Paxman confronts Coca-Cola

[Sinny]

This is surprising, I actually dislike Paxman that much - I found myself sitting here thinking, on behalf of the Coca Cola representive, after Paxman said "things need to change", and the rep agree'd - I would have just said:

"People choose to drink it, that's their choice".

Which it is.
Obviously I don't support dastardly corporations either... But the fact remains lol.

[Amaterasu]

The whole idea that somehow the "zero calorie" option is "better" than the sugared one chaps My tail end.  Aspartame (originally a rat poison) as substitute for sugar replaces a natural substance that at least Our bodies recognize and can process (however well in any given Individual) with an unnatural substance that is proven poisonous.  Sounds delightful, eh?  "Better."  Not.

If stevia was used as the sugar substitute, I might say coke was not so bad.  But Aspartame?  Part of Agenda 21 to kill off 90% of Us.

EDIT:  How interesting.  Comments on YT are turned off on this piece.  Why do You think?  Because People will point out the rat poison in the "zero calorie" version?

[ArMaP]

Aspartame (originally a rat poison) as substitute for sugar replaces a natural substance that at least Our bodies recognize and can process (however well in any given Individual) with an unnatural substance that is proven poisonous.  Sounds delightful, eh?  "Better."  Not.

I agree, our bodies were made to process sugar, not aspartame, but could you please point to some evidence that it was originally a rat poison?

Thanks in advance.

PS: now that I have diabetes I have been eating some things with aspartame and other artificial sweeteners, but my youngest sister cannot, aspartame, even in small amounts, is bad for her digestive system.

[rdunk]

snopes says it is untrue, about Aspartame being originally a poison. Actually snopes mentions this accusation seems to have been predicated upon  what was originally a "spoof" publication.

http://www.snopes.com/media/notnews/antpoison.asp

[Sinny]

Probably disabled the comments for that one reason Amy.

I worked behind the bar for 4 years and it was so difficult to keep my mouth shut when eveyone came to order diet. I wanted to educate them, but I couldn't do that at work

I seriously cut out the manufactured amino acids when a lady swore blind that she was a new person after removing them from her diet.

I always try to avoid the stuff (although that's a difficult task).
I appalled a shop keeper the once because they had one of those 'meal deals' on, sandwich, crisps n pop for so and so amount.

Now, I did grab the sandwich and the crisps, but I deliberately chose a seperate pop that was Aspartame free (Drench), and the shop keeper 'kindly' reminded me if I swapped the drink I got the 'deal'.... I was surprisingly annoyed, so I went on to inform him that I knew exactly what I was buying and WHY. He looked at me like I had 3 heads lool.

See, they say it's harmless in small amounts, but they fail to highlight the small print which includes.... "It's everywhere in everything".

If memory serves me correctly Aspartame was known to cause brain cancer in a high percentage of lab rats (literally), and it was removed from the market a number of times, but the beloved FDA (is that correct?) Keep rebranding it, and re-selling it.

(Typos I know)

[Amaterasu]

snopes says it is untrue, about Aspartame being originally a poison. Actually snopes mentions this accusation seems to have been predicated upon  what was originally a "spoof" publication.

http://www.snopes.com/media/notnews/antpoison.asp

Snopes is run by two women with zero credentials and is a mouthpiece for money interests.

I have discovered that, whereas I found many articles a few years ago about the rat poison being tasted and discovered to be sweet, and thus was born Aspartame, now those seem to be scrubbed.  What I could find:

http://healthyhealingcy.wordpress.com/tag/rat-poison/  Tagged with rat poison, but no mention of it in the article.














Guess only fluoride takes the rat poison prize.

[Amaterasu]

I agree, our bodies were made to process sugar, not aspartame, but could you please point to some evidence that it was originally a rat poison?

Thanks in advance.

PS: now that I have diabetes I have been eating some things with aspartame and other artificial sweeteners, but my youngest sister cannot, aspartame, even in small amounts, is bad for her digestive system.

