There are deadly chemicals widely available in unlimited amounts in food products – including foods that are specifically aimed at children.

We have often heard that artificial sweeteners and certain food additives such as monosodium glutamate (MSG) are bad for our health but has much of this information actually made a difference as to how our children are being fed by their own parents and their schools? I would say not as there isn’t a day that goes by that I do not see otherwise caring Mums feeding their children sugar-free drinks and MSG-loaded crisps and snacks.

As I am sure many of you are already aware, there are deadly chemicals widely available in unlimited amounts (in most countries) in food products – including foods that are specifically aimed at children. More importantly these products are widely used by playgroups, parents, schools, and nurseries under the false belief that it is actually good for the children. The last part of that sentence is where the real concern lays. Parents, teachers, and catering staff are all thinking that they are doing the right thing and giving the children what they understand to be the best for them.

And the reasoning behind this is simple. There is so much bad publicity about sugar – so much so that consumers are completely scared away from sugared products, and quite rightly so as sugar is toxic to us. However, clever mass-marketing by huge corporations has taken advantage of this and pointed everyone in the direction of artificially sweetened products using sweeteners that they manufacture rather than letting people naturally choose healthier products such as pure juices and natural squashes/cordials. It is so unfortunate that people (including many healthcare professionals) believe this fallacy, and continue to do so with such conviction that no one can seem to get through to them at all. But what they are doing is believing the car salesman when he tells them the car he is selling is mechanically sound – without asking an unbiased mechanic to clarify this. And to make matters worse, they are doing this with their own health and the health of their children!

When I try to advise people of the dangers, the usual response is “If it were that bad, they wouldn’t allow it in our food in the first place.” But this, too, is a fallacy. Just because something was once “approved” does not make it right, especially when new evidence has been discovered since the approval of these substances – even smoking was once approved and even considered to be healthy! And furthermore, many were approved in “suspicious” circumstances in the first place – we will look at how aspartame became approved in just such a fashion a little later.

No Artificial Sweetener Is Safe

The fact of the matter is there is (to date) no artificial sweetener that has actually been proven to be safe to consume. In fact, many have been proven to cause tumors and cancer with prolonged usage. Small quantities of these additives used in controlled amounts may be considered safe by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but the fact that sweeteners are now included in the ingredients of so many foods, including prescribed medicines, health foods, and drinks – even those with sugar in them – means that it can accumulate in our system and build up to levels that will be harmful, especially to children, pregnant and nursing mothers, the elderly, and those with compromised immunity.

Sucralose has been linked to obesity, aborted pregnancies, anaemia, increased sugar cravings, digestive problems/conditions, migraines, and seizures. Acesulfame K has been linked to kidney tumors, and is usually found alongside another sweetener as part of a toxic sweetener blend. However, the most dangerous sweetener of all and the one to be concentrated on here is Aspartame.

And Aspartame May Be the Worst

To first understand why Aspartame is on the market and in our foods, it is necessary to understand how it got there in the first place. It was discovered by accident in 1965 when James Schlatter, a chemist of G.D. Searle Company, was testing an anti-ulcer drug. In 1981, aspartame was approved by the FDA for dry goods; this was followed in 1983 when with its approval for carbonated beverages.

Originally, it was approved for dry goods on July 26, 1974; but neuroscience researcher Dr. John W. Olney and consumer attorney James Turner filed objections in August 1974. This combined with government investigations into G.D. Searle’s research practices caused the FDA to put the approval of aspartame on hold on December 5, 1974. The day after Ronald Reagan’s inauguration (January 21, 1981), Donald Rumsfeld, the CEO of Searle and the main financier to Ronald Reagan’s election campaign, re-applied to the FDA for approval to use Aspartame as a food sweetener. Reagan’s new FDA commissioner, Arthur Hayes Hull, Jr., saw that it became approved. In 1985, Monsanto purchased G.D. Searle and made Searle Pharmaceuticals and The NutraSweet Company separate subsidiaries.

Aspartame is made of 3 ingredients: 50% Phenylalanine + 40% Aspartic Acid + 10% Methanol = Aspartame. Let’s look at these ingredients more closely.

