Aspartame changes name to AminoSweet

Ajinomoto Sweeteners Europe has issued legal proceedings for defamation (malicious falsehood) against ASDA Stores Limited, who have chosen to describe aspartame as a "nasty" on a wide range of own-label products sold in the company's stores.

Ajinomoto is the leading supplier of aspartame, a low calorie sweetener that tastes like sugar and which enables people to reduce their calorie intake. Brand leaders in a range of product categories, including carbonated soft drinks, squashes, yogurts, hot chocolate and chewing gum are sweetened with aspartame.

Aspartame is a simple food ingredient made from amino acids, the building blocks of protein that occur widely in our diet, including in eggs, meat, fish, cheese and milk. When we consume aspartame, it is broken down in the digestive system to tiny amounts of common dietary components. It is therefore absurd that ASDA should refer to aspartame as a "nasty".

Products sweetened with aspartame help people to control their weight. At a time when the health profession and the government are seeking ways to combat overweight and obesity, it is unconscionable that ASDA should try to vilify a safe and beneficial food ingredient.
www.aminosweet.info...

I'm having alot of trouble finding if this is true, searches give alot of contests to rename aspartame but I'm not finding much information on it changing to AminoSweet.

Can anyone provide help?
Thanks

Starred and flagged. This one needs to go out far and wide.

It looks to me as though the article were written by a PR company for the producers of aspartame.

Companies facing "tough questions" about their products often pay huge sums of money to PR companies to produce articles and news items that provide a positive slant to an issue. Often this helps to deflect any negative questions/comments/problems.

We need to make sure that we are warning our friends and loved ones about this one.

Here are a few links which may be relevant to the OP.
To get them, I just Googled 'Aspartame problems', and a whole list came up.
Hope they are of some use.
Cheers.

www.holisticmed.com...
www.sweetpoison.com...
www.dorway.com...

I don't normally post a ton of cited material as the crux of my post, but I am responding to the request from ModernAcadamia. I used the Search Terms "Aspertame Components" and Google returned many sources. It seems that Aspertame affects people with PKU (a congenital hereditary condition) and as well is somewhat of a seratonin blocker (which potentially makes this akin to pharmaceutical psychotropics!! This crap may be worse than fluoride!!)

As well, in the last link I provided...it turns out that Donald Rumsfeld was involved in the approval process during the Reagan Administration!!

I highly recommend the second to the last link for further reading as it shows some very interesting political manipulation regarding Aspertames road to FDA approval (and may even be worthy of its' own thread).

People who lack the enzyme to convert phenylalanine to tyrosine are not able to metabolize phenylalanine normally. This condition is called phenylketonuria, PKU, because excess phenylalanine is instead converted to phenylketones which appear in the urine. If it is not detected and treated, this condition can lead to mental retardation. This was the first genetic disease for which a routine screening test became available. Persons having this genetic defect must monitor their intake of phenylalanine. For this reason, products containing aspartame carry an information label for phenylketonurics.

Link

The methanol in aspartame is a free-form replica and laboratory grade of wood alcohol – and that’s toxic anyway you slice it. Methanol was a logical (and cheap) way to “attach” the phenylalanine and aspartic acid in aspartame. However, the methanol in aspartame is not natural and aspartame does not contain methanol’s counterpart, ethanol. (Methanol "denatures" ethanol.) Methanol is found in aspartame as a food ingredient, not a by-product of aspartame’s decomposition.

Aspartame, dark wines, and liquor provide similar levels of methanol. Methanol rapidly degrades into formaldehyde and formic acid.

Alcoholics can get a “fix” from the methanol in aspartame. Free-form laboratory methanol is no different from great-grandpa’s white lightening distilled in his barn. The methanol in aspartame is a laboratory concoction, no doubt, and one that is proven harmful to human health, especially in children and for fetuses.

Link

What Are The Toxic Breakdown Products of Aspertame?

Formaldehyde
Formic acid
Wood alcohol
Tyrosine
Dopamine
Norepinephrine
Epinephrine
Diketopiperazine (DKP)
Phenylethylamine
Phenylpyruvate
Phenylactic acid
Phenylacetic acid

Link

The chemicals in aspartame block normal serotonin production in the brain. Serotonin is the brain chemical made from tryptophan (outlawed in the USA by the FDA). Proper serotonin production during daylight hours stimulates the respective production of melatonin during the nighttime, which secures deep sleep.

In 1971, Mary Coleman, MD documented that the average concentrations of serotonin in the blood platelets of hyperactive children were lower than in children less active. Hyperactivity lessens as serotonin levels rise.

