Shush: Sharing Sweet Information

IS ASPARTAME, NEOTAME, OR ADVANTAME HARMFUL? WE DON’T KNOW, BUT SECRECY CERTAINLY IS. Many people will know of aspartame, fewer perhaps will have heard of neotame or advantame. This is because neither of these substances usually shows on the labels of foods or drinks. What they have in common is phenylalanine as the active ingredient. Neotame is a concentrated derivative of aspartame; advantame is a mixture of aspartame and vanillin. The safety of aspartame has come into question many times since the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) first approved it in 1974, and with good reasons, which we will come to. It is disingenuous for the NHS website to claim it is giving The truth about aspartame and undermining to describe serious scientific challenges as scare stories. This has become a serious and disturbing issue. It follows on from the August statement of 2016, relating to the Sugary Drinks Industry Levy (known as the sugar tax), which made clear that a key part of t

Why it’s wrong to promote sweeteners to children Let’s start with why it became a key part of the government’s childhood obesity strategy … to promote diet drinks. 1.     A rise in levels of obesity and the number of children who are overweight when they leave primary school. 2.     Obesity increases the risks of developing several causes of ill health, including type II diabetes and heart disease. It is from evidence of these two points that lowering the general consumption of sugar is considered beneficial. So far, so good. Disagreement comes from the targetted approach to replace sugar with artificial sweeteners, instead of a ‘true reformulation’ of products by gradually reducing sugar – and a desire for such sweetness. The evidence for the opposition is strong. 3.     Paradoxically, the use of artificial sweeteners is associated with long-term obesity. 4.     Artificial sweeteners alter the human microbiome, which in turn has an effect on such things as immune

An introduction to 'Sharing Sweet Information' UK govt. policy, key part of the government’s childhood obesity strategy … to promote diet drinks,  given in a joint statement from HM Treasury, HM Revenue & Customs and Department of Health, August 2016.      Many professionals, from across a range of scientific disciplines disagree with this policy. There are complexities and technicalities that I will come to in this series of  blogs, but further information is already available on the petition to ‘Stop Promoting Sweeteners to Children. Listen’ http://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/stop-promoting-sweeteners-to-children-listen-1      Of course, it would be brilliant if you signed the petition, but if you would rather not, no matter.      The main ask of the petition is for transparency and an open discussion. In sharing this blog you will be helping with that process. Thank you.