg=contact
The People's Pharmacy
PO Box 52027 Durham, NC US 27717-2027 800-732-2334

January 3, 2006

People love to hate artificial sweeteners. Starting with saccharin in the
late 1950s, some have enthusiastically embraced the idea of sweets
without calories. Others have warned that saccharin, cyclamate
and aspartame are too dangerous for human consumption.

The debate is often intensely emotional. Cyclamate was removed
from the market in 1969 when animal studies showed
an excess of tumors in rats exposed to the sweetener.
This decision remained controversial for the next 20 years,
but the Food and Drug Administration did not reverse itself.

The FDA proposed pulling saccharin off the market in the
mid-1970s, also on the suspicion that it might cause cancer.
The agency let those plans drop due to public outcry
and congressional outrage.

The most popular noncaloric sweetener for the past few decades
has been aspartame. This artificial sweetener was introduced
with great fanfare in 1981 as one of the safest alternatives
to sugar ever created.
The FDA announced when it approved aspartame,
"Few compounds have withstood such detailed testing
and repeated, close scrutiny, and the process through which
aspartame has gone should provide the public
with additional confidence of its safety."

That's their story and they're sticking to it.
Through the years, though, frightening tales of aspartame toxicity
have circulated on the Internet.

One reader wrote: "I know from firsthand experience
that there are very serious problems with aspartame.
In 1996 I was diagnosed with epilepsy.
At that time I was trying to lose weight
and eating a lot of products with aspartame.

"I became suspicious and stopped eating aspartame-laced products.
Even though my neurologist was skeptical,
I was able to discontinue my seizure medicine
and have not had further seizures."

Others have blamed aspartame for a wide variety
of health problems including headaches, dizziness,
confusion, memory loss, depression, blindness,
ADD, ALS, lupus and multiple sclerosis.
With dozens of symptoms attributed to aspartame,
it is easy to discount the diatribes. We were skeptical about
the more exaggerated claims, especially regarding links to cancer.

Recent research by a European foundation has forced us
to look at aspartame in a new light, however.
A study published online in the journal
Environmental Health Perspectives (Nov. 17, 2005)
involved 1,800 rats and six dosage levels of aspartame in their chow.
Some of the dosage levels were comparable to levels of aspartame
in the human diet. The rats in this study were not sacrificed
but lived out their natural lives and were examined upon death.
The authors report an excess of leukemias, lymphomas and
malignant tumors among rats fed aspartame at several dosage levels.

Critics charge that the researchers did not follow standard protocols
for this type of study. The investigators respond that
"the findings speak for themselves."

If you would like more details, we did an in-depth interview
about this research on our national radio show.
The CD is available for $9 from the People's Pharmacy
(CD-568), P.O. Box 52027, Durham, NC 27717-2027,
or order it online at www.peoplespharmacy.com.

The FDA and the Calorie Control Council,
an industry trade organization,
maintain that aspartame is totally safe.
Despite their reassurances, this new research
may prompt a re-evaluation of the popular sweetener.
********************************************************

January 3, 2006

Any unsuspected source of methanol, which the body always quickly
and largely turns into formaldehyde and then formic acid, must be
monitored, especially for high responsibility occupations, often with
night shifts, such as pilots and nuclear reactor operators.

In particular, the next review gives many recent mainstream
peer-reviewed studies that show formaldehyde,
always inevitably derived in the body from any methanol source,
including aspartame, causes endothelial injury,
ie, diabetic neuropathy -- among the most serious and complex
complications of diabetes.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1263
many studies on endothelial injury (diabetic neuropathy) by adducts of
formaldehyde derived from methylamine from many of the same sources
as also supply methanol (formaldehyde), including aspartame:
PH Yu et al: DJ Conklin et al: Murray 2005.12.04

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1237
ubiquitous potent uncontrolled co-factors in nutrition research are
formaldehyde from wood and tobacco smoke and many sources,
including from methanol in dark wines and liquors, in pectins
in fruits and vegetables, and in aspartame: Murray 2006.01.01

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/925
aspartame puts formaldehyde adducts into tissues, Part 1/2
full text Trocho & Alemany 1998.06.26
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona : Murray 2002.12.22

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1250
aspartame causes cancer in rats at levels approved for humans,
Morando Soffritti et al, Ramazzini Foundation, Italy &
National Toxicology Program
of National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
2005.11.17 Env. Health Pers. 35 pages: Murray

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1271
combining aspartame and quinoline yellow, or MSG and brilliant blue,
harms nerve cells, eminent C. Vyvyan Howard et al, 2005
education.guardian.co.uk, Felicity Lawrence: Murray 2005.12.21

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1274
harm to fetus from formaldehyde from methanol from aspartame,
Woodrow C. Monte: Murray 2006.01.02

As a medical layman, I suggest that evidence mandates immediate
exploration of the role of these ubiquitious, potent formaldehyde
sources as co-factors in epidemiology, research, diagnosis,
and treatment in a wide variety of disorders.

Folic acid, from fruits and vegetables, plays a role by powerfully
protecting against methanol (formaldehyde) toxicity.

