Brilliant. But how long must we be subjected to poisons authorised by the State? Or is it a Grand Design by some terrorist group to have their wicked way with us? It is certainly worthy of a James Bond movie on deception and double deception by Governments, the FDA, and Big Corporate where Profit is King, and if necessary, lets invest in funeral parlours to get a double whammy!!

wow, I have been using artificial sweetner for 3 months and in this time I have developed anxiety and heart palpatations. I had no idea this was possible the cause. I will think twice before using it again.

Chees has probably caused more deaths and adverse reactions. This is just scare mongering against a product that has been safe for decades.

Being in the health business, we were introduced to a young man in a wheel chair. His wife and friends watched as his body began deteriorating which led to the wheel chair. He switched from the diet soda to more healthful beverages & foods to which we guided him; soon he was relieved of the chair and was able to walk a mile ! Drs. had diagnosed with MS. Thank you Food Matters,it is important to keep this information before the public.

Yep it's in Coke Zero - Sweetener 951 (aka Aspartame). Here is the full list for those who are interested:

Carbonated water
Colour (150d) - aka "Sulphite Ammonia Caramel"
... See More
Food acid 338 - aka "Phosphoric Acid" (Also used for rust removal!)

Food acid 331 - aka "Sodium Citrates" (Also used in photography and as an anticoagulant of blood stored for transfusion!)

Flavour

Sweetener 951 - aka "Asapartame" (According to the US FDA, "the [National Cancer Institute] currently is studying aspartame and other dietary factors as part of a larger study of adult brain cancer." You might want to wait for the results before you drink it. Also, avoid this one if you're moody!)

Sweetener 950 - aka "Acesulfame Potassium" (Looking for reasons to avoid this sweetener? http://www.cspinet.org/foodsafety/additives_acesulfame.html...)

Preservative 211 - aka "Sodium Benzoate" (Undiluted this stuff isn't too bad... Just don't let it touch your skin! http://www.tradezone.com/tradesites/sodiumbenzoate.html)

Caffeine

Practice this catchy line and impress your friends...

"I'll have a glass of carbonated water with Sulphite Ammonia Caramel, Phosphoric Acid, Sodium Citrates, Aspartame, Acesulfame Potassium, Sodium Benzoate, flavour and caffeine please. I'm on a health kick."

Thanks for this important information! I have passed it on to my clients who are still, unfortunately addicted to diet products~ thank you for the great work!

Anything that is artificially made one has to be wary off in my opinion.
I do have a habit of reading most labels on food packaging before I buy it and if has aspartame in it I put it back.

Anonymous commented on 28-Apr-2010 08:54 PM5 out of 5 stars
Chees has probably caused more deaths and adverse reactions. This is just scare mongering against a product that has been safe for decades.
==================
Wow! don't you wish you could spell 'cheese'

I am astounded on the ignorance and trust people put into the FDA and the manufacturers who are whores just trying to increase profits. This is just business people! Do you honestly think either the FDA or Mansanto has YOUR health in their priority list?

I noticed that Aspartame's most recent renaming of itself, "Aminosweet", was excluded. Just thought it important your readers know this name for it, as well.

Monsanto is one of the richest, most powerful, and dangerous corporations in the world. Do your research and you will see. It's lobby in Washington is continually twisting gov't arms to get what it wants in all legislation. Why do you think the FDA removed all restrictions on Aspartame? Monsanto is trying to control world food supply in other countries, but unlike the U.S. some are pushing back, still trying to use their own seeds. Monsanto controls the seeds planted here on factory farms, and the many genetically altered ingredients fed to animals and in our vegetables and grains, and in the processed foods we eat. Aspartame is only one of the many harmful foods they are forcing on us to make a profit at any cost. We can only battle this giant by eating whole fresh ORGANIC food and supporting local organic farmers, and stop buying food from Monsanto supplied super farms. The organic revolution is in progress, and for our health and for our children, we must be part of it!

Of course not, Monsanto has one priority: money.

