Avoid Toxic Sweeteners for Weight Loss Goals

Aspartame Warning Flyer for distribution: http://www.mpwhi.com/warning_flyer_on_aspartame.htm

The Lethal Science of Splenda: http://www.wnho.net/splenda_chlorocarbon.htm

Studies have shown that sucralose can:

* Cause the thymus to shrink by as much as 40% (the thymus is your immune powerhouse - it produces T cells)
* Cause enlargement of the liver and kidneys
* Reduce growth rate as much as 20%
* Cause enlargement of the large bowel area
* Reduce the amount of good bacteria in the intestines by 50%
* Increase the pH level in the intestines (a risk factor for colon cancer)
* Contribute to weight gain
* Cause aborted pregnancy low fetal body weight
* Reduce red blood cell count

Particular warning to diabetics: Researchers found that diabetic patients using sucralose showed a statistically significant increase in glycosylated hemoglobin, a marker that is used to assess glycemic control in diabetic patients. According to the FDA, "increases in glycosolation in hemoglobin imply lessening of control of diabetes."

Here is how Splenda is made: http://www.wnho.net/chemical_processing_of_splenda.htm

Ajinomoto just announced a new name for aspartame called AminoSweet. Be warned. It goes under many names; NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, Naturataste, Canderel, Benevia, E951, etc. Because the patent has expired it can be used in anything. You must read labels. Many times it’s hidden in artificial and natural flavors. Remember that aspartame has a synergistic and additive effect with MSG. Stuart Pape of the National Yogurt Assn has petitioned the FDA to allow aspartame unlabeled in yogurt and dairy products.


Special warning for diabetics: Aspartame can precipitate diabetes, simulates and aggravates diabetic retinopathy and neuropathy, destroys the optic nerve, causes diabetics to go into convulsions, and even interacts with insulin. The free methyl alcohol causes diabetics to lose limbs. Jeanette Soto, Mission Possible Brookville, Fla, who wrote “Blinded Sight” when her husband lost his sight from aspartame was unable to get her father-in-law, diabetic off aspartame because of the addiction. The free methyl alcohol is classified as a narcotic. It causes chronic methanol poisoning which affects the dopamine system of the brain and causes the addiction. When Jeanette’s father-in-law, Santiago Echiverria died it had to be a closed casket, the formaldehyde from the free methyl alcohol was oozing out of his skin. The American Diabetes Assn was sued in 2004 for racketeering for pushing aspartame on diabetics, but because of their power got out of it.

Today people are dying of the methanol poisoning. Dr. James Bowen explains:
"Only after longer aspartame usage does liver damage cause blood methanol levels to measurably rise because the liver mitochondria are so damaged that the liver no longer quickly processes either methyl or ethyl (drink) alcohol. Then the acute methanol poisoning is directly measurable from lab results, as the blood methanol level elevates. This entire sequence or "toxic axis" begins with your very first dose of aspartame. Both acute and chronic poisonings from this methanol toxic axis, and other additive and synergistic aspartame poisonings, steadily accumulate in the aspartame consumer.” We continue to get reports of people dying of methanol poisoning. Charles Fleming died and his wife, a Sunday School teacher, remains in a prison in Virginia. The detective on the case said, “Diane is innocent but because I was promoted I could not stop the indictment.” Be warned no diabetic should ever consume wood alcohol. The FDA did no NOAEL on methanol. Without it you cannot set an ADI, allowable daily intake. It’s 44% too high.


Just Like Sugar is a safe natural sweetener, see link in right column.

Aspartame:Tumours and Cancer

Here is another study in PDF: This one was shredded by G. D. Searle and FDA doesn't release them. Some pages are missing but there is enough for you to see the cancers Searle didn't want you to see. The Task Force and Bressler Report exposed that G. D. Searle filtered out the cancers and anything they didn't want FDA to see, but they were caught!

I just sent this study to Ed Johnson, an attorney who worked in the Justice Department before he started using aspartame and suffered brain tumors. I wanted him to see all the pituitary tumors they found. After reading this he said: " I noted a large number of significant discrepancies listed in the pre-notes. So significant in fact that they indicate gross negligence and incompetence on the part of the so-called "researchers."

