Donald Rumsfeld and the Strange History of Aspartame
The man who brought us Aspartame and later, the Gulf War - both were founded upon false information.
Rumsfeld: official portrait
(Rumsfeld had a long and active career serving as CEO of large companies and on the staff of several US presidents Ref:- Wikipedia). Arguably, Rumsfeld’s Gulf War and Aspartame activities led to the death and suffering of millions around the globe.
Introduction
The following story is sourced from the Huffington Post and continues on my previous: “Diet Coke sweetener number E951 (Aspartame): is it safe?”
(I did my best to confirm the sources of the assertions made in this article: [thus]
Apart from that, the article remains unchanged.
Donald Rumsfeld and the Strange History of Aspartame
Writer of words and music, author, educator, bodyboarder, orchardist and piano/keyboard enthusiast.
Jan 6, 2011, 07:13 PM EST
|Updated May 25, 2011|
I have been reading up on this strange chapter in the history of Donald Rumsfeld and have learned two things. One, the chemical additive aspartame is very potentially a cancer and brain tumor-causing substance that has no place in our food.
[true: Pubmed article Lancet article]
And two, the reasons and means by which Rumsfeld helped get it approved are nefarious at best, criminal at worst.
So how did aspartame become legal? And more importantly, if it had been rejected multiple times over fears of brain tumors and cancer, why?
Dr. John Olney, who founded the field of neuroscience called excitotoxicity, attempted to stop the approval of aspartame with Attorney James Turner back in 1996 [True: IATP article | Wikipedia article ]. The FDA's own toxicologist, Dr. Adrian Gross told Congress that without a shadow of a doubt, aspartame can cause brain tumors and brain cancer and that it violated the Delaney Amendment, which forbids putting anything in food that is known to cause cancer [True: Epilepsy Foundation article US Govt.regulations website]. According to the top doctors and researchers on this issue, aspartame causes headache, memory loss, seizures, vision loss, coma and cancer. It worsens or mimics the symptoms of such diseases and conditions as fibromyalgia, MS, lupus, ADD, diabetes, Alzheimer's, chronic fatigue and depression. Further dangers highlighted is that aspartame liberates free methyl alcohol. The resulting chronic methanol poisoning affects the dopamine system of the brain causing addiction . Methanol, or wood alcohol, constitutes one third of the aspartame molecule and is classified as a severe metabolic poison and narcotic
[The listed concerns are valid and are discussed in science reviews, Review 1 Review 2].
How's that Diet Coke treating you now?
In the peer reviewed journal, Aspartame: Methanol and the Public Health, [error: the paper was published in The Journal of applied nutrition] Dr. Woodrow Monte wrote: "When diet sodas and soft drinks, sweetened with aspartame, are used to replace fluid loss during exercise and physical exertion in hot climates, the intake of methanol can exceed 250 mg/day or 32 times the Environmental Protection Agency's recommended limit of consumption for this cumulative poison." [True, except for the naming of the journal, article: here].
The effects of aspartame are documented by the FDA's own data. In 1995 the agency was forced, under the Freedom of Information Act, to release a list of aspartame symptoms reported by thousands of victims. From 10,000 consumer complaints, the FDA compiled a list of 92 symptoms, including death. Dr. Betty Martini, the founder of Mission Possible International, works with doctors around the world in an effort to remove aspartame from food, drinks and medicine. According to Dr. Martini, aspartame has brought more complaints to the FDA than any other additive and is responsible for 75% of such complaints to that agency.
[True, but slight corrections are required. Dr. Martini received copies of the annual Aspartame reports from 1995, 1996, and 1997] –
As per the June 26th 1997 report, there had been 7,250 complaints between 1980 and that time. Of these, 55% were related to beverages (especially “diet soft drinks”), and approximately 22% were related to “Table-top Sweeteners” – (defined here). You can view examples of “aspartame table-top sweeteners” here.
You can view a copy of the FOI reports received by Dr. Martini here.
(alternatively, you can access a copy from the internet archive here).
You can view an open letter by Dr. Martini here.
More recently, the EPA found Aspartame to be a potentially dangerous chemical along with BPA, which you've no doubt heard a lot about in the news lately. Aspartame, not so much.
[ The article, likely true and reported by award-winning NY Times journalist Sheila Kaplan, references a 12-member EPA research team led by scientists Crofton and Mundy based in North Carolina. You can view some of their research here.]