Many common drugs, such as aspirin, interfere with folic acid,
as do some mutations in relevant enzymes.

The majority of aspartame reactors are female.

In mutual service, Rich Murray
*******************************************************

"Of course, everyone chooses, as a natural priority,
to actively find, quickly share, and act upon the facts
about healthy and safe food, drink, and environment."

Rich Murray, MA Room For All rmforall@...
505-501-2298 1943 Otowi Road Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/messages
group with 149 members, 1,275 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, 2 L daily, about 6 cans.

Methanol is inevitably largely turned into formaldehyde,
and thence largely into formic acid.
It is the major cause of the dreaded symptoms 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% of the 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.

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 drinking water July
1999: Murray 2002.05.30 rmforall

Aspartame is made of phenylalanine (50% by weight) and
aspartic acid (39%), both ordinary amino acids, bound
loosely together by methanol (wood alcohol, 11%).
The readily released methanol from aspartame is within hours
turned by the liver into formaldehyde and then formic acid,
both potent, cumulative toxins.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1141
Nurses Health Study can quickly reveal the extent of aspartame
(methanol, formaldehyde, formic acid) toxicity: Murray 2004.11.21
[ Any scientist can get access to this data for free by submitting a proper
research proposal.
No one has admitted mining the extensive data on diet soda use
and many symptoms for decades for about 100,000 nurses. ]

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1213
aspartame (methanol, phenylalanine, aspartic acid) effects, detailed
expert studies in 2005 Aug and 1998 July, Tsakiris S, Schulpis KH,
Karikas GA, Kokotos G, Reclos RJ, et al,
Aghia Sophia Children's Hospital, Athens, Greece: Murray 2005.09.09

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/939
aspartame (aspartic acid, phenylalanine) binding to DNA:
Karikas July 1998: Murray 2003.01.05 rmforall
Karikas GA, Schulpis KH, Reclos GJ, Kokotos G
Measurement of molecular interaction of aspartame and
its metabolites with DNA. Clin Biochem 1998 Jul; 31(5): 405-7.
Dept. of Chemistry, University of Athens, Greece
http://www.chem.uoa.gr gkokotos@...
K.H. Schulpis inchildh@... G.J. Reclos reklos@...

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1088
Murray, full plain text & critique: chronic aspartame in rats affects
memory, brain cholinergic receptors, and brain chemistry, Christian B,
McConnaughey M et al, 2004 May: 2004.06.05

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1067
eyelid contact dermatitis by formaldehyde from aspartame,
AM Hill & DV Belsito, Nov 2003: Murray 2004.03.30

Thrasher (2001): "The major difference is that the Japanese
demonstrated the incorporation of FA and its metabolites into the
placenta and fetus.
The quantity of radioactivity remaining in maternal and fetal tissues
at 48 hours was 26.9% of the administered dose." [ Ref. 14-16 ]

Arch Environ Health 2001 Jul-Aug; 56(4): 300-11.
Embryo toxicity and teratogenicity of formaldehyde. [100 references]
Thrasher JD, Kilburn KH. toxicology@...
Sam-1 Trust, Alto, New Mexico, USA.
http://www.drthrasher.org/formaldehyde_embryo_toxicity.html full text

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1052
DMDC: Dimethyl dicarbonate 200mg/L in drinks adds
methanol 98 mg/L [ becomes formaldehyde in body ]: EU Scientific
Committee on Foods 2001.07.12: Murray 2004.01.22

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1131
genotoxicity of aspartame in human lymphocytes 2004.07.29
full plain text, Rencuzogullari E et al, Cukurova University,
Adana, Turkey 2004 Aug: Murray 2004.11.06

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1237
ubiquitous potent uncontrolled co-factors in nutrition research are
formaldehyde from wood and tobacco smoke and many sources,
including from methanol in dark wines and liquors, in pectins
in fruits and vegetables, and in aspartame: Murray 2005.12.16

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1264
fructose in rats increases uric acid, obesity, insulin resistance,
endothelial damage -- RJ Johnson et al, U. Florida: Murray 2005.12.07
*******************************************************

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1106
hangover research relevant to toxicity of 11% methanol in
aspartame (formaldehyde, formic acid): Calder I (full text):
Jones AW: Murray 2004.08.05 2005.09.28

Since no adaquate data has ever been published on the exact
disposition of toxic metabolites in specific tissues in
humans of the 11% methanol component of aspartame, the many
studies on morning-after hangover from the methanol impurity
in alcohol drinks are the main available resource to date.

Jones AW (1987) found next-morning hangover from red wine
with 100 to 150 mg methanol (9.5% w/v ethanol, 100 mg/L
methanol, 0.01%, one part in ten thousand).