Indeed that is the case with G. D. Searle's original studies. So much so that on January 10, 1977 in a 33 page letter, FDA Chief Counsel Richard Merrill recommended to U. S. Attorney Sam Skimmer that a grand jury investigate Searle for "apparent violations of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act 21 U,.S.C. 331 (e) and the False Reports to the Government Act 18 U.S.C. 1001 for "their willful and knowing failure to make reports to the Food and Drug Administration required by the Act 21 U.S.C. 355 (i), and for concealing material facts and making false statements in reports of animal studies conducted to establish the safety of (aspartame)." The FDA called special attention to studies investigating the effect of NutraSweet on monkeys and hamsters.

G. D. Searle was not indicted because the defense lawyers hired both U.S. Prosecutors, Sam Skinner and William Conlon, then the statute of limitations expired. Donald Rumsfeld was hired by G. D. Searle to get aspartame approved because the FDA had tried to have them indicted for fraud, and the petition for approval they revoked.

FDA toxicologist, Dr. Adrian Gross told Congress that FDA violated the Delaney Amendment which forbids putting anything in food you that will cause cancer, and the FDA should not have been able to establish an allowable daily intake. His last words were "if the FDA violates its own laws who is left to protect the public.?" You can understand why they tried to destroy the studies proving aspartame is a carcinogen, causes birth defects and other problems.

You may have heard this before but now you actually see what one of their studies looks like, and the way they did studies. Aspartame was never proven safe and can't be proven safe. Poisons kill. Almost 100 % of independent studies show aspartame is unsafe. These are the studies of the 70's. James Turner, Atty, I think had most, although some were given to another attorney. If you read the congressional record they were discussed.

Here is a link to the congressional records in PDF. http://www.mpwhi.com/congressional_record1.pdf and http://www.mpwhi.com/congressional_record_1985.pdf

The FDA knew aspartame is a carcinogen. It's all a matter of record. Dr. Morando Soffritti should get even more awards for his work, in letting the world know this poison causes cancer. It can't be hidden any longer. Too much is a matter of record.


Dr. Betty Martini, D.Hum, Founder
Mission Possible International
9270 River Club Parkway
Duluth, Georgia 30097
770 242-2599
www.mpwhi.com, www.dorway.com, www.wnho.net
Aspartame Toxicity Center, www.holisticmed.com/aspartame

Selections from Natural Health News

Natural Health News: ASPARTAME AWARENESS WEEKEND

Sep 09, 2006

Aspartame is a molecule composed of three ingredients, aspartic acid,40% (an Excitotoxin as an isolate, product that stimulates the neurons of the brain to death causing brain damage), a methyl ester that immediately ...

http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/

Natural Health News: Aspartame: Still Harming Pregnant Women

Jul 11, 2010

EU-funded research has found that pregnant women who drink just one can of fizzy drinks containing artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, have a 37% higher risk of having a premature birth. Routinely drinking 4 or more ...

http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/

Natural Health News: ASPARTAME DISEASE RAGES

Feb 23, 2005

When aspartame was news, Dr. H. J. Roberts in a press conference foretold that in 5 or 10 years we would have a global plague. And it was Dr. Roberts who declared Aspartame Disease to be a global plague and published the ...

http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/

Natural Health News: Payoffs in the US Protect Aspartame from Facts

May 30, 2008

The use of the artificial sweetener, aspartame, has long been contemplated and studied by various researchers, and people are concerned about its negative effects. Aspartame is composed of phenylalanine (50%), ...

Diet Soda and Cardiac Events: Nothing New

15 March
The news continues on how diet drinks are linked to strokes and vascular disorders and this isn't the first time.  A study in Boston and another in Minnesota by Dr. Lyn Steffan have proved these problems.  Dr. Steffan wondered about what it was in diet drinks that caused the problems.   Aspartame triggers an irregular heart rhythm, and interacts with all cardiac medication.  It damages the cardiac conduction system and causes sudden death.  
 
