European Food Safety Authority EFSA wants aspartame (methanol, formaldehyde,
formic acid) safety data by 2008.10.31 for 'Meeting of National Experts on
Aspartame' in December: Rich Murray 2008.10.10
http://rmforall.blogspot.com/2008_10_01_archive.htm
Friday, October 10, 2008
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1566

"An EFSA Meeting of National Experts on Aspartame will be convened tentatively
in December 2008 to identify possible areas of discrepancies, or gaps, in the
body of evidence on aspartame safety and to consider options to address these
discrepancies and/or gaps, if any."

Jeffrey Moon
Scientific Committee and Advisory Forum Unit
European Food Safety Authority
Largo N. Palli 5/A, I-43100 Parma, Italy
tel: + 39 0521 036541 fax: +39 0521 0360541
aspartamecallfordata@...

Mr. Jeffrey Moon:

1. As a conscientious medical layman and volunteer information activist for ten
years, offering a public archive of 1566 detailed long reviews of mostly
mainstream medical and media sources, I am willing to discuss any information
regarding aspartame and its cumulative toxic, neurotoxic, and genotoxic products
in humans, particularly methanol, formaldehyde, and formic acid.

2. Competent evaluation has to include the most recent studies worldwide in many
areas, often by freshly involved teams, independent of vested interests:

details on 6 epidemiological studies since 2004 on diet soda (mainly
aspartame) correlations, as well as 14 other mainstream studies on
aspartame toxicity since summer 2005: Murray 2007.11.18
http://rmforall.blogspot.com/2007_11_01_archive.htm
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1490

two aspartame toxicity research studies by Resia Pretorius, U. Pretoria,
South Africa, debate with JD Fernstrom: Murray 2008.04.04
http://rmforall.blogspot.com/2008_04_01_archive.htm
Friday, April 4, 2008
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1536

formaldehyde, aspartame, and migraines, the first case series, Sharon E
Jacob-Soo, Sarah A. Stechschulte, UCSD, Dermatitis 2008 May: Rich Murray
2008.07.18
http://rmforall.blogspot.com/2008_07_01_archive.htm
Friday, July 18, 2008
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1553

Artificial sweetener consumption and urinary tract tumors in Cordoba,
Argentina, MM Andreatta, SE Munoz, MJ Lantieri, AR Eynard, A Navarro,
Prev. Med. 2008.04.08: Murray 2008.07.01
http://rmforall.blogspot.com/2008_07_01_archive.htm
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1547
Prev Med. 2008 Jul; 47(1): 136-9. Epub 2008 Apr 8.
Artificial sweetener consumption and urinary tract tumors
in Cordoba, Argentina.
Andreatta MM,
Muñoz SE,
Lantieri MJ,
Eynard AR, aeynard@...;
Navarro A. anavarro@...;
Escuela de Nutrición, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas,
Universidad Nacional de Córdoba.

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

3. Since diet drinks and alcohol drinks give about the same level of methanol,
over 1 part in 10,000, 100 mg per liter, highly relevant are studies on alcohol
hangover, disease, and addiction:

methanol impurity in alcohol drinks [ and aspartame ] is turned into
neurotoxic formic acid, prevented by folic acid, re Fetal Alcohol
Syndrome, BM Kapur, DC Lehotay, PL Carlen at U. Toronto, Alc Clin Exp
Res 2007 Dec. plain text: detailed biochemistry, CL Nie et al.
2007.07.18: Murray 2008.02.24
http://rmforall.blogspot.com/2008_02_01_archive.htm
Sunday, February 24, 2008
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1524

similar levels of daily formaldehyde and formic acid, causes of birth
defects, come from cigarettes, aspartame, and dark wines and liquors
-- folic acid protects most people: Rich Murray 2008.07.15
http://rmforall.blogspot.com/2008_07_01_archive.htm
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1552

formaldehyde and formic acid in FEMA trailers and other sources
(aspartame, dark wines and liquors, tobacco smoke): Murray 2008.01.30
http://rmforall.blogspot.com/2008_01_01_archive.htm
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1508

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1286
methanol products (formaldehyde and formic acid) are main cause
of alcohol hangover symptoms [same as from similar amounts of
methanol, the 11% part of aspartame]: YS Woo et al, 2005 Dec:
Murray 2006.01.20

Addict Biol. 2005 Dec;10(4): 351-5.
Concentration changes of methanol in blood samples during
an experimentally induced alcohol hangover state.
Woo YS, Yoon SJ, Lee HK, Lee CU, Chae JH, Lee CT, Kim DJ.
Chuncheon National Hospital, Department of Psychiatry,
The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.

