Correction: China tightens control on saccharin production
(not aspartame), Dominique Patton, Lorraine Heller,
www.FoodNavigator.com: Murray 2006.07.24
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1360

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1357
China to restrict aspartame production and sale, three major agencies,
five producers www.FoodIngredientsFirst.com: Murray 2006.07.16


www.foodnavigator.com/news/ng.asp?id=69203-china-tightens-control

China tightens control on saccharin production
By Dominique Patton

18/07/2006 - China is once again tightening controls on saccharin output,
a move thought to be designed to boost its domestic sugar industry.

China has had restrictions on the production of saccharin for some time
but a circular issued last month by the
National Development and Reform Commission (NDR),
the State Administration for Industry and Commerce
and the State Environmental Protection Administration
shows that it wants to step up its controls.

The state departments said they will strictly
ban the launch of any new or expansion projects
to produce the sweetener,
and the five companies allowed by the government to produce saccharin
have been told that they cannot shift production to new locations.

The government did not reveal the reasons for its renewed pressure
on the sector but industry insiders say China wants to both promote
its sugar industry and protect the environment from damage
by saccharin production.

Saccharin is the most widely used artificial sweetener in foods and drinks
and is approved for use in more than 100 countries.
It is viewed as the major competitor to sugar in China.

The country's five designated producers -
Suzhou Fine Chemicals,
Tianjin Northern Foodstuff,
Tianjin Changjie Chemical,
Kaifeng Xinghua Chemical
and Shanghai Fuxing Chemical -
produced 22,850 tons in 2005,
exporting more than 19,000 tons of the total volume.

According to the China Sugar Association, the government has
restricted saccharin sales to its domestic market to 3,500 tons,
which is the same target set in previous years.

However illegal producers are also involved in the saccharin market
and with high sugar prices driving food makers to look for alternatives,
the demand for artificial sweeteners remains strong.

In China, standard grade sugar in the southern provinces
cost RMB4960 (?515) per ton in March
compared to about RMB2000 per ton during the same period last year.

Saccharin currently costs around RMB34,000 per ton,
rising from RMB29000 in October
due to the rising cost of its crude oil-derived raw material,
but saccharin is 300-500 times sweeter than sugar.

"We now have a capacity of 500 tonnes per month,
and we are receiving orders everyday,
but we are only allowed to produce 450 tonnes by the NRDC,
which cannot meet all the demands,"
Cheng Shaoxiong, marketing manager at Tianjin Changjie Chemical,
told AP-Foodtechnology.com.

There is also significant demand for the sweetener on export markets.
Cheng says that more than 70 per cent of total production
in China is required to be exported
although much of global saccharin demand comes
from non-food industries such as pharmaceuticals
and cosmetic products like toothpaste.

The measures taken to restrict saccharin come at the same time
as China launches research into the promotion of its sugar industry.

The Economic Operation Bureau of the NDRC
said in a recent statement that it will work together
with relevant departments to step up studies on establishing
a long-term effective macro control system for the sugar market
and drafting new rules on administration of the industry.

The government wants to better coordinate putting reserves of sugar
on the market with imports of sugar
and sugar production in the coming season.

China has recently auctioned some of its state sugar reserve
to stabilise prices forced upwards by a shortage of the ingredient
caused by drought last year.

Some in the industry also say that the government wants to reduce
environmental damage caused by the sweetener's production.

A key raw material in saccharin is phthalic acid,
used also in plasticizers and for surface coatings,
and responsible for significant pollution of water in China.

Additional reporting by Francis Yang.


From: "Lorraine Heller" <lorraine.heller@...>
To: <rmforall@...>
Subject: FoodNavigator-USA
Date: Monday, July 24, 2006 2:36 AM

Dear Rich,

Thank you for your message on FoodNavigator-USA.com.

The information you point out is actually something we have covered
in the article below. This was written by Dominique Patton,
who is our reporter in China. But all her Chinese contacts translated
the Chinese document as saccharin and not aspartame.

This is a little confusing when compared to what else has been written
about this, but the FoodNavigator story is based on original research
from the field of action,
so we have every reason to believe that it is accurate.

You can access the story at:
www.foodnavigator.com/news/ng.asp?id=69203-china-tightens-control

Kind regards, Lorraine Heller, Editor, FoodNavigator-USA.com

Decision News Media
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Tel: +33 4 99 52 24 50 Fax: +33 4 99 52 28 75
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unexamined diet research cofactors:
formaldehyde from tobacco and wood smoke,
it also forms from methanol in dark wines and liquors
and 11% methanol part of aspartame: Murray 2006.07.24


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1340
aspartame groups and books: updated research review of 2004.07.16:
Murray 2006.05.11

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1341
Connecticut bans artificial sweeteners in schools, Nancy Barnes,
New Milford Times: Murray 2006.05.25

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1353
carcinogenic effect of inhaled formaldehyde, Federal Institute of Risk
Assessment, Germany -- same safe level as for Canada:
Murray 2006.06.02

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1352
Home sickness -- indoor air often worse, as our homes seal in pollutants
[one is formaldehyde, also from the 11% methanol part of aspartame],
Megan Gillis, WinnipegSun.com: Murray 2006.06.01


"Of course, everyone chooses, as a natural priority,
to actively find, quickly share, and positively 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 72 members, 1,360 posts in a public, searchable archive
http://RMForAll.blogspot.com


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/1349
NIH NLM ToxNet HSDB Hazardous Substances Data Bank
inadequate re aspartame (methanol, formaldehyde, formic acid):
Murray 2006.07.24

http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/f?./temp/~HwoSfJ:1
HSDB Hazardous Substances Data Bank: Aspartame

ASPARTAME CASRN: 22839-47-0
METHANOL CASRN: 67-56-1
FORMALDEHYDE CASRN: 50-00-0
FORMIC ACID CASRN: 64-18-6

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1307
formaldehyde from 11% methanol part of aspartame or from red wine
causes same toxicity (hangover) harm: Murray 2006.05.24

Dark wines and liquors, as well as aspartame, provide
similar levels of methanol, above 120 mg daily, for
long-term heavy users, 2 L daily, about 6 cans.

Within hours, methanol is inevitably largely turned into formaldehyde,
and thence largely into formic acid -- the major causes 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.

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.

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"
*******************************************************