Should We Use Nutrasweet And Other Artificial

Sweeteners Essay, Research Paper

Should We Use NutraSweet & Other Artificial Sweeteners.

Over the years there has been a huge “food fight” concerning the safety of NutraSweet and other artificial sweeteners. In the eyes of the consumer the safety of such products is questionable. In my opinion it isn’t safe to use products like this. Though many scientists and other health professionals claim it to be safe I still don’t trust these products.

In 1981 the little blue packets of NutraSweet appeared on our restaurant tables, and by 1983 NutraSweet was being widely used in diet sodas. But as soon as this wonder of nutritional science appeared on the scene, there was great controversy over its safety. A component in NutraSweet, and other artificial sweeteners like it, known as aspartame was an extremely questionable substance and still is. Unlike many additives, aspartame consists of two naturally occurring compounds, although in a way nature never intended.

The consumption of sugar and other caloric sweeteners has increased 20% in the U.S. since 1983. Though more people are avoiding table sugar (sucrose) they don’t realize how much sugar they consume in the form of dextrose and high fructose corn syrup, which manufacturers add to a wide range of packaged foods. Many such foods aren’t thought of as sweet: added sugars show up in soup, pasta, sauce, condiments, frozen dinners and bread. Research is inconclusive about whether artificial sweeteners, which can be hundreds of times sweeter than sugar, encourage a sweet tooth. The use of artificial sweeteners is the highest common denominator for women who gain weight. (Condor pg.3)

Studies of aspartame’s safety are based on little hard evidence. Since its approval aspartame has slowly but surely invaded the United State’s food supply. In 1996 it was approved for use in all foods, from soft drinks to chewing gum, and yogurts and frozen desserts.

Though aspartame has some pretty impressive backers and has been sanctioned by the World Health Organization, American Medical Association, American Cancer Society, American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists many scientists and consumer groups continue to question aspartame’s safety. Its approval was based on what some say were imperfectly conducted studies.

Since its introduction there have been well over 7,000 anecdotal reports of adverse reactions to aspartame, such as headaches (the most common symptom), seizures, and behavioral and cognitive changes. None however were substantiated.

Duke University researcher Susan Schiffman, whose work is funded by Monsanto, thought she settled the issue of headaches a decade ago when she published a study in the New England Journal of Medicine that found a placebo pill triggered more headaches than the sweetener. In her opinion caffeine-laden tea and soda were likelier culprits for the headaches. But reports of headaches have produced a view of aspartame that survives the denouncing studies. (Chase pg.B1)

Studies conducted in the mid to late 80’s and early 90’s wondered if the rise in the number of cases of brain cancer in the U.S. in the 80’s was linked to the time when the artificial sweetener aspartame entered the American diet.

Researchers found that the aspartame-brain-cancer theory pointed to a study from the early 70’s in which rats fed aspartame developed brain tumors. Rats are not humans so the fact that they developed tumors proved nothing. Though it is true that aspartame could form a substance called nitrosourea, which is a known cause of brain tumors in rats, nitrosoureas have never been shown to cause brain tumors in humans. (McCord pg.56)

One of the most recent flurries of attention around aspartame started when John Olney, M.D. at Washington University Medical School in St. Louis claimed that data from the National Cancer Institute revealed that there had been a 10% increase in the rate of solid brain tumors in the years directly following the introduction of NutraSweet to the market. Few media reports at that time noted that no one knows if any of these people ever ingested aspartame. Most of these people were never even asked. Many researchers suggest that a better explanation for at least part of the rise during that time was the introduction and greater availability of improved techniques for detecting tumors. They also note that the rate of brain tumors had been on the rise even before NutraSweet entered the market, leveling off in the last 10 years and actually declining in recent years.

Olney doesn’t claim to have sufficient proof aspartame is the culprit. He merely suggests that it needs further investigation based on provocative results from animal and lab studies, and the Community Nutrition Institute, which is a private consumer advocacy group, agrees.

The FDA says it plans no further safety evaluation unless credible new information surfaces. Olney’s report doesn’t do that in the FDA’s view. So until information surfaces aspartame continues to be judged safe by the FDA.

Ermelle Martinez was told ten years ago by her doctor that she was showing signs of menopause but at that time she was only 34. That was before she developed two non-cancerous breast tumors and received a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Her doctor advised that she stop eating and drinking e