4. A brief perusal of three decades of research and media activity suffices to
show overwhelming vested interest activity -- notably, methanol and formaldehyde
impinge huge industries: sweetener, beverage (including all alcohol drinks),
food, tobacco, vehicle and battery fuels, heating systems, mortuary, medical,
pharmaceutical, cosmetics, personal products, cleaning products, building
materials, paints, furniture, carpets and drapes, leather, air quality, mobile
homes, new buildings, vehicles, and general chemicals -- corruption of science,
education, medicine, media, politics, government, and business is general.

Invariably, official panels for three decades have been heavily vested interest
controlled -- piously cherry picking biased studies to unctuously grind out
preordained conclusions, devoid of any genuine concern for the public welfare,
especially for long-term heavy users from the many vulnerable groups, and
markedly lacking in scientific curiosity:

opportunities re BA Magnuson, GA Burdock et al., Aspartame Safety
Evaluation 2007 Sept., Critical Reviews in Toxicology:
Rich Murray 2008.07.11
http://rmforall.blogspot.com/2008_07_01_archive.htm
Friday, July 11, 2008
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1550

industry scientists praise aspartame safety and benefits in Paris on
2006.05.30, Herve Nordmann, Andrew G. Renwick, Carlo La Vecchia, Tommy
Visscher, Jaap Seidell, France Bellisle, Adam Drewnowski, Margaret
Ashwell, Anne de la Hunty, Sigrid A. Gibson, Alan R. Boobis: Murray
2007.11.18
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1491

5. All information considered has to include full and public details of funding,
control and oversight, editing, conflicts of interest, all research and other
work of team members, qualifications of training and experience, and
organizational allegiances.

6. All information has to be immediately and permanently made conveniently
available for free in public archives, along with unedited full records of all
communications and discussion sessions, as well as all opinion and information
from citizens. Citizens may now take initiative to maintain their own public
archives. Available to all points of view is:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/messages for plain text, while PDFs
and images can be placed in Files.

7. Since neurotoxicity, including addiction, is prominent, it is necessary to be
tolerant of poor clarity and restraint with unusual bias and emotionality in
affected citizens, including evident cognitive and memory deficits. Medical
professionals are notably exposed to formaldehyde.

8. Little information is available about workplace hazards during aspartame
(methanol, formaldehyde, formic acid) production.

9. Aspartame and its products are largely unconsidered potent cofactors that
interfere with much research in health, disease, nutrition, medicine, drug
efficacy, and social problems.

10. Lacking is any consideration of possible major benefits of methanol and
formaldehyde in humans, as human cells may be far more resistant than most
fungi, bacteria, and viruses, since positive selection reasonably may have
existed since the Stone Age from exposures to fermented fruit and wood smoke.

11. All citizens have to support and work for social and legal support for
whistleblowers, who can play a prominent role in quickly alerting everyone about
multiple health and safety issues.

12. It is essential that the "National Experts on Aspartame" include
specifically qualified experts, independent of bias or vested interests, who are
recently published in mainstream venues:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1453
Souring on fake sugar (aspartame), Jennifer Couzin,
Science 2007.07.06: 4 page letter to FDA from 12 eminent
USA toxicologists re two Ramazzini Foundation
cancer studies 2007.06.25: Murray 2007.07.18

14. An adequate Meeting should take four weeks.

15. Attention to addicted long-term users of over 12 cans daily diet soda from
the many vulnerable groups is remarkably absent -- imagine studying the hazards
of tobacco smoking for a few teenagers who smoke a cigarette a day for a few
weeks.