Look into seeing if You can find stevia there in Portugal.  Not only is it calorie-less, it also supports healthy blood sugar levels.

[ArMaP]

Look into seeing if You can find stevia there in Portugal.  Not only is it calorie-less, it also supports healthy blood sugar levels.

Thanks, I will look for it.

[zorgon]

Aspartame (originally a rat poison)

For people that have little knowledge of chemistry  making a connection to rat poison may sound nasty and is certainly a good way to spread fear...



Now I am NOT a fan of aspartame... but just making a statement like that is erroneous at best.


Take Belladonna(or deadly nightshade)  for example. The foliage and berries are extremely toxic, Its long been used as a poison. The Romans used it as a poison, a cosmetic and medicine though

Today many drugs that save lives are made from it, like atropine

The point is that a toxic substance can be (and is commonly) used to create other useful substances that are no longer toxic

So just making a blanket staement like "Its made from rat poison!"  in not the whole picture and more alarmist than factual

BOTOX  used by many women today for cosmetic use. They inject it for getting rid of wrinkles. BOTOX is also used for migraines  yet BOTOX is Botulinum toxin

Botulinum toxin is a protein and neurotoxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum.[1][2] It is the most acutely lethal toxin known, with an estimated human median lethal dose (LD-50) of 1.3–2.1 ng/kg intravenously or intramuscularly and 10–13 ng/kg when inhaled.[3] Botulinum toxin (BTX) can cause botulism, a serious and life-threatening illness in humans and animals

[sky otter]

Aspartame

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



N-(L-?-Aspartyl)-L-phenylalanine,
1-methyl ester
 

Properties

Molecular formula C14H18N2O5
Molar mass 294.30 g mol?1
Density 1.347 g/cm3
Melting point 246–247 °C
Boiling point decomposes
Solubility in water sparingly soluble
Solubility slightly soluble in ethanol
Acidity (pKa) 4.5–6.0[2]

Hazards

NFPA 704

   

Aspartame (APM; /?æsp?rte?m/ or /??sp?rte?m/) is an artificial, non-saccharide sweetener used as a sugar substitute in some foods and beverages. In the European Union, it is codified as E951. Aspartame is a methyl ester of the aspartic acid/phenylalanine dipeptide. It was first sold under the brand name NutraSweet; It was first synthesized in 1965 and the patent expired in 1992.

The safety of aspartame has been the subject of several political and medical controversies, United States congressional hearings and Internet hoaxes[3][4][5] since its initial approval for use in food products by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1981.[6]:2 The European Food Safety Authority concluded in its 2013 re-evaluation that aspartame and its breakdown products are safe for human consumption at current levels of exposure,[7] corroborating other medical reviews.[8] However, because its breakdown products include phenylalanine, aspartame must be avoided by people with the genetic condition phenylketonuria (PKU).
Properties and use[edit]


Beta aspartame differs from aspartame based on which carboxyl group binds to phenylalanine


Beta-aspartame differs from aspartame based upon which carboxyl group of aspartate binds to the nitrogen of phenylalanine.
Aspartame, an artificial sweetener, is approximately 200 times sweeter than sucrose, or table sugar. Due to this property, even though aspartame produces four kilocalories of energy per gram when metabolized, the quantity of aspartame needed to produce a sweet taste is so small that its caloric contribution is negligible.[8] The taste of aspartame and other artificial sweeteners differs from that of table sugar in the times of onset and how long the sweetness lasts, though aspartame comes closest to sugar's taste profile among approved artificial sweeteners.[10] The sweetness of aspartame lasts longer than sucrose, so it is often blended with other artificial sweeteners such as acesulfame potassium to produce an overall taste more like sugar.[12] Aspartame can be synthesized from its constituent amino acids, L-phenylalanine and L-aspartate.

