IUBio

Aspartame and Kids Vitamins

Gary W Miller gmill02 at EMORY.EDU
Wed May 22 06:58:58 EST 1996


Could someone please tell me where the wood alcohol comes from??????  
Aspartame is composed of aspartic acid and phenylalanine.  Even if 
alcohol is used in its production, it would certainly be removed prior to 
use.  I think the link between all these diseases and aspartame border on 
pseudoscience EXCEPT IN ONE SITUATION.   I hate to give the zealots more 
ammunition, but the FDA has mandated that all products containing 
nutrasweet be so labeled.  In addition the statement "warning 
phenylketonurics: contains phenylalanine" is supposed to be on the 
package.  If there are products such as vitamins that do not contain this 
warning I would lobby very hard to ban them.  When a person with 
phenylketonuria or PKU consumes aspartate, it can cause numerous problems 
since they lack the enzyme necessary to metabolize it.

About 1 in 50 Americans are carriers of PKU.  Early research showed that 
the carries, who do have a diminished capacity to metabolize 
phenylalanine had no problem clearing it.  Although, many carriers do 
claim that too much of it gives them headaches and for this reason, 
parents of PKU children avoid aspartate (in addition to removing the 
product from their home).  

SO IF ANYONE KNOWS OF ANY PRODUCTS THAT CONTAIN NUTRASWEET THAT DOES NOT 
CONTAIN THE FDA WARNING PLEASE CONTACT ME WITH THE NAME OF THE PRODUCT 
AND THE MANUFACTURER.  

Gary W. Miller, Ph.D.



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