Aspartame on the NEWS (Video) + How Aspartame Became Legal

[Guest guest]

Fox Nu1 Equal Aspartame (Video)

 

 

___________

 

How Aspartame Became

Legal - The Timeline

From Rich Murray

rmforall

12-24-2

 

 

From Norfolk Genetic Information Network (Taken from Welcome to the Spin Machine

by Michael Manville http://www.freezerbox.com/archive/2001/04/biotech/

http://www.freezerbox.com/ )

 

In 1985 Monsanto purchased G.D. Searle, the chemical company that held the

patent to aspartame, the active ingredient in NutraSweet. Monsanto was

apparently untroubled by aspartame's clouded past, including a 1980 FDA Board of

Inquiry, comprised of three independent scientists, which confirmed that it

" might induce brain tumors. "

 

The FDA had actually banned aspartame based on this finding, only to have Searle

Chairman Donald Rumsfeld (currently the Secretary of Defense) vow to " call in

his markers, " to get it approved.

 

On January 21, 1981, the day after Ronald Reagan's inauguration, Searle

re-applied to the FDA for approval to use aspartame in food sweetener, and

Reagan's new FDA commissioner, Arthur Hayes Hull, Jr., appointed a 5-person

Scientific Commission to review the board of inquiry's decision.

 

It soon became clear that the panel would uphold the ban by a 3-2 decision, but

Hull then installed a sixth member on the commission, and the vote became

deadlocked. He then personally broke the tie in aspartame's favor. Hull later

left the FDA under allegations of impropriety, served briefly as Provost at New

York Medical College, and then took a position with Burston-Marsteller, the

chief public relations firm for both Monsanto and GD Searle. Since that time he

has never spoken publicly about aspartame.

 

 

The Aspartame/NutraSweet Timeline

 

http://www.swankin-turner.com/aspartame.html

http://www.swankin-turner.com/hist.html

 

Aspartame/NutraSweet: The History of the Aspartame Controversy

 

By James Turner, ESQ. Director of the National Institute of Science, Law, and

Public Policy (NISLAPP)

 

National Institute of Science, Law, and Public Policy 1400 16th Street, NW,

Suite 330, Washington, DC 20036 (202) 462-8800 Fax: (202) 265-6564

nislapp

 

Timeline

 

December 1965-- While working on an ulcer drug, James Schlatter, a chemist at

G.D. Searle, accidentally discovers aspartame, a substance that is 180 times

sweeter than sugar yet has no calories.

 

Spring 1967-- Searle begins the safety tests on aspartame that are necessary for

applying for FDA approval of food additives.

 

Fall 1967-- Dr. Harold Waisman, a biochemist at the University of Wisconsin,

conducts aspartame safety tests on infant monkeys on behalf of the Searle

Company. Of the seven monkeys that were being fed aspartame mixed with milk, one

dies and five others have grand mal seizures.

 

November 1970-- Cyclamate, the reigning low-calorie artificial sweetener -- is

pulled off the market after some scientists associate it with cancer. Questions

are also raised about safety of saccharin, the only other artificial sweetener

on the market, leaving the field wide open for aspartame.

 

December 18, 1970-- Searle Company executives lay out a " Food and Drug Sweetener

Strategy' that they feel will put the FDA into a positive frame of mind about

aspartame. An internal policy memo describes psychological tactics the company

should use to bring the FDA into a subconscious spirit of participation " with

them on aspartame and get FDA regulators into the " habit of saying, " Yes " . "

 

Spring 1971-- Neuroscientist Dr. John Olney (whose pioneering work with

monosodium glutamate was responsible for having it removed from baby foods)

informs Searle that his studies show that aspartic acid (one of the ingredients

of aspartame) caused holes in the brains of infant mice. One of Searle's own

researchers confirmed Dr. Olney's findings in a similar study.

 

February 1973-- After spending tens of millions of dollars conducting safety

tests, the G.D. Searle Company applies for FDA approval and submits over 100

studies they claim support aspartame's safety.

 

March 5, 1973-- One of the first FDA scientists to review the aspartame safety

data states that " the information provided (by Searle) is inadequate to permit

an evaluation of the potential toxicity of aspartame " . She says in her report

that in order to be certain that aspartame is safe, further clinical tests are

needed.

 

May 1974-- Attorney, Jim Turner (consumer advocate who was instrumental in

getting cyclamate taken off the market) meets with Searle representatives to

discuss Dr. Olney's 1971 study which showed that aspartic acid caused holes in

the brains of infant mice.

 

July 26, 1974-- The FDA grants aspartame its first approval for restricted use

in dry foods.

 

August 1974-- Jim Turner and Dr. John Olney file the first objections against

aspartame's approval.

 

March 24, 1976-- Turner and Olney's petition triggers an FDA investigation of

the laboratory practices of aspartame's manufacturer, G.D. Searle. The

investigation finds Searle's testing procedures shoddy, full of inaccuracies and

" manipulated " test data. The investigators report they " had never seen anything

as bad as Searle's testing. "

 

January 10, 1977-- The FDA formally requests the U.S. Attorney's office to begin

grand jury proceedings to investigate whether indictments should be filed

against Searle for knowingly misrepresenting findings and " concealing material

facts and making false statements " in aspartame safety tests. This is the first

time in the FDA's history that they request a criminal investigation of a

manufacturer.

 

January 26, 1977-- While the grand jury probe is underway, Sidley & Austin, the

law firm representing Searle, begins job negotiations with the U.S. Attorney in

charge of the investigation, Samuel Skinner.

 

March 8, 1977-- G. D. Searle hires prominent Washington insider Donald Rumsfeld

as the new CEO to try to turn the beleaguered company around. A former Member of

Congress and Secretary of Defense in the Ford Administration, Rumsfeld brings in

several of his Washington cronies as top management.

