The Lowdown on Sweet?

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The Lowdown on Sweet?

February 12, 2006, New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/12/business/yourmoney/12sweet.html

When Dr. Morando Soffritti...saw the results of his

team's seven-year study on aspartame, he knew he was

about to be injected into a bitter controversy over

this sweetener. Aspartame is sold under the brand

names Nutra-Sweet and Equal and is found in such

popular products as Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi, Diet

Snapple and Sugar Free Kool-Aid. Hundreds of millions

of people consume it worldwide. Dr.

Soffritti...oversees 180 scientists and researchers in

30 countries. Dr. Soffritti's study concluded...that

the sweetener was associated with unusually high rates

of lymphomas, leukemias and other cancers. The

study...involved 1,900 laboratory rats and cost $1

million. Soffritti said he was inspired to look at

aspartame because of what he calls " inadequacies " in

the cancer studies done by Searle in the 1970's.

Others have also challenged Searle's studies. Years

before the F.D.A. approved aspartame, the agency had

serious concerns about the accuracy and credibility of

Searle's aspartame studies. From 1977 to 1985 — during

much of the approval process — Searle was headed by

H. Rumsfeld, who is now the secretary of

defense. Searle was acquired by Monsanto in 1985. Dr.

Soffritti said...more research and open debate were

needed on whether aspartame was a carcinogen. " It is

very important to have scientists who are independent

and not funded by industry looking at this. "

Note: If you want to understand the influence of big

money on your health, this article is well worth

reading. Our Health Information Center at

http://www.WantToKnow.info/healthinformation has lots

more.

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