When the Center for Disease Control investigated in the l980's you saw recorded such things as cardiac arrest .  Then they added a summary that contradicted the investigation.  To this day the phony summary remains on the CDC web site but the entire investigation has been stricken.  Find it here: http://www.dorway.com/cdctext.txt

After three decades it has been well established that aspartame causes the above problems.  Melanie Warner who use to be with the New York Times also wrote a report, "Have a Coke and a Stroke".   She investigated aspartame at the time of her story about the Ramazzini Study on aspartame showing it to be a multipotential carcinogen


February 2011
How Aspartame Impacts Your Health -

Effect of Aspartame on the Human Energy Field
Donald C. Stouffer, PhD, D. Kaiser, RN, MBA, CHTP, and J. Stouffer

Healing Touch assessment techniques were used to measure the effect of carbonated beverages with and without aspartame on the solar plexus and sacral areas of 50 healthy people. Initially the areas were open. After consumption of a carbonated beverage with regular sweetening about 1/3 were open, 1/3 blocked and 1/3 closed. After consumption of an aspartame sweetened beverage approximately 1/3 were blocked and 2/3 were closed. They noted a possible explanation as due to carbon dioxide, a human waste product and the methanol in aspartame decomposes into formaldehyde.  Learn more

From my colleague, the tireless Dr Betty Martini 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/09/AR2011020904807_pf.html

This is not the first study to link diet drinks (aspartame) to heart problems or the metabolic syndrome. The reason is very clear. Aspartame notoriously causes an irregular heart rhythm and interacts with ALL cardiac medication. At the same time It damages the cardiac conduction system and causes sudden death. 


Aspartame, commonly known as nutrasweet, is a chemical that stimulates the brain to think the food is sweet. It breaks down into aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol at a temperature of 86 degrees. (Remember, your stomach is somewhere around 98 degrees.)

Diet Soda has been linked to an increased risk of developing metabolic syndrome, high cholesterol, elevated blood glucose levels, osteoporosis, obesity, brain tumours, cancer, and many more health problems, such as birth defects, Parkinson's, seizures, migraine, Cirrhosis, cardiovascular disease, stress, insomnia, racing thoughts, mimic diseases like MS, ALS, Lupus, FMS, and can lead to diabetes.

Diet Cola Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Caramel Color, Phosphoric Acid, Natural Flavors, Aspartame, Potassium Benzoate, Citric Acid (Citric Acid and Potassium Benzoate cause a harmful reaction).  So called natural diet drinks are no better.

Aspartame is arguably the number one ingredient to avoid. Headaches are the most common complaint after consuming the artificial sugar. Aspartame can lead to methanol poisoning and should not be ingested by pregnant women or children younger than 7 years old, nor by individuals who are allergic to phenylalanine. Splenda in diet foods can cause calcified kidneys and other health problems. Diet Colas contain about 45 mg of caffeine.

Diets Drinks & Your Kidneys

This is well explained in a report by world famous Doctor H. J. Roberts, M.D., http://www.wnho.net/aspartame_and_arrhythmias.htm
 

Here is the FDA's own report, and notice that change in heart rate is so prevalent its #15 of the 92 symptoms, http://www.mpwhi.com/92_aspartame_symptoms.pdf

Also, note that death is listed. FDA must call it the ultimate symptom! Further the issue of obesity is so relevant that even it has been linked to diet drinks. This study at the University of Texas was reported in 2005.

Wrote Stephen Fox, Mission Possible New Mexico, "I don't know why these idiots act so surprised and say its a chemical mystery. The primary cause for heart disruption comes from the methanol and formaldehyde that aspartame releases. Accordingly I have asked both N.M. senators, Udall and Bingaman, to press FDA Commissioner Hamburg immediately to rescind the FDA approval of aspartame."

Stephen Fox further wrote : "It's absurd that H. J. Roberts, Russell Blaylock and Betty Martini have worked for years to say obviously the same thing, and these guys act like its such a surprise. "

When George Carlin, well known stand up comic died it was noted that he was addicted to Diet Coke. Carlin had several heart attacks and died of heart failure. http://www.rense.com/general82/gcar.htm This article goes over other studies showing the same link.