Like many other peptides, aspartame may hydrolyze (break down) into its constituent amino acids under conditions of elevated temperature or high pH. This makes aspartame undesirable as a baking sweetener, and prone to degradation in products hosting a high pH, as required for a long shelf life. The stability of aspartame under heating can be improved to some extent by encasing it in fats or in maltodextrin. The stability when dissolved in water depends markedly on pH. At room temperature, it is most stable at pH 4.3, where its half-life is nearly 300 days. At pH 7, however, its half-life is only a few days. Most soft-drinks have a pH between 3 and 5, where aspartame is reasonably stable. In products that may require a longer shelf life, such as syrups for fountain beverages, aspartame is sometimes blended with a more stable sweetener, such as saccharin.[13]

Aspartame's major decomposition products are its cyclic dipeptide (in a 2,5-diketopiperazine, or DKP, form), the de-esterified dipeptide (aspartyl-phenylalanine), and its constituent components, phenylalanine,[14] aspartic acid,[15] and methanol.[16] At 180 °C, aspartame undergoes decomposition to form a diketopiperazine derivative.[17]

In products such as powdered beverages, the amine in aspartame can undergo a Maillard reaction with the aldehyde groups present in certain aroma compounds. The ensuing loss of both flavor and sweetness can be prevented by protecting the aldehyde as an acetal.

Descriptive analyses of solutions containing aspartame report a sweet aftertaste as well as bitter and off-flavor aftertastes


Chemistry[edit]

Aspartame is a methyl ester of the dipeptide of the natural amino acids L-aspartic acid and L-phenylalanine. Under strongly acidic or alkaline conditions, aspartame may generate methanol by hydrolysis. Under more severe conditions, the peptide bonds are also hydrolyzed, resulting in the free amino acids.[9]

While known aspects of synthesis are covered by patents, many details are proprietary.[10] Two approaches to synthesis are used commercially. In the chemical synthesis, the two carboxyl groups of aspartic acid are joined into an anhydride, and the amino group is protected by a compound that will prevent further reactions of that group. Phenylalanine is methylated and combined with the N-protected aspartic anhydride, then the blocking group is removed from aspartic acid by acid hydrolysis. The drawback of this technique is that a byproduct, the bitter tasting ?-form, is produced when the wrong carboxyl group from aspartic acid links to phenylalanine. A process using an enzyme from Bacillus thermoproteolyticus to catalyze the condensation of the chemically altered amino acids will produce high yields without the ?-form byproduct. A variant of this method, which has not been used commercially, uses unmodified aspartic acid, but produces low yields. Methods for directly producing aspartyl-phenylalanine by enzymatic means, followed by chemical methylation, have also been tried, but not scaled for industrial production.[11]

Discovery and approval[edit]

Aspartame was discovered in 1965 by James M. Schlatter, a chemist working for G.D. Searle & Company. Schlatter had synthesized aspartame as an intermediate step in generating a tetrapeptide of the hormone gastrin, for use in assessing an anti-ulcer drug candidate.[19] He accidentally discovered its sweet taste when he licked his finger, which had become contaminated with aspartame, to lift up a piece of paper.[8][20][21]

In 1975, prompted by issues regarding Flagyl and Aldactone, a U.S. FDA task force team reviewed 25 studies submitted by the manufacturer, including 11 on aspartame. The team reported "serious deficiencies in Searle's operations and practices".[6] The FDA sought to authenticate 15 of the submitted studies against the supporting data. In 1979, the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) concluded, since many problems with the aspartame studies were minor and did not affect the conclusions, the studies could be used to assess aspartame's safety.[6]

In 1980, the FDA convened a Public Board of Inquiry (PBOI) consisting of independent advisors charged with examining the purported relationship between aspartame and brain cancer. The PBOI concluded aspartame does not cause brain damage, but it recommended against approving aspartame at that time, citing unanswered questions about cancer in laboratory rats.[6]:94–96[22]

Citing data from a Japanese study that had not been available to the members of the PBOI,[23] and after seeking advice from an expert panel that found fault with statistical analyses underlying the PBOI's hesitation, yet argued against approval,[6]:53 FDA commissioner Hayes approved aspartame for use in dry goods.[6] In 1983, the FDA further approved aspartame for use in carbonated beverages, and for use in other beverages, baked goods, and confections in 1993. In 1996, the FDA removed all restrictions from aspartame, allowing it to be used in all foods.

