Veil of Fire

I found this article (my grandmother sent it to me, actually) about the 'dangers' of nutrasweet... but I'm highly skeptical of the source, and some of the claims made in the article. Should I be worried, or is this just another 'the sky is falling!' person using faulty studies?

<a href="http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/wright.txt" target="_blank">http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/wright.txt</a>

Secular Pinoy

<a href="http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blasp.htm" target="_blank">http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blasp.htm</a>
and
<a href="http://www.snopes.com/toxins/aspartam.htm" target="_blank">http://www.snopes.com/toxins/aspartam.htm</a>

It's an evil hoax by wackos. They're as messed-up as HIV=&gt;AIDS deniers.

Mad Kally

That hoax is kind of funny!

theyeti

From the link:

While these people are obviously exaggerating, and are obviously paranoid, there is actually some truth to these claims. First of all, there is one mole of methanol produced for every mole of aspartame digested by your body. The reason is that the two amino acids that make up aspartame are connected by a diester bond, rather than a peptide bond (IIRC). This is apparently necessary in the manufacturing process. However, the amount of aspartame used in food is so small that the methanol exposure is inconsequential. Aspartame is several hundred times as sweet as sugar, so only a tiny amount is present in those little blue packets. I wouldn't use it to make cakes or anything though.

Secondly, aspartame will break down at high temperatures. This will include the release of methanol, and perhaps worse, the loss of sweetness. It's should only be used for cold beverages, not coffee.

theyeti

freemonkey

I can't use the stuff. It's been years since I last tried it, but I remember it giving me headaches, left me feeling woozy & left a NASTY aftertaste that I never got used to.

Boro Nut

Yeah, that's Budweiser all right!

Boro Nut

Cipher Girl

Actually I heard a weird story about nutrasweet. A friend of mine who used to fly C5's has a friend who had to stop flying due to tremors and tingly feelings on his skin. He was grounded and the doctors said that he had mild epilepsey, cause unknown. A couple of years later he stopped drinking diet drinks and the symtoms stopped. Unfortunately he was unable to get back to flying.

Arrowman

Ciphergirl: I don't think your story is necessarily that "weird". People can suffer allergic reactions to a variety of foods and chemicals - even peanuts! to the point where many food products are now labelled "caution: may contain [traces of] peanuts". Your friend may have suffered an allergic reaction, perhaps a mild form of Phenylketonuria or somesuch.

Arrowman

Well, this is a blast from the past for me! So I'll say a bit on this subject...

A few years ago my first real message board involvement was on this site: <a href="http://www.aspartamekills.com/" target="_blank">Aspartame Kills!!!</a>(the message board is now defunct). I had no particular personal reason for fixing on the aspartame thing; it just caught my eye and I got sucked in to a vortex of debate with one or two of the regulars on that board. I was fortunate to be there at the same time as <a href="http://doesaspartamekill.iwarp.com/" target="_blank">Mark and Matt Lowry</a> a paediatrician and his brother, who have taken it on themselves to campaign against the anti-aspartame hysteria.

The Aspartame thing is a classic example of the weird belief / conspiracy theory which could be used as a case study in Hogwart's School for Young Skeptics. On the web sites and in their message board communication they exhibit all the classic symptoms:

Use of anecdote as evidence This is done openly and even proudly. One of my chief antagonists on the message board actually defended this practice and claimed that anonymous message board postings from people who said "I drink Mountain Dew and I have heart palpitations" are evidence of the damaging effects of Aspartame; he refused to even acknowledge the possibility that these anecdotes might be misleading or poor evidence. My one anecdote (I drink diet soft drinks and have never had symptoms) was trumped by his hundreds; that was pretty much exactly how he put it.

Decrying any rebuttal from mainstream medicine / science as "conspiracy theory" or "paid for" I was accused many times of being in the pay of Monsanto or somesuch.

Hyperbolae and hysteria / fear mongering: Just look at the "Aspartame Kills" website linked above. It's like they just can't help presenting themselves in a way which minimises credibility! Note also that Aspartame is claimed to be responsible for not just one or two, but nearly 100 symptoms and diseases; everything from dizziness to Multiple Sclerosis. Oh, and not forgetting, death!!!!

Deception and Distortion of the Facts: See my comments on the "FDA List" below.

Can Aspartame cause problems for some people? Probably. People can be allergic to the oddest things - even peanuts. <a href="http://www.aspartame.net/media/info/faq16.html" target="_blank">Phenylketonurics</a> are advised not to consume aspartame. But that doesn't provide support for the notion that Aspartame is widely "toxic".

The problems with the anti-aspartame crowd are so many and so obvious that I won't go on (although, Veil, if I find time I might have a crack at critiquing the article you cite). I'll just tell two stories which immediately come to mind:

You're A Lucky One: In the course of discussion about anecdotal evidence, I referred to an anecdote on the board from someone who claimed their health and wellbeing had improved since they gave up their 2-litre-a-day Mountain Dew habit. I pointed out that people who drink 2 litres a day of Mountain Dew would very likely have some other serious shortcomings in their diet and exercise habits, which can show up very quickly and in some cases recede within days of changing the habit. I said that I had many times been through periods of poor diet and exercise, including consumption of a lot of diet soft drinks, and that in my experience drinking that much soft drink of any kind would very likely lead to feelings of being "bloated" etc (yes, this was among the symptoms the woman in question cited! Well, duh!). I also said that a couple of pasta and salad meals, along with a quick burn on the exercise bike, tended to turn things around in a couple of days; the soft drink was purely coincidental.

His response? "Well, if that's true, you're one of the lucky ones!"

The FDA List: This is a classic example of distortion and deception. You will note that the "Aspartame Kills" site refers to an <a href="http://www.aspartamekills.com/symptoms.htm" target="_blank">"FDA List"</a> (and you will see this list referred to obliquely about 3 questions in to the article cited by Veil)
Now, it looks very impressive - the FDA has a list of 100 or so known symptoms, reported to their Adverse Reaction Monitoring System, and they still refuse to act!!!!

Now look again. The list includes gems such as "Can't think straight" and even "Death". Were these "adverse reactions" reported by doctors? No - they were reported by individuals. And the FDA is duty bound to record them. So they do. And, sadly, the fact that the FDA records these anecdotes at all, is used as evidence that the anecdotes have credibility.

I'm sure NASA has filing cabinets full of people claiming to have evidence that the moon landings were faked. Doesn't make it real.

Well, enough for now.

Arrowman
Who still drinks Diet Coke, even if he does have trouble thinking straight.

[ August 20, 2002: Message edited by: Arrowman ]</p>

clark

Great info, Arrowman. The same folks that claim aspartame is fatal also claim that milk is poison, water fluoridation is part of a conspiracy, and amalgam fillings are toxic. They all use anecdotes in lieu of real scientific evidence and the other strategies you list.

THOUGHTfully Yours,
Clark Adams (who drinks about 3 liters of Diet Coke a day)

[ August 21, 2002: Message edited by: clark ]</p>