Notice in the WBAY article: http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=14008426  the comment.

"Diet soda has previously been linked to an increased risk of diabetes, but experts say this is the first time a study found a link between diet soda and heart disease." As the story on George Carlin pointed out this is not the first time. Aspartame can precipitate diabetes, simulates and aggravates diabetic retinopathy and neuropathy, destroys the optic nerve and causes diabetics to go into convulsions. The free methyl alcohol causes diabetics to lose limbs.

Two Parliamentarians some years ago petitioned the United Nations to track sudden death because they could not understand why people for no reason were dropping dead. Athletes are also dropping dead. Steve Belcher died in West Palm Beach (2003) which prompted Dr. H. J. Roberts to call the medical examiner to ask how many diet drinks he was using. Indeed he was consuming diet pop as we learned later. So what did FDA do? Instead of banning aspartame they banned ephedra, and have refused to allow it back on the market when aspartame was the culprit that took his life. Neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock, M.D. wrote an Athlete Alert to allow all athletes to have the information and save their lives: http://www.wnho.net/aspartame_msg_scd.htm

Even pilots drop dead from aspartame triggered problems such as myocardial infarction (heart attack)or sudden cardiac death ) and Dr. Russell Blaylock wrote an Aspartame Pilot Alert: http://www.mpwhi.com/pilot_aspartame_alert_with_letters.htm Mission Possible Aviation was started many years ago when Cliff Evans crashed his plane on aspartame and lived to tell about it. Captain Fred Fox who was with American Airlines for 35 years is our representative for aviation safety and himself suffered atrial fibrillation from aspartame.

The FAA's response to pilots dying from aspartame is that the FDA approved it. So what does FDA say since they are the ones who tried to have the manufacturer indicted for fraud and know how bad the studies are. In 2002 I filed a Citizens Petition for ban of aspartame. The FDA has by law 180 days to answer the petition. About a year later they sent me a letter stating they would like to advise me, in accordance with 21 CFR 10:30 (e) (2) (iii), that they had not yet reached a decision on the petition, due to a number of competing priorities. Translation: We have more important things to do, and this is our way of ignoring you. In 2007 I wrote an amendment that aspartame is an imminent health hazard. They only have a week or ten days to answer this one. They ignored it. In 2010 I wrote again, that they had not answered the citizens petition for ban. On January 11, 2011 the FDA answered:

"Lastly, in reference to your previously submitted citizen petition again, we would like to advise you, in accordance with 231 CFR 10.30(e)(2)(iii), that we have not yet reached a decision on your petition, due to a number of competing priorities. However, be advised that your petition and the comments that have been submitted to the docket are currently under active evaluation by our staff. "

So for 9 years the FDA has ignored the petition saying they are too busy to do anything about it. Here is 231 CFR: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=10.30

The FDA ignores and refuses to carry out the law. They speak with forked tongue. At the same time they give you an excuse for not carrying out the law they also say: "Please be assured that the FDA continues to closely monitor scientific literature for information that might indicate potential public health concerns with artificial sweeteners like any regulated food ingredient. Should the need arise; the Agency will take the appropriate action to protect public health." What FDA has really done is put on hold concern for public health by ignoring all these petitions for ban, and the constant flow of research on aspartame showing its a killer. They also know aspartame is a drug and not an additive and interacts with other drugs and vaccines, and there is no warning. Who knows how many deaths have been caused by drug interaction in aspartame consumers.

Stephen Fox also wrote: "The astonished" attitude of journalists to this so-called "discovery" is appalling. They seem more like Rip Van Winkle, waking from a 300 year nap, than true scientific journalists.

"I am grateful to the researchers for driving another nail into the aspartame coffin, but how many more "discoveries" will it take to convince the monolithic FDA to take the obvious step: Rescind aspartame approval."

