Sweet vs Poison

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The Food and Drug Administration describe aspartame as “One of the most thoroughly tested and studied food additives the agency has ever approved.” It was discovered in 1965 then the F.D.A approved of it in 1981(AlSuhaibani). Aspartame is found in our every day protein products. Over 90 countries throughout the world use aspartame as a synthetic nonnutritive sweetener and over 6000 products contain aspartame. The Food Safety U.S. Food and Drug Administration and European Authority has placed a level mark of how much aspartame could be consumed before any side effects occur, 50 mg/kg body weight per day. Aspartame has been tested by using mice, rats, hamsters and dogs. These animals were given well over the amount a human should ever consume, 4000 mg/kg body weight per day (Magnuson et al.). It is said that aspartame has a link to many effects such as cancer, but people all around the world have been consuming it for years and there is no scientifically proven results.

Aspartame is an artificial nonnutritive sweetener that is made and sold by companies like Equal and NutraSweet. It is substituted for sugar because it has little to no calories. Aspartame is made from two amino acids, aspartic acid and phenylalanine. You can find it in many diet soft drinks, chewing gum and especially in tabletop

sweeteners (Shermer). Compared to sugar, very little aspartame is needed to sweeten foods which makes it more preferable (Schardt 9).

The human digestive system works in a unique way. There are some things that stay the same and there are some things that change after being digested. For instance, after water is digested, it is still water. But majority of what we eat is metabolized, like aspartame. It breaks down into a...

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...bani, Entissar S. "In Vivo Cytogenetic Studies on Aspartame." Hindawi Publishing Corporation 201025 May (2010): 1-4. ephost@epnet.com. Web. 4 Nov. 2011.

Aspartame. Caner.org, 17 Feb. 2011. Web. 6 Nov. 2011.

Magnuson, B. A., G. A. Burdock, J. Doull, R. M. Kroes, and G. M. Marsh. "Aspartame: A Safety Evaluation Based on Current Use Levels, Regulations, and Toxicological and Epidemiological Studies." Informa Healthcare 37.8 (2007): 629-727. ephost@epnet.com. Web. 4 Nov. 2011.

Schardt, David. Sweet Nothings. N.p., May 2004. ephost@epnet.com. Web. 4 Nov. 2011.

Shermer, Michael. Artificial Sweeteners:Is Aspartame Safe?. N.p., 4 Oct. 2011. ephost@epnet.com. Web. 4 Nov. 2011.

"Study Finds no Link Between Aspartame and Cancer." USAtoday 7 May 2006. Web. 4 Nov. 2011.

"The Safety of Aspartame." The New York Times 21 Feb. 2006. ephost@epnet.com. Web. 4 Nov. 2011.

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