It is 160 times sweeter than sugar (sucrose), and is marketed under a number of trademarked names, such as "NutraSweet" and "Canderel". It is a common sweetener in prepared foods, particularly soft drinks. Aspartame is one of the sugar substitutes used by diabetics. Because phenylalanine is part of its composition, and is deleterious to sufferers of the genetic disorder phenylketonuria, products containing aspartame usually have a warning label that they contain phenylalanine, in compliance with U.S. FDA guidelines. Aspartame breaks down at a lower temperature than other artificial sweeteners, and is unsuitable for use in baking or to sweeten coffee and tea.
Many people, though probably only a small percentage of the population, also find the taste of Aspartame very unpleasant. It is thought that this taste response is genetic in nature, but so far no studies have been done.
Aspartame was discovered in 1965 by researchers at the G.D. Searle company (later purchased by Monsanto). Initial safety testing suggested that aspartame caused brain tumors in rats; as a result, the additive was held up in the United States for many years in the Food and Drug Administration's approval process. 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 that aspartame did not cause brain damage, but recommended against approving aspartame at that time, citing unanswered questions about cancer in laboratory rats. In 1981, FDA Commissioner Arthur Hull Hayes, newly appointed by President Ronald Reagan, approved aspartame as a food additive, citing data from a Japanese study that had not been available to the members of the PBOI. [1]
Since the FDA approved aspartame for consumption, some researchers have suggested that a rise in brain tumor rates in the United States may be at least partially related to the increasing availability and consumption of aspartame. [1], [1] However, more recent research has failed to find any link between aspartame and cancer or other health problems. [1], [1]
One of the many hypotheses about the causes of Gulf war syndrome is that the soldiers, drinking huge quantities of fluids (soft drinks) in the extreme heat, accumulated toxic doses of methanol, formaldehyde, diketopiperazine and formic acid from the breakdown of aspartame into its component molecules. However, the symptoms do not greatly resemble those of classic methanol poisoning, and the body, in its normal metabolism, produces methanol in quantities comparable or greater than would be ingested via aspartame, so this theory does not have wide support.
See also: artificial sweetener.
Health Effects
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