Phenylalanine – Phenylalanine is an amino acid normally found in the brain. Consuming phenylalanine is particularly dangerous for anyone with the genetic disorder phenylketonuria (PKU) as they cannot metabolize it. This leads to dangerously high levels in the brain, which sometimes prove to be fatal and is the reason why products with aspartame must include on their labels the warning “contains a source of phenylalanine.” Consuming Aspartame, especially with carbohydrates, has been shown by human studies to lead to excess levels of phenylalanine in the brain even in people who do not have PKU; and, furthermore, these levels were found to be relative to how much Aspartame had been consumed over time. These excessive levels of phenylalanine in the brain have been shown to decrease the levels of serotonin in the brain, leading to emotional disorders such as depression.

Aspartic Acid – Aspartic acid is an excitotoxin. Dr. Russell L. Blaylock, a professor of neurosurgery at the Medical University of Mississippi, shows in his book Excitotoxins – The Taste That Kills that the neuro-toxic potential of substances such as MSG and aspartame is so overwhelming that it can no longer be ignored. Excitotoxins are substances added to foods and beverages that literally stimulate neurons to death, causing brain damage of varying degrees. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of scientific studies and test results now available that show how excessive excitatory amino acids such as aspartic acid in our food supply are causing serious chronic neurological disorders and many other acute symptoms.

Methanol – Methanol/wood alcohol is a deadly poison and is the substance that has killed or blinded many alcoholics. During digestion the methyl group of Aspartame causes methanol to be released in the small intestine. This process is greatly sped up when Aspartame is heated above 30oC, which can happen either through cooking, putting it in hot beverages, or incorrect storage. In addition, animal testing of methanol (or therefore Aspartame) cannot be an accurate indication of its effect on humans as humans lack some key enzymes, so we are many times more sensitive to the toxic effects of methanol than animals.

So we can deduce from this that: 50% Phenylalanine + 40% Aspartic Acid + 10% Methanol = 100% toxic!

Additionally, many believe that when we metabolize Aspartame, DKP (Diketopiperazine) is produced and this has been linked to reoccurring brain tumors. Although it has not absolutely been determined that DKP is produced after Aspartame ingestion, it is true that DKP is formed in Aspartame containing liquids during prolonged storage.

Numerous Adverse Events

It may not be a surprise to you after reading this information that Aspartame accounts for over 75% of the adverse reactions to food additives reported to the FDA. Many of these 92 documented reactions are very serious including seizures, tumors, and death, with many common childhood problems such as ADHD symptoms, sleep problems, and lack of concentration also being associated with Aspartame consumption.

Additionally, according to researchers and physicians studying the adverse effects of aspartame, the following chronic illnesses can be triggered or worsened by its ingestion: Brain tumors, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, chronic fatigue syndrome, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, mental retardation, lymphoma, birth defects, fibromyalgia, ADHD, ADD and diabetes.

Additives by law must either be inert or non-reactive. Inert products do not produce a list of 92 documented symptoms from four types of seizures to coma and death, nor necessitate a 1038-page medical text. (Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic, by H. J. Roberts, M.D.) Nor would consumers using this product need to be detoxed, as set forth in “What To Do If You Have Used Aspartame” by neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock, M.D.

With the backing of such a large and powerful (and corrupt) corporation such as Monsanto, there is little we can do to take this dangerous substance off the market in the short term and it is unrealistic for anyone to think that it will happen quickly. However, what we can do is spread awareness to people so they can decide whether to keep buying and feeding this to themselves and their families. The more that these items are left on the shelves of supermarkets, unpurchased and approaching their expiration dates, the better the message will get through that we do not want to have this poison in our food chain, and maybe we will have long-term victory after all!

We have launched a campaign to get sweetened products out of our schools which it is very easy to take action and get involved with (5 minutes of your time and the cost of a stamp and printing out a few pages) and another is planned to raise awareness about the many dangers in consuming harmful additives, especially artificial sweeteners. More information can be found in the campaigns tab.

Based upon a chapter in Holistic Well-being: A Paradigm Shift bu Danielle Bryant