Aspertame an FDA approved poison

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In 1987, the U.S. Government Accountability Office concluded that the food additive approval process had been followed for aspartame. Based on government research reviews and recommendations from advisory bodies such as the European Commission’s Scientific Committee on Food and the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives, aspartame has been found to be safe for human consumption by more than ninety countries world-wide. In 1999, FDA scientists described the safety of aspartame as "clear cut" and stated that the product is "one of the most thoroughly tested and studied food additives the agency has ever approved."

Methanol and formaldehyde
Approximately 10% of aspartame (by mass) is broken down into methanol in the small intestine. Most of the methanol is absorbed and quickly converted into formaldehyde and then to formic acid. The metabolism of aspartame does not damage the body because: (a) the quantity of methanol produced is too small to disrupt normal physiological processes; (b) methanol and formaldehyde are natural by-products of human metabolism and are safely processed by various enzymes; (c) there is more methanol in some natural fruit juices and alcoholic beverages than is derived from aspartame ingestion; and (d) even large doses of pure methanol have been shown in non-human primate studies to lead to ample accumulation of formic acid (as formate), while no formaldehyde was detected.
In experiments on rodents given radiolabeled aspartame, labeled protein and DNA accumulated in the brain, liver, kidneys and other tissues after ingestion of either 20 mg/kg or 200 mg/kg of aspartame. However, these scientists were not directly measuring formaldehyde, but simply measuring levels of some by-product of the methanol from aspartame.

Phenylalanine
50% of aspartame by mass is broken down into phenylalanine, one of the nine essential amino acids commonly found in foods. A rise in blood plasma phenylalanine is negligible in typical use of aspartame and their studies show no significant effects on neurotransmitter levels in the brain or changes in seizure thresholds.
Adverse effects of phenylalanine on fetuses have been observed only when blood phenylalanine levels remain at high levels as opposed to spiking occasionally.

Aspartic acid
40% of aspartame by mass is broken down into aspartic acid (aspartate), a natural amino acid of proteins. At high concentrations, aspartic acid can act as an excitotoxin, inflicting damage on brain and nerve cells , but aspartate does not normally cross the blood-brain barrier in most parts of the brain without active uptake by transporters.

Humans and other primates are not as susceptible to excitotoxins as rodents; therefore, it is problematic to make conclusions about human safety from high-dose excitoxin response in rodent studies. Increases in blood plasma levels of aspartic acid after ingestion of aspartame are insufficient to cause concern for human subjects researchers.

Aspartylphenylalanine diketopiperazine
Aspartylphenylalanine diketopiperazine, a type of diketopiperazine (DKP), is created in products as aspartame breaks down over time. For example, researchers found that 6 months after aspartame was put into carbonated beverages, 25% of the aspartame had been converted to DKP.

Concern among some scientists has been expressed that this form of DKP would undergo a nitrosation process in the stomach producing a type of chemical that could cause brain tumors. However, the nitrosation of aspartame or the DKP in the stomach likely does not produce chemicals that cause brain tumors. In addition, only a minuscule amount of the nitrosated chemical can be produced. There are very few human studies on the effects of this form of DKP. However, a (one-day) exposure study showed that the DKP was tolerated without adverse effects.

Might as well add High Fructose Corn Syrup. This man-made sweetener is not digestable by the human body.

Senator Metzenbaum berated Searle's apparently flawed aspartame tests at Senate hearings on August 1, 1985.

"The FDA," said Metzenbaum, "is content to have the manufacturer of aspartame, G.D. Searle, conduct [all necessary safety] studies of the substance. That's absurd."

The Journal of the American Medical Association recently reported--with significant disclaimers--that the consumption of aspartame poses no health risk for most people. However, the report is based on FDA findings relying solely on the tests conducted by G.D. Searle.

Executives of G.D. Searle argue that the use of aspartame as an artificial sweetener has been officially approved not only by the FDA but by foreign regulatory agencies and the World Health Organization. Reviewing the foreign studies on aspartame safety, however, Dr. H.J. Roberts, an internal medicine specialist in West Palm Beach, Florida, found that the approval of the majority of foreign agencies was based on contestable Searle-sponsored aspartame research, not independently conducted tests.

Why would someone use something like Splenda? Well for one people with diabetes such as my self. It’s never been proven to be harmful by competent research. In fact my Dr. tells me not to believe any of that ****. How ever there have been proven smear campaigns from the sugar industry trying to disseminate misinformation to the general public that without any proof just accepts anything they read “If it’s on the internet it must be true” You really need to read more information from reliable sources on this subject.