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1182
Joining together: short review: research on aspartame
methanol, formaldehyde, formic acid) toxicity: Murray
2005.07.08 rmforall

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1071
research on aspartame (methanol, formaldehyde, formic acid)
toxicity: Murray2004.04.29 rmforall

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1250
aspartame causes cancer in rats at levels approved for humans,
Morando Soffritti et al, Ramazzini Foundation, Italy &
National Toxicology Program
of National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
2005.11.17 Env. Health Pers. 35 pages: Murray

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/1186
aspartame induces lymphomas and leukaemias in rats, full plain text,
M Soffritti, F Belpoggi, DD Esposti, L Lambertini: Ramazzini
Foundation study 2005.07.14: main results agree with their previous
methanol and formaldehyde studies: Murray 2005.09.03

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 2005.07.27

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

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1070
critique of aspartame review, French Food Safety Agency AFSSA
2002.05.07 aspartamgb.pdf (18 pages, in English), Martin Hirsch:
Murray 2004.04.13

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/957
safety of aspartame Part 1/2 12.4.2: EC HCPD-G SCF,
EU Scientific Committee on Food, a whitewash; Murray 2003.01.12

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1045
http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/scf2002-response.htm
Mark Gold exhaustively critiques European Commission Scientific
Committee on Food re aspartame ( 2002.12.04 ): 59 pages, 230 references

http://www.HolisticMed.com/aspartame mgold@...
Aspartame Toxicity Information Center Mark D. Gold
12 East Side Drive #2-18 Concord, NH 03301 603-225-2100
http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/abuse/methanol.html
"Scientific Abuse in Aspartame Research"

Gold points out that industry methanol assays were too insensitive to
properly measure blood methanol levels. ]

http://www.eatright.org/Nutritive(1).pdf
J Am Diet Assoc. 2004 Feb; 104(2): 255-75.
Position of the American Dietetic Association: use of nutritive and
nonnutritive sweeteners. American Dietetic Association.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1068
critique of aspartame review by American Dietetic Association
Feb 2004, Valerie B. Duffy & Madeleine J. Sigman-Grant:
Murray 2004.05.14

"Survey of aspartame studies: correlation of outcome and funding
sources," 1998, unpublished: http://www.dorway.com/peerrev.html
Walton found 166 separate published studies in the peer reviewed
medical literature, which had relevance for questions of human safety.
The 74 studies funded by industry all (100%) attested to aspartame's
safety, whereas of the 92 non-industry funded studies, 84 (91%)
identified a problem. Six of the seven non-industry funded studies
that were favorable to aspartame safety were from the FDA, which
has a public record that shows a strong pro-industry bias.
Ralph G. Walton, MD, Prof. of Clinical Psychology, Northeastern Ohio
Universities, College of Medicine, Dept. of Psychiatry, Youngstown,
OH 44501, Chairman, The Center for Behavioral Medicine,
Northside Medical Center, 500 Gypsy Lane, P.O. Box 240
Youngstown, OH 44501 330-740-3621 rwalton193@...
http://www.neoucom.edu/DEPTS/Psychiatry/walton.htm

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/857
www.dorway.com: original documents and long reviews of flaws in
aspartame toxicity research: Murray 2002.07.31

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/858
Samuels: Strong: Roberts: Gold: flaws in double-blind studies re
aspartame and MSG toxicity: Murray 2002.08.01

http://www.truthinlabeling.org/ Truth in Labeling Campaign [MSG]
Adrienne Samuels, PhD The toxicity/safety of processed
free glutamic acid (MSG): a study in suppression of information.
Accountability in Research 1999; 6: 259-310. 52-page review
P.O. Box 2532 Darien, Illinois 60561
858-481-9333 adandjack@...

http://www.dorway.com/upipart1.txt
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/262
aspartame expose 96K Oct 1987 Part 1/3:
Gregory Gordon, UPI reporter: Murray 2000.07.10

http://www.dorway.com/enclosur.html
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/53
aspartame history Part 1/4 1964-1976: Gold: Murray 1999.11.06

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/928
revolving door, Monsanto, FDA, EPA: NGIN: Murray 2002.12.23

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/927
Donald Rumsfeld, 1977 head of Searle Corp., got aspartame FDA
approval: Turner: Murray 2002.12.23 rmforall
*******************************************************

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1273
citizens against aspartame (methanol, formaldehyde), made by
Ajinomoto, at Jan 3 hearing of NM EIB in Santa Fe: Lehrman:
Murray 2006.01.01

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1272
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson endorses Nutrition Council,
mercury ban, aspartame hearings: Lehrman, Fox, Stoller:
Murray 2005.12.27

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1248
Aspartame and Thimerosal getting banned in New Mexico
by the Pharmacy Board? with notes by Rich Murray: 2005.11.15

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1247
Aspartame quagmire quickly deepens, methanol (formaldehyde, formic
acid) toxicity facts spreading at the grassroots level,
3 items in The New Mexican,
and long article in Vanity Fair by Rich Cohen: Murray 2005.11.15

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1245
Fox, Stoller, Murray to give Citizen's Petition
to ban aspartame (methanol, formaldehyde) and mercury
in children's medicines and vitamins: New Mexico Board of Pharmacy,
2:45-3:45 pm Monday Nov. 14, Albuquerque: Murray 2005.11.13

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