Indeed the FDA has ignored other citizen petitions for ban such as the one from Dr. Kenneth Stoller. Twelve toxicologists wrote the FDA for ban as well. Consider it was never proven safe which their own toxicologist, Dr. Jacqueline Verrett, told Congress in 1987. It had already been on the market for 6 years. She also said that all studies were built on a foundation of sand and should be thrown out. Dr. Adrian Gross, scientist and FDA toxicologist, also told Congress in 1985 that because of the brain tumors and brain cancer aspartame violated the Delaney Amendment. Further he stated against his own FDA that they should not have been able to set an allowable daily intake. Both of these toxicologists exposed the fact that most of the data used to certify the safety of aspartame have been scientifically proven inadequate, false or wrong, largely by the FDA itself, Dr. Gross' last words to Congress were "And if the FDA violates it's own laws who is left to protect the public." Consider Big Pharma using an unproven drug as a sweetener without having done studies of possible interactions.

In 1985 a bill by Senator Howard Mezenbaum would have put a moratorium on aspartame and have NIH do independent studies of what they were seeing in the population like drug interactions. Today the hands of physicians are tied because so many have no knowledge aspartame is a drug and interacts. Imagine a victim having an aspartame heart attack and his physician doesn't know to ask the patient if he is on aspartame! Worst still some drugs even have aspartame in them. So, a physician could give an aspartame victim a drug that interacts with aspartame or have aspartame in the product.

Even with petitions for ban Ajinomoto is trying to get Advantame approved, another aspartame product, plus they have Neotame on the market.

Until aspartame is recalled its only going to get worse with more heart attacks and strokes, and conditions described in medical texts.

Dr. Betty Martini, D.Hum, Founder

Mission Possible International

9270 River Club Parkway

Duluth, Georgia 30097

70 242-2599

Medical Text: Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic,

by H. J. Roberts, M.D. , www.sunsentpress.com

Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills by Russell Blaylock, M.D.

www.russellblaylockmd.com

Documentary: Sweet Misery: A Poisoned World, cori@soundandfury.tv

Higher BMI with Artificial Sweeteners: Obesity Facts

Many studies have shown that artificial sweeteners DO lead to weight gain.  Now this one calls your attention to that chemical powder you add to coffee or tea.  Better try Just Like Sugar.

Obesity Facts. 2010 Dec;3(6):345-52. Epub 2010 Dec 7.

Coffee, Tea and Their Additives: Association with BMI and Waist Circumference.
Bouchard DR, Ross R, Janssen I.

School of Kinesiology and Health Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.

Abstract
Objective: The purposes of this study were to perform a detailed analysis how: i) the frequency of coffee/tea consumption and ii) the use of additives in coffee/tea is associated with measures of total and abdominal obesity. Method: 3,823 participants of the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were examined. Obesity was assessed by BMI and waist circumference (WC). Coffee and tea consumption and use of additives were assessed by questionnaire. Results: Cof-fee consumption was not related to BMI or WC in either gender. However, men who drank ≥2 cups of tea per day had lower BMI (25.9 vs. 28.0 kg/m(2)) and WC (95.2 vs. 101.32 cm) values than men who never drank drink tea (p ≤ 0.05). The associations between tea consumption and BMI or WC were no longer significant after adjustment for additive use. Coffee/tea drinkers who used artificial sweeteners had larger (p ≤ 0.05) BMIs than coffee/tea drinkers who did not use sweeteners (28.2 vs. 27.1 kg/m(2) in men, 28.4 vs. 27.1 kg/m(2) in women).

Conclusion: Frequency of coffee/tea consumption was not associated with measures of obesity because additive use explained the association between tea consumption and obesity in men. Artificial sweetener use within coffee/tea was associated with higher BMI.

Copyright © 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel.
PMID: 21196787 [PubMed - in process]

MEDLINE

Problems with New Sweetener

UPDATE: August 2010
Here's a toxic sweetener you most likely had never heard of, but I would caution you to make sure you do not ingest it:

^{HealthEdge's NaturallySweet} 

This is manufactured by these folks.

Truvia, Purevia, Zevia, Zerose, Zsweet are marketing names for this artificially blended  erythritol and rebiana mix.  Rebiana is a chemically modified form of  stevia, it is NOT pure stevia.