 

July 1, 1977-- Samuel Skinner leaves the U.S. Attorney's office and takes a job

with Searle's law firm. (see Jan. 26th)

 

August 1, 1977-- The Bressler Report, compiled by FDA investigators and headed

by Jerome Bressler, is released. The report finds that 98 of the 196 animals

died during one of Searle's studies and weren't autopsied until later dates, in

some cases over one year after death. Many other errors and inconsistencies are

noted. For example, a rat was reported alive, then dead, then alive, then dead

again; a mass, a uterine polyp, and ovarian neoplasms were found in animals but

not reported or diagnosed in Searle's reports.

 

December 8, 1977-- U.S. Attorney Skinner's withdrawal and resignation stalls the

Searle grand jury investigation for so long that the statue of limitations on

the aspartame charges runs out. The grand jury investigation is dropped.

 

June 1, 1979-- The FDA established a Public Board of Inquiry (PBOI) to rule on

safety issues surrounding NutraSweet.

 

September 30, 1980-- The Public Board of Inquiry concludes NutraSweet should not

be approved pending further investigations of brain tumors in animals. The board

states it " has not been presented with proof of reasonable certainty that

aspartame is safe for use as a food additive. "

 

January 1981-- Donald Rumsfeld, CEO of Searle, states in a sales meeting that he

is going to make a big push to get aspartame approved within the year. Rumsfeld

says he will use his political pull in Washington, rather than scientific means,

to make sure it gets approved.

 

January 21, 1981-- Ronald Reagan is sworn in as President of the United States.

Reagan's transition team, which includes Donald Rumsfeld, CEO of G. D. Searle,

hand picks Dr. Arthur Hull Hayes Jr. to be the new FDA Commissioner.

 

March, 1981-- An FDA commissioner's panel is established to review issues raised

by the Public Board of Inquiry.

 

May 19, 1981-- Three of six in-house FDA scientists who were responsible for

reviewing the brain tumor issues, Dr. Robert Condon, Dr. Satya Dubey, and Dr.

Douglas Park, advise against approval of NutraSweet, stating on the record that

the Searle tests are unreliable and not adequate to determine the safety of

aspartame.

 

July 15, 1981-- In one of his first official acts, Dr. Arthur Hayes Jr., the new

FDA commissioner, overrules the Public Board of Inquiry, ignores the

recommendations of his own internal FDA team and approves NutraSweet for dry

products. Hayes says that aspartame has been shown to be safe for its' proposed

uses and says few compounds have withstood such detailed testing and repeated

close scrutiny.

 

October 15, 1982-- The FDA announces that Searle has filed a petition that

aspartame be approved as a sweetener in carbonated beverages and other liquids.

 

July 1, 1983-- The National Soft Drink Association (NSDA) urges the FDA to delay

approval of aspartame for carbonated beverages pending further testing because

aspartame is very unstable in liquid form. When liquid aspartame is stored in

temperatures above 85 degrees Fahrenheit, it breaks down into DKP and

formaldehyde, both of which are known toxins.

 

July 8, 1983-- The National Soft Drink Association drafts an objection to the

final ruling which permits the use of aspartame in carbonated beverages and

syrup bases and requests a hearing on the objections. The association says that

Searle has not provided responsible certainty that aspartame and its'

degradation products are safe for use in soft drinks.

 

August 8, 1983-- Consumer Attorney, Jim Turner of the Community Nutrition

Institute and Dr. Woodrow Monte, Arizona State University's Director of Food

Science and Nutritional Laboratories, file suit with the FDA objecting to

aspartame approval based on unresolved safety issues.

 

September, 1983-- FDA Commissioner Hayes resigns under a cloud of controversy

about his taking unauthorized rides aboard a General Foods jet. (General foods

is a major customer of NutraSweet) Burson-Marsteller, Searle's public relation

firm (which also represented several of NutraSweet's major users), immediately

hires Hayes as senior scientific consultant.

 

Fall 1983-- The first carbonated beverages containing aspartame are sold for

public consumption.

 

November 1984-- Center for Disease Control (CDC) " Evaluation of consumer

complaints related to aspartame use. " (summary by B. Mullarkey)

 

November 3, 1987-- U.S. hearing, " NutraSweet: Health and Safety Concerns, "

Committee on Labor and Human Resources, Senator Howard Metzenbaum, chairman.

 

********************

 

aspartameNM/message/857 RTM: www.dorway.com:

original documents and long reviews of flaws in aspartame toxicity research

7.31.2 rmforall

 

http://www.dorway.com/upipart1.txt UPI reporter Gregory Gordon: 96K 3-part

expose Oct 1987

 

" Survey of aspartame studies: correlation of outcome and funding sources, " 1998,

unpublished: http://www.dorway.com/peerrev.html Walton found 166 separate

published studies in the peer reviewed medical literature, which had relevance

for questions of human safety. The 74 studies funded by industry all (100%)

attested to aspartame's safety, whereas of the 92 non-industry funded studies,

84 (91%) identified a problem. Six of the seven non-industry funded studies that

were favorable to aspartame safety were from the FDA, which has a public record

that shows a strong pro-industry bias. Ralph G. Walton, MD, Prof. of Clinical

Psychology, Northeastern Ohio Universities, College of Medicine, Dept. of

Psychiatry, Youngstown, OH 44501, Chairman, The Center for Behavioral Medicine,

Northside Medical Center, 500 Gypsy Lane, P.O. Box 240 Youngstown, OH 44501

330-740-3621 rwalton193

http://www.neoucom.edu/DEPTS/Psychiatry/walton.htm

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