Couldn't have said it better myself, Karen!

Whenever I consume something with aspartame, I get this weird feeling in my head, something I called 'fuzzy headaches.' As soon as I stopped drinking diet sodas, my mind was clear once again. Thanks for posting this info.

I had been drinking soda 3 times a day. Diet and then a product with Splenda. I take pro-biotics and the article mentioned in tests that the natural flora has affected/destroyed by reaction with this product. I had needed a solid reason to change my habits in drinking soda-I noticed the corpulence in my face disappear as a result and it is now the keystone of my health program.

This makes me sad for the future of the United States, the health of our children, our future. But I do truly believe that getting the word out about these things can change this course. People are wising up and buying organic and eating naturally, but I'm constantly amazed in conversations with people who have never considered that what we are being fed could be harmful. We simply trust that if it's being sold in the store it must be ok. Question everything.

I also get fuzzy headaches and red patches on my face after consuming anything with artificial sweeteners.

damn it i love coke zero

well The love of money can be a cause of all kinds of ‘injurious things,Because of love of money and greed, many people are not satisfy with what they earn and what they have. They want more and more — they want wealth, to be rich, to be millionaires, billionaires . by looking into the above matter of Aspartame i thing we should pass the information to as many people as possible through various channels of communication so that people takes right decision in there life to be better.thank you food matters

Is there an alternative to Diet Coke with aspartame and Diet Coke without aspartame? I just love Diet Coke and consume a lot of it every day, and I have quite severe depression. I'm wondering what I can do as I can't drink regular Coke because I can't have weight gain. They really should come up with an alternative for those of us who don't want to consume aspartame!

Laurie - I love diet coke too and don't want to give it up. I have been cutting way back lately and in it's place I've been drinking sparkling water with a splash of cranberry juice. Yes, there are some calories but not like a regular soda. And it's good for you! You can substitute any juice. 3 parts sparkling water and 1 part 100% pure juice. That's what I plan on doing.

I'm addicted to diet coke. It's not the caffeine either. I drink caffeine free diet coke. I also have depression and arthritis. I wonder if I do the sparkling water/juice thing for a month if I'll see a difference in how I feel. I'm up for the challenge!

Some Adults should be adults for once & take control of their own lives. Stop living in this fantasy world. The government is not here to help you. They just want to make so called no-value money. There are 2 types of citizens. It's those who are apart of the govt world & us regular citizens. Your just a number to the government. It's been said for decades. Have faith, eat healthy, and live a long, happy, and healthy life. And please stop using God for an excuse to live a careless life.

MONSANTO saw the $$$$$ involved, they really don't seem to care about the health + welfare of human health its all about the dollars.
ALL ABOUT THE DOLLARS!!!

I don't know why ANYBODY drinks coke, diet coke, or any carbonated soft drink. And that is just for starters, as they use it to wash down processed and fat laden fast food. It's just sad to see how people treat their bodies, and doubly sad when you see them doing it to their children. When will people wake up?

Hay Chucky Krishna, love the way you think!

Hello from the land down under

Thanks for the article!

My mother died of motor neuron disease 15 years ago and still to this day, no one is closer to knowing what causes it. She was just 37 years old.

I always had a sneaking suspicion that it was from the copious amounts of Equal she would put in her cup of teas every day. Copious amounts being 5 teas with 4/5 equals in each cup, each day.....

It still makes me shiver of the thought of just what that was doing to her body!

I chew lots of gum and have recently been diagnosed with Parkinsons like symptoms... I wonder if they are related?

This is all true and thanks for getting the word out. But, lately I have noticed that they are putting sucralose and Ace k in everything, especially sucralose. E.g., over the counter things like cough and cold meds and pedialyte. My daughter bought Karo syrup to make divinity or something and it had sucralose in it. I have been searching for the conspiracy explanation but have not found anything on the web except someone told me sucralose is being added as a "preservative". I know there is some evidence that sucralose suppresses the thymus gland which produces the T-cells for the immune system, and there are many assaults nowadays on the population's immune system with the food industry, vaccines and drugs. I think it is part of the agenda to reduce the global population. Anybody know anything about this?