UPDATE 4, Consumer complaints regarding Truvia

UPDATE 3, 23 December 08: A reader comments on Erythritol as not causing her any problems as noted in our researcher's report. Just like all substances, the ingestion of a substance needs to be in the right form, the right amount, et al, and the effect and outcomes are individual. Please realize that our researcher is a former FDA investigator who has an indepth background in the sciences necessary to make such statements. Please note that the artificial sweeteners referred to, Truvia (Cargill) and PureVia(Whole Earth Sweeteners) are manufactured by these agribusness corporations with an extract of stevia (rebiana)and erythritol and are NOT whole leaf stevia or pure(whole leaf)stevia extract.

UPDATE 2, 22 December 08: Please note that contrary to other reports you may be reading, the FDA DID NOT APPROVE STEVIA. The FDA, in cahoots with Cargill and Coke, approved a synthesized product - as reported originally in this article - manufactured with rebiana (an extract from Stevia) and erythritol (a sugar alcohol).

As Dr. Evangelista states (quoted below): "DO NOT CONFUSE REBIANA (TRUVIA) WITH STEVIA"

UPDATE 1, 20 December 08: Zerose is the Cargill synthesized artificial sweetener made from stevia and erythritol. Zsweet is a similar product in UK and EU. There are numerous scientific studies presenting that this, and related products such as Truvia, may lead to calcium, potassium and phosphate loss with calcification (and lesions) in the kidneys (just like Splenda) and bowel alterations. Please read more.

As to Zevia soda, it seems to me to be quite irresponsible on the part of the company CEO (an attorney)to make the following quote, "Why not supplement a steady breast milk diet with some refreshing ZEVIA?" This quote is associated with a photo of an infant being fed soda by the mother on the company blog. I would suggest the mother is irresponsible as well. While the company web site does not state that Zerose is the sweetener used in their products it does mention that eryrithritol is an ingredient.

I am sure this fellow was not in my 'Social Responsibility of Business' class in grad school.

We suggest Just Like Sugar, unaltered Stevia (order the extract via the Starwest link on this page) and Agave.

We do not endorse the use aspartame or sucralose or any forms of these chemicals, first developed as inseticides, or any products containing them, as they are known toxins to human health, nor do we endorse the use of acesulfame K.
----------------------------------------
12-19-08
The news this morning on NPR seems to be focused on helping you be in the spin on 'rebiana'(Truvia) and how it is "just stevia".

Coke (using Truvia) and Pepsi (using PureVia) are marketing this new artificial sweetener in their beverages but apparently aren't open to presenting both sides of the story.

Even the one TV ad I saw recently for "Truvia" would lead you to believe that this is a safe and natural additive.

Zevia(a soda), because it contains erythritol, may also have similar problems.

The problem is that is may come from natural sources but it is an extracted and modified chemical when it comes out the other end.

DO NOT CONFUSE REBIANA (TRUVIA) WITH STEVIA
Do not confuse this with pure stevia, it is a combination of chemicals with a dab of the stevia plant. Stevia itself is a sweetener and yet they are using Erythritol which is a sugar alcohol known to cause such things as bloating, diarrhea and cramps. That tells you they are not using much stevia. Nor are they removing the poisonous aspartame from Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi. They are simply trying to satisfy a part of the population that knows how deadly aspartame is and wants to use something else.

Notice this sentence: "Stevia was not approved as a food additive by U.S. regulators, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued letters to the companies on Wednesday saying it had no objections to their sweeteners, which are derived from the plant." The FDA has made themselves clear. Industry can do anything they please but they have no intention of approving something safe for the general public. They don't want to displease the aspartame industry who is powerful and takes care of those who defend their poison. Make sure you understand this is a combination of sweeteners and chemicals and not real stevia. The pop companies feel "a dab will do you, so just buy our product regardless of how its made". The public again will be the guinea pigs and lab rats. Also, see the admission that Pepsi's Purevia is being developed with Merisant, an aspartame manufacturer. Nobody should use these products until they are analyzed. Industry is constantly adding small amounts of aspartame because its addictive. If they do this to these products aspartame victims will react because aspartame is so poisonous it causes chemical hypersensitization.