Serotonin levels are generally lower in depressed individuals than in those who are not. The body gets serotonin (and tryptophan) from a healthy diet. Aspartame suppresses serotonin, so a diet saturated with aspartame creates an environment for depression, sleep disorders, hyperactivity and sever mood swings.

FYI: The addition of vitamin B6 can help raise serotonin levels.

Link

And who knew that Donald Rumsfeld was involved in the approval process of Aspertame?

What followed were years of controversy. Early on, respected neuroscientist and researcher, Dr. John W. Olney, warned the manufacturer that oral intake of glutamate, aspartate and cysteine, the excitotoxic amino acids found in aspartame, cause brain damage in mice. His findings were confirmed by another researcher, Ann Reynolds, who was hired by G. D. Searle. (Claiming an oversight, G. D. Searle did not inform the FDA of this study until after the approval of aspartame.)

Petitions by Dr. Olney prompted an FDA investigation which found G.D. Searle’s testing procedures to be full of inaccurate results and manipulated test data. Following the investigation, a grand jury probe began, but was thwarted six months later when the lead U.S. Attorney assigned to the case, Samuel Skinner, suddenly resigned and accepted a position at the law firm representing G.D. Searle.

About this same time (1977) the battle weary G.D. Searle company sought to turn the situation around by appointing, as their new CEO, former Illinois congressman and Washington “insider” Donald Rumsfeld (most recently the former Secretary of Defense).

Although it took several years, Rumsfeld’s political pull, rather than the scientific evidence, eventually resulted in the approval of Aspartame—through his associations in Washington and with President Ronald Reagan.

Link

More to the topic, I find it interesting and very suggestive that they are working to change the name of aspertame. What a joke and clearly, in my opinion, a marketing effort to keep the sweetner viable for production (its' used implicitly by big name sodas etc.). I wouldn't be surprised to see this re-naming effort resultant of threats to pull contracts (Coca-Cola anyone?)...so the fact that the sweetner is a money maker can't really be disputed.

Folks need to be aware of the corporate and legal issues, in addition to the potential health issues (I thought you needed a prescription for seratonin blockers?) to see just how money drives the materials placed for our consumption.

Rename aspertame? I'll spread the new name just as fast as they can come up with it...

Edit to Fix The Last Link.

[edit on Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:04:00 -0600 by MemoryShock]

Originally posted by ModernAcademia

At a time when the health profession and the government are seeking ways to combat overweight and obesity, it is unconscionable that ASDA should try to vilify a safe and beneficial food ingredient.

They HAVE to be kidding, right?

Aspartame is POISON, as it breaks down in the body it leaves traces of Formaldehyde. A substance which CANNOT be absorbed by the body and builds up slowly over time.

Why do you think they use it for embalming?

A simple search here on ATS will reveal dozens of threads about it's dangers.

----------------------------------------------

From the previous ATS Thread Is Aspartame Dangerous:

Originally posted by silo13

Adverse reactions and side effects of aspartame include:

Eye
blindness in one or both eyes
decreased vision and/or other eye problems such as: blurring, bright flashes, squiggly lines, tunnel vision, decreased night vision
pain in one or both eyes
decreased tears
trouble with contact lenses
bulging eyes

Ear
tinnitus - ringing or buzzing sound
severe intolerance of noise
marked hearing impairment

Neurologic
epileptic seizures
headaches, migraines and (some severe)
dizziness, unsteadiness, both
confusion, memory loss, both
severe drowsiness and sleepiness
paresthesia or numbness of the limbs
severe slurring of speech
severe hyperactivity and restless legs
atypical facial pain
severe tremors

Psychological/Psychiatric
severe depression
irritability
aggression
anxiety
personality changes
insomnia
phobias

Chest
palpitations, tachycardia
shortness of breath
recent high blood pressure

Gastrointestinal
nausea
diarrhea, sometimes with blood in stools
abdominal pain
pain when swallowing

Skin and Allergies
itching without a rash
lip and mouth reactions
hives
aggravated respiratory allergies such as asthma

Endocrine and Metabolic
loss of control of diabetes
menstrual changes
marked thinning or loss of hair
marked weight loss
gradual weight gain
aggravated low blood sugar (hypoglycemia)
severe PMS

Other
frequency of voiding and burning during urination
excessive thirst, fluid retention, leg swelling, and bloating
increased susceptibility to infection

Additional Symptoms of Aspartame Toxicity include the most critical symptoms of all
death
irreversible brain damage
birth defects, including mental retardation
peptic ulcers
aspartame addiction and increased craving for sweets
hyperactivity in children
severe depression
aggressive behavior
suicidal tendencies

Aspartame may trigger, mimic, or cause the following illnesses:
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Epstein-Barr
Post-Polio Syndrome
Lyme Disease
Grave’s Disease
Meniere’s Disease
Alzheimer’s Disease
ALS
Epilepsy
Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
EMS
Hypothyroidism
Mercury sensitivity from Amalgam fillings
Fibromyalgia
Lupus
non-Hodgkins
Lymphoma
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)

Aspartame changes the ratio of amino acids in the blood, blocking or lowering the levels of serotonin, tyrosine, dopamine, norepinephrine, and adrenaline. Therefore, it is typical that aspartame symptoms cannot be detected in lab tests and on x-rays. Textbook disorders and diseases may actually be a toxic load as a result of aspartame poisoning.

