G a u d i y a To u c h s t o n e
reviewed 213 of 592 cases and noted that the re-challenge tests showed that sensitive individuals consistently displayed the same adverse symptoms every time they ingested aspartame. The reported symptoms included: aggressive behavior, hyperactivity, memory loss, liver impairment, disorientation, extreme numbness, loss of depth perception, excitability, severe mood swings, cardiac arrest, seizures, and suicidal tendencies. Even in the face of these alarming case histories, the CDC officially concluded that aspartame was safe for public ingestion. Three years later in 1987, a US Senate hearing was held to address the issue of aspartame safety and labeling. Searle was in the hot seat again to defend themselves against their awry testing procedures and the ‘psychological strategy’ they used to ensure FDA approval for aspartame. Shockingly in the course of the trial it became known that aspartame was once on a Pentagon list of potential biochemical warfare weapons. Nearly a decade later in December 1996, aspartame found itself on US national prime-time television. The well-known news program 60 Minutes aired a segment that showcased the results of a study conducted by Dr. Ralph G. Walton, professor of clinical psychology at Northeastern Ohio Universities. Dr. Walton reviewed 165 separate studies published in the preceding 20 years in peer-reviewed medical journals. Seventy-four of the studies were industry funded, all of which attested to the safety of aspartame. Eighty-four non-industry funded studies cited adverse health effects to aspartame ingestion. The remaining seven studies were conducted by the FDA — six of which found aspartame to be safe for human consumption. This should come as no surprise, as the FDA has a public track record of pro-industry bias. Interestingly, the only studies ever referenced in aspartame’s defense are the industry-funded ones and it is these same studies that are given the greatest amount of credibility and importance during approval processes and in official safety reviews.
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