Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Microcap & Penny Stocks : Amazon Natural (AZNT) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Cavalry who wrote (3620)	9/4/1998 8:06:00 PM
From: Ellen	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 26163

Thanks for posting that link, it was very informative. And very scary to realize there are so many dangers to aspartame. I had no idea. The part about its dangers to diabetics hit close to home, as my older sister has it. In another view, I was not-so-really-surprised (after all, this is government..!) to learn something about its approval & the FDA. Recently, a hotline was set up for pilots suffering from acute reactions to aspartame ingestion. Over 600 pilots have reported symptoms including some who have reported suffering grand mal seizures in the cockpit due to aspartame.(21) One of the original studies on aspartame was performed in 1969 by an independent scientist, Dr Harry Waisman. He studied the effects of aspartame on infant primates. Out of the seven infant monkeys, one died after 300 days and five others had grand mal seizures. Of course, these negative findings were not submitted to the FDA during the approval process.(22) Why don't we hear about these things? The reason many people do not hear about serious reactions to aspartame is twofold: 1) Lack of awareness by the general population. Aspartame-caused diseases are not reported in the newspapers like plane crashes. This is because these incidents occur one at a time in thousands of different locations across the US. 2) Most people do not associate their symptoms with the long-term use of aspartame. For the people who have killed a significant percentage of the brain cells and thereby caused a chronic illness, there is no way that they would normally associate such an illness with aspartame consumption. How aspartame was approved is a lesson in how chemical and pharmaceutical companies can manipulate government agencies such as the FDA, "bribe" organizations such as the American Dietetic Association, and flood the scientific community with flawed and fraudulent industry-sponsored studies funded by the makers of aspartame. Erik Millstone, a researcher at the Science Policy Research Unit of Sussex University has compiled thousands of pages of evidence, some of which have been obtained using the freedom of information act 23, showing: 1. Laboratory tests were faked and dangers were concealed. 2. Tumors were removed from animals and animals that had died were "restored to life" in laboratory records. 3. False and misleading statements were made to the FDA. 4. The two US Attorneys given the task of bringing fraud charges against the aspartame manufacturer took positions with the manufacturer's law firm, letting the statute of limitations run out. 5. The Commissioner of the FDA overruled the objections of the FDA's own scientific board of inquiry. Shortly after that decision, he took a position with Burson-Marsteller, the firm in charge of public relations for G.D. Searle. A Public Board of Inquiry (PBOI) was conducted in 1980. There were three scientists who reviewed the objections of Olney and Turner to the approval of aspartame. They voted unanimously against aspartame's approval. The FDA Commissioner, Dr Arthur Hull Hayes, Jr. then created a 5-person Scientific Commission to review the PBOI findings. After it became clear that the Commission would uphold the PBOI's decision by a vote of 3 to 2, another person was added to the Commission, creating a deadlocked vote. This allowed the FDA Commissioner to break the deadlock and approve aspartame for dry goods in 1981. Dr Jacqueline Verrett, the Senior Scientist in an FDA Bureau of Foods review team created in August 1977 to review the Bressler Report (a report that detailed G.D. Searle's abuses during the pre-approval testing) said: "It was pretty obvious that somewhere along the line, the bureau officials were working up to a whitewash." In 1987, Verrett testified before the US Senate stating that the experiments conducted by Searle were a "disaster." She stated that her team was instructed not to comment on or be concerned with the overall validity of the studies. She stated that questions about birth defects have not been answered. She continued her testimony by discussing the fact that DKP has been shown to increase uterine polyps and change blood cholesterol and that increasing the temperature of the product leads to an increase in production of DKP.(13) Revolving doors The FDA and the manufacturers of aspartame have had a rovolving door of employment for many years. In addition to the FDA Commissioner and two US Attorneys leaving to take positions with companies connected with G.D. Searle, four other FDA officials connected with the approval of aspartame took positions connected with the NutraSweet industry between 1979 and 1982 including the Deputy FDA Commissioner, the Special Assistant to the FDA Commissioner, the Associate Director of the Bureau of Foods and Toxicology and the Attorney involved with the Public Board of Inquiry.(24) It is important to realize that this type of revolving-door activity has been going on for decades. The Townsend Letter for Doctors (11/92) reported on a study revealing that 37 of 49 top FDA officials who left the FDA took positions with companies they had regulated. They also reported that over 150 FDA officials owned stock in drug companies they were assigned to manage. Many organizations and universities receive large sums of money from companies connected to the NutraSweet Association, a group of companies promoting the use of aspartame. In January 1993, the American Dietetic Association received a US$75,000 grant from the NutraSweet Company. The American Dietetic Association has stated that the NutraSweet Company writes their "Facts" sheets.(25) Many other "independent" organizations and researchers receive large sums of money from the manufacturers of aspartame. The American Diabetes Association has received a large amount of money from Nutrasweet, including money to run a cooking school in Chicago (presumably to teach diabetes how to use Nutrasweet in their cooking). A researcher in New England who has pointed out the dangers of aspartame in the past is now a Monsanto consultant. Another researcher in the Southeastern US had testified about the dangers of aspartame on fetuses. An investigative reporter has discovered that he was told to keep his mouth shut to avoid causing the loss of a large grant from a diet cola manufacturer in the NutraSweet Association. What is the FDA doing to protect the consumer from the dangers of aspartame? Less than nothing. In 1992, the FDA approved aspartame for use in malt beverages, breakfast cereals, and refrigerated puddings and fillings. In 1993 the FDA approved aspartame for use in hard and soft candies, non-alcoholic favored beverages, tea beverages, fruit juices and concentrates, baked goods and baking mixes, and frostings, toppings and fillings for baked goods. In 1991, the FDA banned the importation of stevia. The powder of the leaf has been used for hundreds of years as an alternative sweetner. It is used widely in Japan with no adverse effects. Scientists involved in reviewing stevia have declared it to be safe for human consumption - something which has been well known in many parts of the world where it is not banned. Everyone that I have spoken with in regards to this issue believes that stevia was banned to keep the product from taking hold in the US and cutting into sales of aspartame.(26) What is the US Congress doing to protect the consumer from the dangers of aspartame? Nothing. What is the US Administration (President) doing to protect the consumer from the dangers of aspartame? Nothing. Aspartame consumption is not only a problem in the US. It is being sold in over 70 countries throughout the world. ASPARTAME CAN BE FOUND IN: - instant breakfasts - breath mints - cereals - sugar-free chewing gum - cocoa mixes - coffee beverages - frozen desserts - gelatin desserts - juice beverages - laxatives - multivitamins - milk drinks - pharmaceuticals and supplements - shake mixes - soft drinks - tabletop sweeteners - tea beverages - instant teas and coffees - topping mixes - wine coolers - yogurt I have been told that aspartame has been found in products where it is not listed on the label. One must be particular careful of pharmaceuticals and supplements. I have been informed that even some supplements made by well-known supplement manufacturers such as Twinlabs contain aspartame.

