mark@cbosgd.UUCP (06/30/83)
So Aspartame is really the generic name for Nutrasweet, eh? Well, you might all be interested in an article I read in the paper a few days ago. (Sorry I don't have it in front of me.) The FDA was about to issue the go-ahead for Aspartame in soft drinks (apparently that means soda but doesn't apply to powdered mixes like Kool-Aid) when somebody came up with a very preliminary finding that suggested that when Aspartame is consumed with carbohydrates, it might cause mental retardation and/or some other form of brain damage. The person (he's some researcher somewhere - I forget where) asked the FDA to hold off with the approval while some more solid tests could be run. The original tests were the usual feed-a-ton-a-day-to-a-rat variety. To me this is scary. I was all for a decent tasting diet soda, but now I'm afraid to drink Crystal Light until this is resolved. I doubt there's really much risk - after all, we KNOW sacharin causes cancer, yet it's still on the shelves, and I don't know anybody who's gotten cancer from it. For those of you in Canada - the stuff is sold wholesale in the USA as Nutrasweet, and retail in such products as Equal (plain powdered sweetener ala Sweet-n-low), Crystal Light (new powdered drink mix - I've tried the lemonade and I can't tell the difference between it and regular lemonade), Kool-Aid, and some Iced Tea (Lipton, I think). There are probably a few others I can't think of right now. It's glaringly missing from soda pop. Diet Coke came out a couple of months ago, with essentially identical ingredients to Tab. (I think it has only 5/6 as much caffiene - that's the difference!) It will be interesting to see what they have in Canada. If you want a decent tasting diet soda here, you just about have to choose between diet 7up and diet Dr. Pepper, both of which are sort of reasonable. I have no idea why these taste better than diet cola, but they sure do.
dyer@wivax.UUCP (Stephen Dyer) (07/02/83)
Aspartame was approved today (7/1) by the FDA for use in carbonated diet softdrinks. I haven't read the article which claims brain damage, but it's hard to imagine how it could--the stuff is hydrolyzed to its component amino acids in the stomach and small intestine, just like any protein, and these two amino acids are present in all protein foods.