The answer is no!!! But, if you want some history on the subject read on.
Aspartame is the ingredient found in NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful Equal Measure, Amino Sweet, Benevia and NutraTaste. This chemical is currently in about 6,000 products worldwide. It was approved as a food additive in 1981.
But….was aspartame ever proven safe for human consumption before it got its FDA approval? The answer is no, according to Dr.John Olney, a researcher at Washington University in St. Louis who did research on aspartame before 1980. The FDA’s own conclusion was no when they investigated the chemical from 1975 to 1980. According to the FDA chairman at the time, Dr. Gere Goyan, another independant study was being organized when he was forced to step down as FDA chairman. This happened when Ronald Reagan took office January 21,1981.
Goyan’s replacement was Dr. Arthur Hill Hayes. Dr.Hayes was hand picked to head the FDA by a prominent member of Regan’s political transition team, Donald Rumsfeld. In 1981 Rumsfeld was the CEO of G.D. Searle company, who own the patent on aspartame. And, one of the first things Hayes did as chairman of the FDA was to grant approval for aspartame.
History lesson over, and the answer is still no. Aspartame has been and still is linked to tumors, especially brain tumors. And the incidence of people having brain tumors has increased: is it cell phones or aspartame?
By Krista Kurvits