IS ASPARTAME OR LEAD IN THAT HALLOWEEN CANDY?

June 22, 2006

Some things for parents to think about as Halloween approaches, as theyconsider what they are giving children for "trick-or-treats" does it havelead, like some candies imported from Mexico do, or does it have aspartame,the artificial sweetener? Select your Halloween treats for children as theywere all your own children, and you would want nothing harmful to come theirway!

It is really quite monstrous: the artificial sweetener, aspartame, was turned down by the FDA as unacceptably harmful for 15 years, from 1966-1981, until a corporate/political ramrodding by then-President of G.D. Searle, got itpushed through in 1981.

The National Soft Drink Association, concerned about product liability,vigorously objects, due to aspartame's metabolite, formaldehyde. FDAapproves it anyway, in 1983, despite their objections; thus, the biggesttoxic idiocracy in American consumer history is born: THE "DIET" BEVERAGE.Senator Howard Metzenbaum of Ohio in 1985 tries to pass a requirement foraspartame to have warning labels; lobbyists shoot that down in committee.Both New Mexico U.S. Senators, Domenici and Bingaman voted against labeling;they might not today, however, given the ghastly clarified medical facts.

Fat people and diabetics continue to flock to this formaldehyde cocktail,hoping formaldehyde is better for their damaged pancreas and their weightproblems than is sugar! The companies give gifts and research grants to theDiabetic Association, the AMA, the Dietitic Association, and the CancerAssociation, hoping that they will be brought/brought into rubber stampingtheir approval of aspartame, and that they will stay bought and not raiseembarrassing questions.

Twenty-two years later, the statistics on neurodegenerative illnesses havespiked horribly; kids have attention deficit disorders, autism and other more serious neurological problems; brain and pituitary tumors, Lou Gehrig'sdisease and Alzheimer's have blossomed staggeringly in adults.

People naively wonder, "Gosh, does this have something to do with thechemicals we ingest? Maybe its the formaldehyde in the soft drinks, the lowfat yogurt, the children's vitamins, the morning coffee sweeteners, thechewing gum, and the 6000 other products which contain aspartame and areconsumed by 70% of the adults and 40% of the children?"

Nothing can fix this problem at the FDA or congressional level; we have tofix it one state at a time, using existing statutes, like the ones we used to bring a petition to ban aspartame to the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board, which has the statutory power over food quality and consumerprotection.

Albuquerque Lawyer Steven Looney of the Sutin firm brilliantly led ourpresentation. The EIB voted 4-2 on the side of consumer protection, based onstatutes which created the EIB and others statutes, concerning poisonous anddeleterious food additives. We are also trying to add a tiny provision to the Administrative Code which defines and prohibits neurotoxic food additives,specifically aspartame. The 5 day hearings will be in July, 2006.

Objections came from attorneys for the world's largest Aspartamemanufacturer, Ajinomoto, a Japanese corporation, also the world'slargest M.S.G. maker, and for the industry front group, the "Calorie ControlCouncil," based just down the road from America's largest user of Aspartame,Coca Cola. They said this matter was preempted by the FDA approval ofaspartame, and that the EIB had no power to question such a preemption.

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Don't count on a sustained victory! The hearings are 8 months away. What canyou do in the meantime?

1. Ask the principal and the superintendent of your child's schools toimmediately get aspartame out of the cafeterias, the vending machines, andthe athletic events. Talk with friends, neighbors, and family who do havechildren, and together talk to the school officials.

2. Write to legislators before January 2006. Their addresses are all at thewebsite for the New Mexico Legislature. Sadly, many are addicted to "dietbeverages," yet they do the allocations for the schools, and we muststrengthen the statutes to allow specific challenges to FDA approval of junkfood. Ask your legislator to ask Governor Richardson and the Majority Leaderof the Senate, Michael Sanchez of Belen, to request that the soft drinkdistributors not give hundreds of cases to the legislators, because you would prefer your Citizen's Legislature not be full of formaldehyde while theydeliberate questions like how to keep the aspartame/formaldehyde cocktailfrom ruining New Mexico children! Please don't just "preach to the choir";ask your legislators, to reach out to other legislators who may not be awareof the neurotoxic and epidemiological parameters of the aspartame problem.

3. Write letters to members of the Board of Pharmacy based in Albuquerque(see their website for a list of names), asking acceptance of our petitionfor a different, second rule change, to ban children's medications andvitamins with aspartame, as well as the neurotoxic preservative invaccinations made from mercury, Thimerosol.

4. Write a cordial letter to EIB members, especially to Greg Green ofAlbuquerque and Ken Marsh of Hobbs, two out of seven EIB members who votedagainst Carlsbad's Clifford Stroud's motion for the EIB to consider banningaspartame. This was surprising, because in his comments, Green clearly stated that he "didn't trust the FDA as far as he could throw his hand." Perhapswhen they hear from the enlightened healthy folks who don't use aspartame, or from recovering victims of aspartame poisoning, they will change their stance on this vital issue. The EIB could unanimously rule against Aspartame nextJuly!Send your letters to Barbara Claire, EIB Administrator,barbara.claire. Thank you!

5. Write to Bill Richardson and ask him to lead New Mexico into a new,unprecedented era of consumer protection. Send it to his Chief of Staff,David Contarino. 4th Floor, The Capitol, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501.Ask for a reply to your letter.

Please let me know if you have any ideas.

Stephen Foxstephen(505) 983-2002