Not that refined & processed white sugar is much better. Best option is to stick to as whole and raw a food as possible. eg. Honey, Maple Syrup, etc.

hey,

stevia is a natural sweetener that is worth checking into for anyone interested in natural zero calorie sweetness. many different forms, powder, liquid, natural flavours, and whole leaf.

also peeps, you don't need to count calories if you are eating a BALANCED whole food died filled with raw fruits and veggies. your health will love you for this......GET ORGANIC and LOCAL..........lots of farmers markets around.

I found that drinking diet Coke causes me to have huge cravings for sweet and salt. Try staying away from it for a couple of weeks and then and one. I was shocked! Just one more reason to avoid it! Yes, I was addicted, too - so not worth it!

Probably the best thing anyone can do for their health is to give up ALL carbonated drinks. Aspartame isn't the only thing in their that is bad for us. Drink fresh fruit juices and or natural teas. Better yet, plain water. Your body will thank you for it.

Something to drink with no calories or caffeine that doesn't contain these poisons? WATER!!!!

I cut out aspartame several years ago! My husband thought I was crazy, but he did start buying soda with Splenda (but I DON'T use Splenda, either - or drink soda)

To the "Anonymous" comment on April 29 about chewing lots of gum and being recently diagnosed with Parkinsons. I don't chew any gum any more. They even have artificial sweetener in Wrigleys DoubleMint gum and that's the oldest known gum to me - chewed it back in the lte 60's. I wish I had an old package of it laying around - then I could see if they just used regular sugar. Infact, why can't they just use regular sugar? Therefore, I no longer chew any gum - they ALL have artificial sweeteners in them.

To the person who wrote about chewing lots of gum, I have a similar "habit" and I recently went to a raw foods workshop and the presenter told us about a store in New Westminster, British Columbia called "Karmavore" that sells all natural gum that's actually good for you (it has B vitamins in it), I've recently tried the spearmint flavour and the bubblegum flavour...both taste quite good and last long enough. You could google them at www.karmavore.ca

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I'm so glad to hear the details on this. I knew it was bad....just didn't know how bad. It is a shame that profit shares win over our health and wellness! I took this out of my family's diet 12 years ago. And I tell everyone I know about it and the dangers. Any ingredients that grandparents didn't have in their foods, we need to watch out for.

We hear so much about the evils of the internet, but this kind of exposure to such a huge evil is going to eventually inform those people who are open minded enough to seek the truth of what is being done to them for the sake of the sacred dollar.
It happened with the tobacco giants, and the asbestos peddlers. Hopefully the net will bring these criminals to account a lot sooner.

After reading through all the comments, I just want to say I am so proud of everyone who is realizing what is happening to our food supply and attempting to change their lifestyle for the better. I was born in 1947, was raised on what they now call an "organic farm" and now know how lucky we all were back then. There are just too many harmful food additives in processed foods so please, please be mindful of that and I HOPE that future generations will appreciate your efforts.

I always thought aspartame tasted so strange. I can taste it right away, especially in yogurt. I get migraines and for several years was trying to see if artificial additives had any correlation. I don't believe they do, but it made me develop a negative association with all artificial sweeteners. Better safe than sorry.

My boyfriend has cut his "addiction" to Coke by about 90% by switching to iced tea. You can try making iced tea (peach, raspberry, etc.) at home. When you add sugar yourself, you know what you are adding and how much.

There should be more public speaking on this through all forms of Media. A special 60 minute should be dedicated to this subject. If people are warned directly and are made aware which products have it then they can avoid buying it and force these products off the market shelves.