Lab Tests Point to Problems with New Sweetener
Consumer group says product can increase cancer risk
September 2, 2008

A consumer group says a new commercial sweetner, said to be 200 times sweeter than sugar, may cause health problems and needs more study. Coca-Cola and Pepsi are planning to introduce new drinks made with the sweetner, rebiana, an extract of stevia leaves.

In a letter to the Food and Drug Administration, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) says the agency should require additional tests, including a key animal study, before accepting rebiana as Generally Regarded as Safe, or GRAS.

The letter cites a new 26-page report by toxicologists at the University of California, Los Angeles, several, though not all, laboratory tests show that the sweetener causes mutations and DNA damage, which raises the prospect that it causes cancer.

"A safe, natural, high-potency sweetener would be a welcome addition to the food supply," said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. "But the FDA needs to be as sure as possible that rebiana is safe before allowing it into foods that would be consumed by tens of millions of people. It would be tragic if the sweetener turned out to cause cancer or other problems."

One key animal study has not been conducted, according to the UCLA experts and CSPI. The FDA's guidelines advise testing prospective major new food additives on two rodent species, usually rats and mice. The new sweetener has only been tested on rats, but not mice.

The toxicologists' report said that because several studies found mutations and DNA damage, a lifetime mouse study designed to evaluate the risk of carcinogenicity and other health problems was particularly important.

The UCLA toxicologists emphasized the need for more genotoxicity tests, because of the evidence that derivatives of stevia that are closely related to rebiana damage DNA and chromosomes.

Their report noted that much of the recent research on rebiana was sponsored by Cargill and urged the FDA to obtain independently conducted tests to ensure that corporate biases don't influence the design, conduct, or results of the tests.

Rebiana is shorthand for rebaudioside A, a component of stevia. It is obtained from the leaves of a shrub native to Brazil and Paraguay. Coke, Pepsi, and other companies are excited about rebiana, because it supposedly tastes better than crude stevia, which is sold as a dietary supplement in health-food stores.

After all the controversies pertaining to saccharin, aspartame, and other artificial sweeteners, the food industry expects many calorie-conscious consumers to eagerly opt for this natural sweetener.

Two companies -- Cargill and Merisant -- have told the FDA that rebiana should be considered GRAS, a category given less scrutiny by the FDA than ordinary food additives. A third company, Wisdom Natural Brands, has declared that its stevia-based sweetener is GRAS and will market it without giving evidence to, or even notifying, the FDA. That company gave CSPI only a heavily redacted report prepared by scientists it hired to declare its stevia derivative, which is of unknown purity, is safe.

Stevia is legal in foods in Japan and several other countries, but the United States, Canada, and the European Union bar stevia in foods because of older tests that suggested it might interfere with reproduction. New tests sponsored by Cargill did not find such problems.

"I am not saying that rebiana is harmful, but it should not be marketed until new studies establish that it is safe," Jacobson said.

Cargill's version of rebiana is called Truvia and would be used by Coca-Cola. Pepsi's version is called PureVia and is produced by Merisant's Whole Earth Sweetener division. Merisant is best known for marketing the Equal brand of aspartame.

CSPI has not questioned the safety of two artificial sweeteners, sucralose (Splenda) and neotame, but says that suggestive evidence indicates that saccharin, aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet), and acesulfame-K pose small risks of cancer.

"The whole issue of what gets GRAS status needs to be reviewed by Congress," Jacobson said. "It's crazy that companies can just hire a few consultants to bless their new ingredients and rush them to market without any opportunity for the FDA and the public to review all the safety evidence."

Two of the most harmful ingredients in the food supply are considered GRAS: salt, which raises blood pressure and causes thousands of unnecessary heart attacks and strokes every year, and partially hydrogenated oil, which is the source of artery-clogging artificial trans fat. CSPI has long campaigned to get partially hydrogenated oil out of the food supply and to reduce salt to safe levels.
From Consumer Affairs