16. Applying the Precautionary Principle vigorously, world citizens must be
immediately alerted about the many major health hazards from multiple sources of
aspartame, methanol, formaldehyde, and formic acid.

17. Adaquate folic acid levels strongly help most people safely metabolize
methanol without incurring toxicity from formaldehyde and formic acid.

In mutual service,

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

"Of course, everyone chooses, as a natural priority, to enjoy peace,
joy, and love by helping to find, quickly share, and positively act
upon evidence about healthy and safe food, drink, and environment."

http://RMForAll.blogspot.com new primary archive

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/messages
group with 134 members, 1,566 posts in a public archive

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartame/messages
group with 1,139 members, 22,982 posts in public archive
___________________________________________________


From: <Donna.Griffith-Sackey@...>
Sent: Friday, October 10, 2008 7:56 AM
To: <rmforall@...>
Subject: Re: Aspartame (Our ref: ADB 33/265 L)

Dear Mr Murray

Further to my email dated 23 July 2008 in response to your email dated 10
July (and the subsequent information received), the Food Standards Agency
(FSA) is now in a position to respond.

We have reviewed thoroughly the information that you forwarded to us so
that we could identify whether there were any data that we were not
previously aware of. Although there were some references that we had not
previously seen, when the database is taken as a whole our assessment of
aspartame remains unchanged; we believe aspartame is safe at currently
permitted levels.

The FSA recently proposed that the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)
should undertake further research on aspartame to address continued
consumer concern. I am pleased to confirm that EFSA has announced an
initiative in cooperation with its Advisory Forum to address this public
concern. As a first step it has recently made a call for data to determine
what new scientific evidence and other information has become available
since the last evaluation of aspartame by the former Scientific Committee
on Food (SCF) in 2002. I have provided a link to this request below:

http://www.efsa.europa.eu/EFSA/efsa_locale-1178620753812_1211902099309.htm

Should you wish to provide data to be considered, please provide this
information to EFSA by 31 October 2008. However, we will ensure that the
data you have already provided to us will be forwarded to EFSA to be
included in this review.

Best wishes

Donna Griffith-Sackey
Food Standards Agency
Novel Foods, Additives and Supplements Division

Food Standards Agency (FSA)

For the latest food news and information visit www.food.gov.uk

This email and any attachments are intended for the named recipient only.
Unauthorised use, disclosure, storage or copying is not permitted. If you have
received this email in error, please destroy all copies and inform the sender
immediately by return email.

The original of this email was scanned for viruses by the Government Secure
Intranet (GSI) virus scanning service supplied exclusively by Cable & Wireless
in partnership with MessageLabs and on leaving the GSI this email was certified
virus-free. However you should always use your own virus-scanning software to
ensure mail and attachments are safe to open.

Communications on the FSA's computer systems may be monitored and/or recorded to
secure effective operation of the system and for other lawful purposes.


http://www.efsa.europa.eu/EFSA/efsa_locale-1178620753812_1211902099309.htm

Open Calls for data
Request for Data on Aspartame
Deadline: 31/10/2008

Background

Based on available scientific evidence, there is broad agreement amongst food
authorities throughout the world on the absence of adverse health effects caused
by aspartame. Consequently, aspartame is allowed by regulatory authorities for a
wide variety of food uses

The former Scientific Committee on Food (SCF) of the European Commission gave a
positive opinion on the use of aspartame in 1988 and since then it has been in
common usage in Europe and world wide in a range of sugar free and low calorie
food products. The SCF continued to review the use of aspartame and published a
revised opinion in 2002, which concluded that there was no evidence to suggest a
need to revise the outcome of their earlier risk assessment.

Thorough and independent scientific evaluation of available studies has not
resulted in the need to reconsider the safety of aspartame. However there
continues to be a certain level of public concern with respect to the risks of
aspartame use in food.

