- Shrunken thymus glands (up to 40 percent shrinkage)
- Enlarged liver and kidneys.
- Atrophy of lymph follicles in the spleen and thymus
- Increased cecal weight
- Reduced growth rate
- Decreased red blood cell count
- Hyperplasia of the pelvis
- Extension of the pregnancy period
- Aborted pregnancy
- Decreased fetal body weight and placental weight
- Diarrhea
Many European countries have discontinued the use of artificial sweeteners for good reason. Tests on
animals have revealed that saccharin can cause cancer of the bladder. And a recent study on aspartame
conducted by the Ramazzini Foundation shows that aspartame causes a dose-dependent increase in all
sorts of cancers (lymphomas, leukemias and breast cancers) when consumed at levels comparable to those
ingested by humans in diet soft drinks. The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal
Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP), the most widely-read environmental science journal in the
world. It confirms the results of a previous study by the Ramazzini Foundation documenting the cancer-
causing effects of aspartame in animals.
The European Food Commission is particularly concerned about the overconsumption of sweeteners
by children. In the mid 1990s, the British government announced that 2.5 mg/kg of body weight was the
acceptable (safe) daily intake (ADI) of saccharin. Today, the average person consumes about 14 mg/kg of
body weight per day. Diabetics consume even of it. Since not every person uses saccharin or eats foods
that contain it, many people must therefore be consuming as much as 20 mg/kg/day or more. Through
repeated intake of the sweeteners, many children and adults “expect” that a variety of foods and drinks
taste very sweet, a characteristic most of them never have in their natural form. The masking of the
natural taste of these products has consequences—there is a price to be paid for falling into the “sweet”
trap.
Check out the ingredients in artificial sweeteners nowadays. NutraSweet®, for example, contains
Formaldehyde, L-Phenylalanine, Acetaldehyde, Benzaldhyde, Methane, Dimethoxy, Propanone, Ethane,
Propane, Benezene, Paraformaldehyde, L-Phenylalanine, L-Aspartic acid, Oxazolidinecarboxylic acid,
and many more deadly chemicals. Even if you don’t know any of these poisons, the next time you eat or
drink anything that contains neotame, aspartame or sucralose, remember that there is nothing natural
about them at all. None of these chemicals are suitable for human consumption. Formaldehyde alone is a
powerful cancer-causing agent.
Politics Versus Ethics
Fortunately, a resistance movement is growing to prevent further damage from these harmful products.
On April 6th, 2004 lawsuits were filed in three separate California courts against twelve companies that
either produce or use the artificial sweetener aspartame as a sugar substitute in their products. The suits
were filed in Shasta, Sonoma and Butte Counties in California. The suits allege that the food companies
committed fraud and breach of warranty by marketing products to the public such as Diet Coke, Diet
Pepsi, sugar-free gum, Flintstone's vitamins, yogurt and children's aspirin with the full knowledge that