Several European Union countries approved aspartame in the 1980s, with EU-wide approval in 1994. The European Commission Scientific Committee on Food reviewed subsequent safety studies and reaffirmed the approval in 2002. The European Food Safety Authority reported in 2006 that the previously established Acceptable daily intake was appropriate, after reviewing yet another set of studies.[24]


United States Pharmacopeia[26]

Safety and approval controversies[edit]

Main article: Aspartame controversy

Aspartame has been found to be safe for human consumption by more than ninety countries worldwide,[27][28] with FDA officials describing aspartame as "one of the most thoroughly tested and studied food additives the agency has ever approved" and its safety as "clear cut",[29] but has been the subject of several controversies, hoaxes[3] and health scares.[30]

Initially aspartame was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1974, however, problems with Searle's safety testing program, including testing of aspartame, were discovered subsequently. The approval was rescinded the following year, but after outside reviews of the problematic tests and additional testing, final approval was granted in 1981. Because allegations of conflicts of interest marred the FDA's approval of aspartame,[6][31][32] the U.S. Government Accountability Office reviewed the actions of involved officials in 1986 and the approval process in 1987; neither the allegations of conflict of interest nor problems in the final approval process were substantiated.[6][33]

In addition, the Centers for Disease Control investigated in 1984 and was unable to find any significant epidemiological associations to serious risk or harm.[34]

Since December 1998, a widely circulated email hoax cited aspartame as the cause of numerous diseases.[35]

The weight of existing scientific evidence indicates that aspartame is safe at current levels of consumption as a non-nutritive sweetener.[8] Reviews conducted by regulatory agencies decades after aspartame was first approved have supported its continued availability.[36] The consumer advocacy group the Center for Science in the Public Interest continues to promote the position that aspartame is not safe.[37]

Safety and health effects[edit]

The safety of aspartame has been studied extensively since its discovery with research that includes animal studies, clinical and epidemiological research, and postmarketing surveillance,[38] with aspartame being one of the most rigorously tested food ingredients to date.[39] Peer-reviewed comprehensive review articles and independent reviews by governmental regulatory bodies have analyzed the published research on the safety of aspartame and have found aspartame is safe for consumption at current levels.[8][38][40][41] Aspartame has been deemed safe for human consumption by over 100 regulatory agencies in their respective countries,[41] including the UK Food Standards Agency,[42] the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)[43] and Health Canada.[44]

[rdunk]

Good detail info sky! I suppose some skeptics might suspect/say that Aspartame probably wrote the wiki report!??

I still think Equal/Aspartame is the best tasting artificial sweetener! But, I do still believe that nothing beats the sweetness taste of good ole sugar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sky otter]

yeah rdunk
it always amazes me how people will shoot off their mouths  and repeat things without checking the facts first   

[zorgon]

But, I do still believe that nothing beats the sweetness taste of good ole sugar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Are you aware that COCKROACHES will not touch refined sugar (or margerine)?

"food" for thought

[ArMaP]

Are you aware that COCKROACHES will not touch refined sugar (or margerine)?

Could you please point to some evidence that what you just wrote is true?

Thanks in advance.

[rdunk]

I have already looked it up earlier ArMaP, and it is mixed. I didn't save anything, but apparently some cockroaches have, by fairly quick evolutionary means, developed a "bitter taste" for anything sweet. This came about as a result of exterminators using sweetness to hide the bitter taste of poison prepared and presented for killing cockroaches. So, over time "some" cockroaches in "some" countries now will not eat anything that is sweet. But then, there are other cockroaches in other countries that still will eat sweetness.

The article I read said that these cockroaches now sample a potential food first with some body part/antenna, that senses for taste - if it is bitter, then they do not eat it.