When there is no demand for it, it will have to go.

thank yuo for this video

I can't remember exactly the problems I've had from Aspartame and Phenylalanine when used as artificial sweetners but one thing I remember very clearly apart from the taste was the extreme irritation that I got in my bladder and the subsequent frequency and urgency. I h become aware that there were certain foods that were a problem for me and then I became aware that phenylalanine was in the drinking chocolate that all the cafes put on Cappucino's. Ask the cafe not to use it and no problems, I also noted when given some equal chewing gum the same thing happened.
I have actually had to remove all possible sources of artificial additives and preservatives and coulr, flavours etc. I used to have active MS in the 1990's but now it hasn't been active in 12 years. These things irritate the nerve endings and cause all sorts of irritable sensations in my feet, ankles and legs and I don't get the headaches these day.

That's. A great article and very eye opening and confirming. What about the other sweeteners? Can we get a writing about them as well? Are any of them safer? How about AceK or Stevia? Please inform.

I have given up aspartame it gave me seizures. I was actually hospitalized from it . I became paralyzed from the waist down due to overconsumption of aspartame which the doctors originally thought was multiple sclerosis.

I am drinking about 2-3 a day. I after drinking one I get the absolute freezing shivers. I am so cold, and get goose bumps all over my arms and neck. I'm up for trying to stop, but wondering if anyone else has come across this? It isn't that I'm drinking something cold. I also drink 3 litres of cold water a day and it doesn't have any negative effect like the diet coke does...

So dont consume it. Bunch of babies. What happened to personal responsibility? The government isn't there to hold your hand everyday. If people didn't buy it it would go away.

Several years ago I began drinking Diet Pepsi which contained aspartame. I could not figure out what caused digestive problems so severe that I was up all night in the bathroom and almost could not leave the house. Finally I was diagnoised with colon cancer which spread to the liver. I had surgery and the doctor told me that I would not recover. I asked what I could do to help myself. There were no answers from conventional doctors so I turned to alternative medicine and completely changed my life. I learned that MSG & aspartame were in practically everything we consume from the grocery store.
Look up adverse reactions to MSG.
It is usually listed as Natural Flavor or Natural Flavorings although it has many different names to hide what it really is.
I know now that MSG and aspartame caused my colon cancer indirectly because the reactions to them wrecked my digestive system. These products affect people in different ways as is stated in the article. Even if you do not have symptoms it is still causing negative reactions on your body which will surface sooner or later.

I started eating only organic food, used stevia instead of sugar,
ate nothing prepared and began to study alternative medicine. I slowly recovered but it took a year and I still cannot consume anything with aspartame or MSG or anything that has chemicals in it.
Aspartame and MSG are poisons and should not be consumed.

Sodium Benzoate is banned in most of Europe and causes hyperactivity in children. When my kids drink soda, very rare at all and even then it is the organic stuff , it is Coke because Coke is the only regular soda that doesn't contain Sodium Benzoate.

We must truly take control of our health! Don't eat processed foods, eat whole food, eat fruits and vegetables, support our local farmer and protect our food!

I am continually amazed by the level of emotion regarding aspartame --- unlinked from credible research. Although the author of this article alludes to "studies", no current research is referenced. In my persoanl experience, the research on aspartame is very difficult to find. Considering the longstanding controversay around Nutrasweet, the absence of information in interesting in itself.

However, I do believe that work done by S. Swithers are Purdue is relevant. If you work your way through the technical verbage, you will learn that non-nutritive sweeteners (including aspartame and stevia) stimulate physiologic and hormonal responses in our bodies which actually increase appetite while concurrently slowing metabolism. The result is increased weight gain. "Diet" drinks are actually "weight gain" drinks.

It appears as though this happens because our bodies only know what they have been programmed to do over the millennia of our evolution. Therefore, when a person puts something sweet in their mouth, at that moment, the body does not know whether the material is natural or artificial / nutritive or non-nutritive. But, in preparation for needing to digest something sweet, the pancreas starts producing insulin. However, if the sweet thing is non-nutritive, there is nothing for the insulin to act upon. Therefore, the body has excess insulin floating around. There is no change in blood sugar because the sweetener is non-nutritive (zero glycemic index). However, there is a significant insulin response.

