Aspartame linked to cancer in new research

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WDDTY e-News - Aspartame linked to cancer in new research

Fri, 16 Dec 2005 18:27:11 0000

 

 

 

WHAT DOCTORS DON'T TELL YOU E-news broadcast, 16 December 2005

 

 

 

Aspartame linked to cancer in new research

 

 

 

Fresh fears emerged this week over aspartame, an artificial sweetener

found in 6,000 types of food, drink and medicines widely available in

every supermarket.

 

Roger Williams, a member of the parliamentary select committee on food

and the environment and Liberal Democrat MP, said any items containing

aspartame should be withdrawn from sale as there was 'compelling and

reliable' evidence that aspartame can cause cancer.

 

His comments came after research published by the European Ramazzini

Foundation in Italy over the summer linked aspartame to cancer in rats.

 

" There is strong scientific evidence that the components of aspartame

and their metabolites can cause very serious toxic effects on humans, "

Mr Williams said.

 

Mr Williams told the House of Commons the additive was potentially

'far more dangerous' than Sudan 1, the banned food dye linked to

cancer and found in some products in Britain earlier this year. He

claimed aspartame was found in ten times more products.

 

Leading scientists have joined Mr Williams in calling for products

containing it to be taken off the shelves . Erik Millstone, professor

of science policy at the University of Sussex, said " There are

sufficient grounds for banning aspartame. There are serious problems

about how it was approved. "

 

The European Ramazzini Foundation study found the incidence of cancer

in female rats rose in direct relation to the dose of the sweetener

they were given. The scientists suggested the cancer could be

triggered by chemicals created by aspartame as it is broken down in

the body.

 

Regular readers of What Doctors Don't Tell You have known of the

potential side effects of aspartame as far back as 1996. Apart from

causing headaches, aspartame is also linked to panic attacks, mood

changes, visual hallucinations, manic episodes and isolated dizziness,

and has been associated with hyperactivity in children.

 

But what is less well known is the widespread use of aspartame in

prescription and over-the-counter medicine. In the report entitled

'Drug Additives: the not-so-inactive ingredients' we reported . . .

 

'The concentration of sweeteners in oral solutions and suspensions

ranges from 30 to 50 per cent of the formulation. In some antibiotic

and cough/cold prep-arations, the sweetener content can be as high as

80 per cent . . . .

 

Aspartame, an excitotoxin (a central nervous system stimulator), is

increasingly being used in chewable tablets and sugar-free

formulations of drugs and supplements. Headache is the most common

adverse effect linked to aspartame. Up to 11 per cent of patients with

chronic migraines report that their headaches are triggered by it . . . '