Martini says NutraSweet (a tabletop sweetener that contains aspartame) is a "deadly neurotoxic drug masquerading as an additive. It interacts with all antidepressants, L-dopa, Coumadin, hormones, insulin, all cardiac medication, and many others. It is also a chemical hypersensitisation drug that interacts with vaccines, other toxins, and other unsafe sweeteners like Splenda, which has a chlorinated base like DDT and can cause autoimmune disease. It has a synergistic and additive effect with MSG. Both being excitotoxins, the aspartic acid in aspartame, and MSG, the glutamate people were found using aspartame as the placebo for MSG studies, even before it was approved. The FDA has known this for a quarter of a century and has done nothing even though it's against the law."
[I am unable to confirm the above quotations and assertions of Dr Martini - I did find a study that suggested that a dose equivalent to 7 sachets of Nutrasweet® temporarily increased blood triglycerides by a probably statistically significant amount in diabetics (but not in healthy volunteers) – a finding that should have been reported in the paper’s results and summary, but was not - it takes courage for researchers to report that which would harm corporate profits].
So how does Donald Rumsfeld fit into all this? A little history:
In 1985, Monsanto [the same company that brought us Glyphosate/Roundup - a controversial herbicide] 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 the report of a 1980 FDA Board of Inquiry, comprised of three independent scientists, which confirmed that it "might induce brain tumours." The FDA had previously banned aspartame based on this finding, only to have then-Searle Chairman Donald Rumsfeld vow to "call in his markers," to get it approved. Here's how it happened:
Ronald Reagan was sworn in as president January 21, 1981. Rumsfeld, while still CEO at Searle, was part of Reagan's transition team. This team hand-picked Dr. Arthur Hull Hayes, Jr., to be the new FDA commissioner. Dr. Hayes, a pharmacologist, had no previous experience with food additives before being appointed director of the FDA. On January 21, 1981, the day after Ronald Reagan's inauguration, Reagan issued an executive order eliminating the FDA commissioners' authority to take action and Searle re-applied to the FDA for approval to use aspartame in food sweetener. Hayes, Reagan's new FDA commissioner, 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. So Hayes installed a sixth member on the commission, and the vote became deadlocked. He then personally broke the tie in Aspartame's favour
Picture:
Commissioner Hayes of the FDA - the man who - despite proven toxicities re-approved aspartame.
One of Hayes' first official acts as FDA chief was to approve the use of aspartame as an artificial sweetener in dry goods on July 18, 1981. In order to accomplish this feat, Hayes had to overlook the scuttled grand jury investigation of Searle [also this], overcome the Bressler Report, ignore the PBOI's recommendations and pretend aspartame did not chronically sicken and kill thousands of lab animals
[the Public Board of Enquiry had provided a minimal audit of a small hand-picked sample of Searle Laboratory’s toxicity studies (in rodents), and focussed upon the quality of research and reporting – not the interpretation of the findings].
Commisioner Hayes left his post at the FDA in December, 1983, amid accusations that he was accepting corporate gifts for political favors [documented here]. Just before leaving office in scandal, Hayes approved the use of aspartame in beverages [confirmed]. After Hayes left the FDA under allegations of impropriety [unable to confirm these], he served briefly as Provost at New York Medical College, and then took a position as a high-paid senior medical advisor with Burson-Marsteller, the chief public relations firm for both Monsanto and GD Searle. Since that time, he has never spoken publicly about aspartame.
FYI, here's Rachel Maddow on Burson-Marsteller: "When Evil needs public relations, Evil has Burson-Marsteller on speed dial." [confirmed here]
Evil, thy name is chemical food additives.
Here's the kicker: When Searle was absorbed by Monsanto in 1985, Donald Rumsfeld reportedly received a $12 million bonus [I could not confirm a source for this], pretty big money in those days. Also, while at Searle, Rumsfeld was awarded Outstanding CEO in the Pharmaceutical Industry from the Wall Street Transcript (1980) and Financial World (1981) [true]! Imagine that!
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In my research for this piece, I compiled facts and quotes from some various sources in order to best elucidate this issue. I have done my best to include all of them here so you can check out all the evidence for yourself. Much thanks and respect to those trying to alert the public to this dangerous substance.
Here's the timeline of how things went down: http://www.rense.com/general33/legal.htm
On Rumsfeld and Aspartame: http://www.newswithviews.com/NWVexclusive/exclusive15.htm
Dr. John Olney's letter to the Senate in 1987: http://www.scribd.com/doc/6669992/Dr-John-Olney-Statement-Aspartame-l987
Dr. Joseph Mercola on America's Deadliest Sweetener: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/americas-deadliest-sweete_b_630549.html
Aspartame (Nutrasweet) Toxicity Info Center: http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/
Check out the wonderful work and research of Dr. Betty Martini at www.mpwhi.com and view her latest piece on the link between Aspartame and birth defects at http://www.mpwhi.com/aspartame_causes_birth_defects.htm
Story ends
Coming soon:
Aspartame: evidence of ongoing harms