If a person routinely consumes non-nutritive sweeteners, they are periodically flooding the body with excess insulin. Assuming that there are no other nutritive sugars to digest, the body becomes desensitized to the insulin (insulin intolerant) --- not a good thing for type 2 diabetics. (If fact it is a great way to increase your risk of becoming a Type 2 diabetic.) Since the non-nutritive sweetener can not drive an increase in blood sugar to meet the body’s desire for energy and satiety, people usually reach for potato chips to satisfy their hunger. Chips contain starches which are rapidly converted to simple sugars which quickly lead to a blood sugar increase. Since a person may now have consumed more calories than they needed, the excess energy gets eventually stored as fat (excess insulin also increases ease with which fat cells store fat). Have you ever noticed that diabetics who studiously use non-nutritive sweeteners don’t lose weight on a sustained basis? --- in fact they often gain weight.

This means that any non-nutritive sweetener (natural or artificial) is probably not good for us. Neither aspartame nor stevia represent the best way to sweeten our foods. We would be much better off consuming very modest levels of real sugar (from cane, beet, honey, fruit, etc.) with decent levels of fiber (to slow down digestion and moderate the blood sugar response). Moderation is key --- both zero glycemic and high glycemic sweeteners are not in our healthy best interests.

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I've spent some time reading these comments... and what occurs to me is that first of all, governments and chemical companies, who do not have our best interest at heart, are making negative health decisions for us that will affect THEIR children, grandchildren, etc. and they are not seeing that they are killing their own future in the pursuit of the almighty dollar. Second of all, why is it that the person who disagrees with the majority of people on this site and thinks artificial sweeteners are ok, can't even leave their name? Sounds fishy too... I appreciate that this site is up and running, I hope many more see it and are warned by it!

I have a hard time swallowing the fact that the FDA is trying to stop natural health products from being on the store shelves, however, given enough lobbying and bribes, they will allow products like Aspertame to continue to occupy space on our grocery store shelf, causing ongoing damage to millions of men, women, and children

I had Crohn's type symptoms and had an appointment to go for all the testing...I thought I would stop drinking Diet Pepsi and all other aspartame products- guess what? symptoms all gone

They will get you somewhere because a lot of their bases are covered! Dont forget about flouridation of water!

I like where the woman said after 9 cans of diet coke a day for several years she started to get a twitch. I'd get a twitch after one day of drinking that much caffeine!!

It is usually listed as Natural Flavor or Natural Flavorings although it has many different names to hide what it really is. I know now that MSG and aspartame caused my colon cancer indirectly because the reactions to them wrecked my digestive system. These products affect people in different ways as is stated in the article. Even if you do not have symptoms it is still causing negative reactions on your body which will surface sooner or later.

There's a good article about Stevia on Wikipedia. Stevia is actually GOOD for you. And its not chlorinated like Splenda. I gave up aspartame years ago but my friend gave me an energy drink mix recently that had it in there and I got a urinary tract infection from it. Never again!

I have gained weight since I started drinking diet sodas. I now have high bllod pressure and heart palpatations. I am gonna quit!

Are the ingredients in Splenda as harmful? Just switched to it. May have to go to Stevia, the expense is the draw back. Of course anything that is NOT HARMFUL is monetarilly out of reach for most people. In this sever economic time it is a MAJOR challenge.
ED: Hi there - we don't recommend Splenda, sucrolose is chlorinated sugar/altered sugar - far removed from it's natural state. Stevia is a dried herb with nothing else done to it - go with Stevia, raw honey, maple or agave! Jess @ Food Matters

I been drinking diet soda for the last year and a half . Only for lunch and somethimes after end of shift thinking is better than regular, I never feel weird or anyhing but maybe I should reconsider plain water more often

My stepmother used to drink Diet Coke like it was water every single day. First she started complaining of headaches, then had a seizure in November and was diagnosed with brain cancer. She died 4 months later. SHE WAS 38 YEARS OLD. After hearing all the
research on aspartame, I am now convinced that it is what killed my stepmom. Stay away from aspartame!!!!