E number guide

Aspartame (E951) used as a sweetener in many products, even non-diet ones such as Lemonade. Of all the additives there are it also comes across as one of the scariest due to the list of things it is supposed to be responsible for. It is an intense sweetener, 200 times sweeter than sugar, that is synthesised from aspartic acid and phenylalanine.

You’ll probably recognise it for sale in as Canderel and Nutrasweet. But pretty much any food product out there labled as low-sugar, low-carb, low-fat, diet or lite will contain it.

It was originally banned as it was thought to be carcinogenic, but it somehow managed to find it’s way back onto our shelves. Indeed the UK Food Guide website says that “despite US FDA approval as a ‘safe’ additive, aspartame is one of the most dangerous substances ever to be foisted upon an unsuspecting public.” They go on to state that “reactions have included: headaches/migraines, dizziness, seizures, nausea, muscle spasm, weight gain, rashes, depression, fatigue, irritability, tachycardia, vision problems, breathing difficulties, anxiety attacks, vertigo, tinitus, memory loss and joint pain.”

The more you read into aspartame, the worse it gets. Personally I’d say steer clear of it as much as you can.

Further reading:

• E951 - Aspartame
• Bryngollie
• UK Food Guide

I’ve added this interview to emphasise the harm that can be done by Aspartame (E951). Aspartame is a sweetener used in far far to many of our food items these days and has a scary number of reported effects to everyone.

Dr. Janet Starr Hull, PhD., CN

This aspartame interview was granted on 8/30/03 with Rebecca Kang from Singapore:

Interview

Q: How often does an average person happen to consume products with aspartame?

A; Daily in the United States. Aspartame is put into so many different products, consumers are exposed to it without awareness much of the time. Aspartame is in many products NOT labeled sugar-free, such as gums, cereals, ice creams, yogurts, and medications. I also have clients who consume up to a 12 pack of diet colas daily. And keep in mind, that children are consuming more and more aspartame laced products at earlier and earlier ages, which means they will develop health problems at earlier and earlier ages. Henceforth, the onslaught of children’s disease syndromes - diabetes, ADD/ADHD, depression and behavioral disorders.
(more…)

A study involving 1800 rats (equal quantities of male and female) had previously linked aspartame intake with increased lymphomas and leukemias in the female ones. The study was set up to stimulate the amount of aspartame that humans would take, but the industry argues that the amounts the scientists used was out - by a large factor. They hit out saying that “The researchers at Ramazzini have not followed the internationally established protocol for evaluation of animal carcinogenicity study findings,� said the organization. Their justification for this mainly being, it seems, that the Ramazzini study is not in the MedLine (National Library of Medicine) database.

Further Reading:

• E951 - Aspartame
• in-pharmatechnologist.com