EFSA and its Advisory Forum (AF) therefore agreed on the need for a consorted
European-wide initiative to address in a comprehensive manner any remaining
questions raised about the safety of aspartame for use in food. Preparation is
underway to establish a meeting of National Experts on Aspartame to be held
early in 2009. The preparation for this meeting includes the identification and
thorough analysis of all new scientific evidence and other information available
on aspartame since the last evaluation by the SCF in 2002. It further includes
an analysis of reported adverse effects of aspartame in humans and the
identification of possible gaps in previous safety assessments. As part of the
review, possible limitations in current knowledge will be considered along with
the preparation of options (including possible communication approaches) for an
EU coordinated approach to address any issues identified.

Call for Data

The purpose of this call for data is to offer all stakeholders an opportunity to
draw to the attention of the team preparing the meeting of National Experts any
relevant documented information that may otherwise not be available to them
through the published literature.
Such information should, ideally, be in a published form. Other submissions will
need to be as comprehensive as possible. While the team is particularly
interested in data and information in the areas below, data and information on
other aspects would also be welcome.
Areas of particular interest are:

* Brain function, including mood changes
* Effects on satiation and appetite
* Epidemiological data, including exposure data
* Fertility and reproduction
* Immunotoxicity and allergenicity
* Metabolic aspects and diabetes
* Cancer and genetic effect

The team preparing the data for the National Experts meeting would also be
interested to know if, in addition to making a submission, you would be willing
to discuss the information you have supplied. Please indicate that this is the
case by stating so and providing your full contact details (including Name,
contact address, telephone number, and email contact).

Submissions should be sent to this e-mail address:
aspartamecallfordata@...

See the mandate for the EFSA meeting of national experts on aspartame.
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/EFSA/efsa_locale-1178620753812_1211902051400.htm

Contact person:
Jeffrey Moon
Scientific Committee and Advisory Forum Unit
European Food Safety Authority
Largo N. Palli 5/A, I-43100 Parma, Italy
tel: + 39 0521 036541 fax: +39 0521 0360541

Mandate for the EFSA meeting of national experts on aspartame application/pdf
(0.1Mb)

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE & ADVISORY FORUM UNIT
European Food Safety Authority - Largo N. Palli 5/a, I - 43100 Parma
Tel: (+39) 0521 036 111 Fax: (+39) 0521 036 110
info@... www.efsa.europa.eu

MANDATE FOR THE EFSA MEETING OF NATIONAL EXPERTS ON ASPARTAME

BACKGROUND

Based on a substantial body of evidence, there is broad consensus
internationally amongst food authorities on the absence of adverse health
effects of aspartame. Consequently, aspartame is allowed globally by regulatory
authorities for a wide variety of food uses. However, some studies have raised
questions about the health implications of exposure to aspartame. Thorough and
independent scientific evaluation of these studies has not resulted in the need
to reconsider the safety of aspartame, although there continues to be a certain
level of public concern with respect to the risks of aspartame use in food.

EFSA and its Advisory Forum (AF) therefore agreed on a consorted European-wide
initiative to address in a comprehensive manner the concerns about the safety of
aspartame for use in food.

TERMS OF REFERENCE

An EFSA Meeting of National Experts on Aspartame will be convened tentatively in
December 2008 to identify possible areas of discrepancies, or gaps, in the body
of evidence on aspartame safety and to consider options to address these
discrepancies and/or gaps, if any. Specifically, the Meeting of National Experts
on Aspartame will:

Review a comprehensive overview of reports, publications and other data on
aspartame, provided by EFSA;

Agree on the completeness of the overview provided by EFSA or, alternatively,
ensure that missing data are added;

Identify possible data gaps and discrepancies in the available data;

In case no data gaps or discrepancies are identified, agree on a (communication)
approach to confirm the adequate robustness of the data, supporting the absence
of any human health concern;

In case such data gaps or discrepancies exist, consider detailed options to
address these outstanding issues and agree on a preferred approach for work, if
needed;

Reach agreement on the organisation of the work, including parties involved and
the timing of the work, taking into account: resource implications and the need
for independent scientific evaluation of the outcome of the work.
___________________________________________________