LETTERS OF TESTIMONY TO THE HAWAII HOUSE COMMITTEE ON HEALTH CONCERNING ASPARTAME



From: Abby Cormack, Actress, New Zealand


Full Health Effects of Aspartame Should Be Investigated
By Abby Cormack, 2/12/2008 9:39:43 AM

This testimony to the Hawaii House Health Comittee is from New Zealand Actress Abby Cormack in Khandallah, Wellington. She can be reached at: abbycormack@gmail.com

I wish to request a full inquiry into the health effects of aspartame.

After suffering debilitating physical and psychological symptoms for over four months, my diagnosis came by chance as I was desperate for answers on my deteriorating medical condition. When googling "aspartame" and finding thousands of websites warning me of the effects of this chemical, I immediately stopped consuming the sugar free chewing gum and diet coke, both of which contained the neurotoxin - aspartame (otherwise known as 951).

Numerous unnecessary trips to the doctors, tests for Diabetes, Lupus, Multiple Sclerosis, electrolyte imbalances, mineral deficiencies (all returned negative) and within 48 hours of removing aspartame from my diet, my excruciating limb discomfort starting subsiding. Just the first sign of recovery. One change to my lifestyle, and within the following two weeks, every single one of both my physical and psychological symptoms disappeared. I believe my experience with aspartame is just the tip of the iceberg and there are most certainly other people in New Zealand who are unknowingly going through similar health problems I did due to their consumption of aspartame.

Since my case became public I have received many emails from other potential victims. One case in particular, mimicked my four month ordeal, and like I did, has become progressively healthy since cutting aspartame from his diet. Other emails are from concerned relatives who are recognising similar psychological signs in their family members.

Unfortunately these victims alongside the medical profession are simply not identifying these health problems alongside their intake of 951.

In some respects, the severity of my symptoms alerted me to the fact that I wasn't just suffering from a minor problem, such as stress, or spending too much time in front of a computer. Across New Zealand, the above circumstances are being confused with aspartame poisoning.

The 92 symptom list released by the American Food and Drug Administration themselves is a clear indication as to what aspartame has been responsible for, and what I believe is causing detrimental health effects to many people, most importantly the children of New Zealand.

Brief history of aspartame

Originally listed by the Pentagon as a bio chemical warfare agent, aspartame today can now be found in over 5000 products on our super market shelves.

Commercially sold under NutraSweet, Canderel, Wrigley's, aspartame is slowly making it's way into vitamins (for children!!) and over the counter drugs.

Because it contains no calorific value, it is considered a healthy option, and encouraged as a sugar alternative for Diabetics, and people suffering from Obesity.

Concerns over aspartame's toxicity meant that for eight years the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) denied it's approval, essentially keeping it off the world market. NutraSweet has been at the centre of intense controversy almost since July 18 1981, the day Arthur Hull Hayes Jr approved its use in dry foods. In rendering his decision, Hayes overturned the public board of inquiry which voted 3-0 to ban aspartame because research had not proved with "reasonable certainty" that the sweetener was safe. An eight-month United Press International investigation not only turned up scientific concerns, but also raised questions about the way the product was approved. Firstly in regards to the independence and depth of industry funded research, and secondly about the "revolving door" relationship between FDA officials including former commissioner Arthur Hull Hayes Jr and the food and drink industries.

Why is aspartame harmful?

Aspartame components are 50% Phenylalanine; 40% Aspartic Acid and 10% Methanol Methanol is a dangerous poison that cannot be legally be added to food in any civilized country worldwide. Cumulatively, methanol is known to remove the insulation from nerve axons, producing symptoms identical to Multiple Sclerosis, a condition I was tested for more than once during the 4 months I was seeking answers on my medical condition. Methanol enters the body's cells and is converted to formaldehyde, an undetectable toxin and recognized cancer causing agent of the highest order (Group 1) by the International Agency for Research of Cancer. Humans lack the enzymes which prevent methanol from metabolizing into formaldehyde, the process which takes place as soon as aspartame is consumed.

No diagnostic procedures can detect a protein molecule damaged by formaldehyde, yet the damaged molecule loses function, hence the reason I could not get a toxic reading in my blood count. Subsequently, damaged protein molecules are not tolerated by the immune system.

In response to these concerns, spokespeople for the soft drink beverage industry and for the NZFSA claim that there is a large amount of methanol consumed in the normal diet and that a "little" more from aspartame will do no harm. However, one can of aspartame sweetened diet coke yields 16 milligrams of methanol, more than twice the amount of methanol from other sources in a typical diet.

Furthermore, methanol consumed within fruit is bound by pectin, a substance attached to the methanol molecule so the toxic breakdown does not occur independently. As well as this, fruit contains ethanol, the natural antidote for methanol.

Since scientists discovered that humans lack the liver enzyme which metabolizes methanol, (this enzyme is present in animals) this toxin has been forbidden in foods and must always be packaged with a label showing a skull and crossbones, the universal symbol for poison.

Requests to lawmakers: