With the history of how the FDA reversed its position on Aspartame / Phenylalanine from an initial decline, this puts a different light onto the world we face today where a huge number of individuals are overweight and heading to an early death, plus the immeasurable damage which artificial sweeteners might have caused to mental and physical development. Can the military-industrial complex be to blame for all this ?
There should be an international court convened to hear the evidence against artificial sweeteners which are being pumped into the food supply, including into children's medicine. It seems ironic that medicine which is supposed to cure you might be making you worse in the long term -- which would require us to buy even more medicines from these corporations.
http://www.spiderednews.com/AspartameandPhenylalanine_I.htm?url=@http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/magazine/7367548.stm
The miracle berry
Imagine an extract from a berry that would make sour things taste sweet and help you lose weight. Then imagine not being allowed to take it.
The world is getting fatter. One billion people are overweight, and 300 million of those are clinically obese.
The search is always on for replacements for those things that, eaten in excess, make us obese - fatty and sugary foods. There is no miracle pill that can replace either. Nearly four decades ago one man came close to providing a tablet that could reduce our love of sugar. In the 1960s, Robert Harvey, a biomedical postgraduate student, encountered the miracle berry, an African fruit which turns sour tastes to sweet.
The FDA, which had previously been very supportive, wrote to Miralin, effectively banning its product. No co-incidence, according to Don Emery.
"I honestly believe that we were done in by some industrial interest that did not want to see us survive because we were a threat. Somebody influenced somebody in the FDA to cause the regulatory action that was taken against us."
The Calorie Control Council, which represents artificial sweetener manufacturers in the US, has failed to respond to questions on the issue.
The Food and Drugs Administration also refused to be interviewed and has indicated that a Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation request to look at the relevant FDA files will not be considered for a year. Robert Harvey had requested the same files over 30 years ago.
"We got back the most redacted information I've ever seen from FOI. Everything was blacked out. There would have been material in the file that would have embarrassed the FDA, I believe."
Faced with this silence, it's virtually impossible to assess what actually happened to prevent the miracle berry's progress to a sugar-free market.
But one thing is certain, it never got the chance to prove whether it really would have provided a miracle in our ever fattening world. And for Robert Harvey, that's the biggest shame of all.
"It was a big loss not only for my employees and shareholders but, even more importantly, for diabetics and other people with special dietary needs. It was tragic."
More reports on Aspartame / Phenylalanine can be found on
http://www.spiderednews.com/AspartameandPhenylalanine.htm