New Mexico legislators demand aspartame withdrawal

Eleven legislators in New Mexico have asked President GW Bush, FDA chief Von Eschenbach and the Health Secretary Michael Leavitt, to override and cancel the previous approval of Aspartame, a controversial artificial sweetener that was approved over the resistance of FDA scientists, as a result of the political intervention of now Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. In their letter, the legislators reason that the sweetener's FDA approval should be rescinded, citing the tendency of aspartame to be metabolized into methanol and formaldehyde, both highly toxic to humans. Additionally, when Aspartame is heated, it turns into a brain tumor-causing agent called diketopiperazine.

Courtesy of Healthy News Service