Aspartame is the common denominator for over 92 different health symptoms at the root of modern disease. The Aspartame Detoxification Program demonstrates the most effective way to reverse disease symptoms is removing the underlying cause - aspartame.

source

"Safe and Beneficial food Ingredient"....my ass!

A quick search found these:

Main Aijnomoto Co Site

Aminosweet Information Service
(this one bugs me because it talks about the benefits to the environment but it doesn't take into account the negative effects on the environment in the shape of treatments needed from using Aspartame that use up natural resources)

Aspartame.info

[edit on 8/2/2010 by nerbot]

a low calorie sweetener that tastes like sugar

For 25% of the population that are super-tasters Aspartame does not taste like sugar.
It tastes horrible its not sweet at all. so bad you feel like vomiting


During the 1990's, enough data accumulated to confidently declare that approximately 25% of the American population are born 'super-tasters',


Also for people with fibromyalgia Aspartame may cause a increase in pain.

Also it can be dangerous If you are PKU (Phenylketonuric) or sensitive to phenylalanine, you will react to the phenylalanine in aspartame.

And no it does not cause Fibromyalgia Syndrome and symptoms of Fibromyalgia it just makes the symptoms worse.
www.snopes.com...

I have fibrimyalgia and have never been able to drink Aspartame because i am a super-taster.

Aspartame was not developed as a insecticide.
But because it has no calories or nutritional value many sweet eating insects will starve to death if they eat to much.
Sweet ants are great for being killed by Aspartame.

Another product which has been inundated by aspartame is chewing gum. Over the last 5 years, ALL major brands of chewing gum, whether they are promoted as "sugar-free" gum or not, have changed their formulations to include aspartame.

For example, all Wrigley's gums, Juicy Fruit®, DoubleMint®, etc. still contain sugar as a main ingredient, but now have aspartame or NutraSweet® as well. Bubbleicious® bubble gum also now has this poison in it. The original Bazooka Joe® and original Chiklets® gum do not. Yet.

I have a 12 year old mercury-poisoned son with a diagnosis of autism who uses chewing gum to help him mediate his sensory issues. It has become very difficult to find gum without this dangerous additive. So if you or your children chew gum, it is very important to READ THE LABEL on whatever you brand you buy, even if historically the brand did not have aspartame added.

Also, the use of aspartame as a "diet aid" is a fool's errand. One of the side effects of using aspartame is a craving for carbohydrates. So those that try to slim down drinking a diet soda will often gain weight over time as their bodies try to compensate for the sugar the brain believes it is consuming.

In my opinion, this is a subtle but visible blow against the public in the corporate attack on American children.

[edit on 2/8/10 by without_prejudice]

Originally posted by without_prejudice
For example, all Wrigley's gums, Juicy Fruit®, DoubleMint®, etc. still contain sugar as a main ingredient, but now have aspartame or NutraSweet® as well. Bubbleicious® bubble gum also now has this poison in it. The original Bazooka Joe® and original Chiklets® gum do not. Yet.

Thanks for the Info, I can't believe they did that to my juicy fruit

And thanks everone else for the great input, I gotta evade this ingredient like the plague!

Originally posted by without_prejudice
Another product which has been inundated by aspartame is chewing gum. Over the last 5 years, ALL major brands of chewing gum, whether they are promoted as "sugar-free" gum or not, have changed their formulations to include aspartame.

[edit on 2/8/10 by without_prejudice]

star for ya there. I think the chewing gums use it because of the longevity of the sweetness which backs up their claims of "long lasting flavor".

I always check the labels when my kids want to grab some gum at the local store to make sure it's free of this poison

[edit on 9-2-2010 by TXRabbit]

i mean this is riduculous someone out the has to be on our side ....wtf!

I have at least 1 pack of chewing gum every day, and at least 2 cans of Pepsi every day. I've been having products with Aspartame in for years and years, nothing has ever happened to me. Some people are just way too over the top. If it really was that bad, it wouldn't be in these products. Simple as.