To: Cavalry who wrote (3620)	9/4/1998 8:09:00 PM
From: Janice Shell	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 26163

Thanks, Cav, but I've been using chemical sweeteners for more than thirty years, and guess what? I'm still alive.

To: Cavalry who wrote (3620)	9/4/1998 8:11:00 PM
From: Ellen	Respond to of 26163

Also from the link you provided - peg.apc.org THE BITTER TRUTH ABOUT ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS Aspartame sugar substitutes cause worrying symptoms from memory loss to brain tumours. But despite US FDA approval as a 'safe' food additive, aspartame is one of the most dangerous substances ever to be foisted upon an unsuspecting public. Extracted from Nexus Magazine, Volume 2, #28 (Oct-Nov '95) and Volume 3, #1 (Dec '95-Jan '96). PO Box 30, Mapleton Qld 4560 Australia. nexus@peg.apc.org Telephone: +61 (0)7 5442 9280; Fax: +61 (0)7 5442 9381 From our web page at: peg.apc.org c 1995 by Mark D. Gold, 35 Inman St, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA Phone: (617) 497 7843, E-mail: mgold@tiac.net Web page: tiac.net users/health.html Extracted with permission from Blazing Tattles, Vol. 4, Nos. 4, 5, 6, April-June 1995 PO Box 1073, Half Moon Bay, CA 94019 USA. Email: blazing@igc.apc.org www.concentric.net/~blazingt

To: Cavalry who wrote (3620)	9/4/1998 8:56:00 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 26163

yeah. Cav... when I heard about the previously unspoken affects of Aspartame, I switched by to "rat poison". Tastes worse, but at least I know that a rat had to be given 1,000x the average human dose before he developed cancer.. Howevever, this is one of the reasons that I am interested in the product, once it reaches efficient scales or production. But the price must come down first given my economic alternatives to Touch of Nature. Currently I'm using Stevita's catalog as a price comparison. fastlane.net Has anyone discovered another source of Stevia or a like product being advertised?? Regards, Ron