Miriam wants use of sweeteners regulated

There should be a law against certain kinds of sweetness.

Administration Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago batted yesterday for a ban on the use of the artificial sweetener aspartame in food, beverages and drugs in the country, citing its dangerous impact on one’s health.

Santiago has filed Senate Bill 2147 seeking to ban aspartame, a measure also sponsored by Iloilo Rep. Judy Syjuco in the House of Representatives, who filed House Bill 733.

In her bill, Santiago also cited a report by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that said aspartame accounts for over 75 percent of the reported adverse reactions to food additives.

Among the 90 different symptoms listed in the FDA report are headaches, migraine, dizziness, seizures, nausea, numbness, muscle spasms, weight gain, rashes, depression, fatigue, irritability, tachychardia, insomnia, vision problems, hearing loss, heart palpitations, breathing difficulties, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, loss of taste, tinnitus (ringing of the ears), vertigo, memory loss and joint pain.

According to the FDA, aspartame was deemed safe for use in foods in 1981 "after reviewing scientific studies." In 1987, "the FDA General Accounting Office investigated the process surrounding FDA’s approval of aspartame and confirmed the agency had acted properly," the agency said in its website.

"However, FDA has continued to review complaints alleging adverse reactions to products containing aspartame," it added. "To date, FDA has not determined any consistent pattern of symptoms that can be attributed to the use of aspartame, nor is the agency aware of any recent studies that clearly show safety problems."

According to the FDA Consumer web page of the site, "carefully controlled clinical studies show that aspartame is not an allergen."

It also warned that "certain people with the genetic disease phenylketonuria (PKU) and pregnant women with hyperphenylalanine (high levels of phenylalanine in blood) have a problem with aspartame because they do not effectively metabolize the amino acid phenylalanine, one of aspartame’s components."

The report goes on to say that "high levels of this amino acid in body fluids can cause brain damage. Therefore, FDA has ruled that all products containing aspartame must include a warning to phenylketonurics that the sweetener contains phenylalanine."

Santiago said aspartame is one of the most dangerous food additives on the market today, and it is made up of three chemicals: aspartic acid, phenylalanine and methanol.

Ingesting aspartame could also trigger the following: chronic illness such as brain tumors; multiple sclerosis; epilepsy; chronic fatigue syndrome; Parkinson’s disease; Alzheimer’s disease; mental retardation; lymphoma; birth defects; fibromygalgia; and diabetes.

Personal accounts posted by former aspartame users on the website www.holisticmed.com blamed the sweetener for various ailments, including depression, suicidal thoughts, seizures, epilepsy, severely reduced brain functions and "instigation" and aggravation of existing psychological problems.

According to the former aspartame users who posted their experiences on the website, totally eliminating aspartame from their diets stopped these symptoms and ailments.

In one account uploaded to the website, a formerly heavy aspartame user said it took months to recover lost brain functions after kicking the artificial sweetener habit.

Aspartame brand names posted on www.holisticmed.—com include Monsanto, NutraSweet, Kelco and Benevia.

Other aspartame brands sold in the Philippines are Equal and Sweet n’ Low. Aspartame is also an additive in some powdered juice and beverage mixes. It is also an additive in "diet," "lite," "light" and "sugar-free" foods and beverages.

In her counterpart bill, Syjuco sought a ban on the use of aspartame in food, beverages and drugs such as, but not limited to, instant breakfasts, cereals, frozen desert, gelatin dessert, yogurt, juice, milk drinks and diet shake mixes.

Once passed into law, the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) will be mandated to monitor the use of aspartame in selected food, beverages and drugs.

Violators of the proposed law will incur a penalty of reclusion temporal (a maximum prison term of 20 years) to reclusion perpetua (life imprisonment) and a fine ranging from P500,000 to P5 million. — Christina Mendez