TOXIC PROPERTIES OF ASPARTAME

That this House expresses deep concern over the numerous independent toxicological studies and thousands of subjective reports attesting to the toxic effects of the artificial sweetener aspartame on human health; notes that aspartame, once patented as a biochemical warfare agent, is the synthetically produced methyl ester of a dipeptide which is readily broken down in the gut to release methanol; further notes that in naturally occurring foodstuff methanol is either not released into the body or present together with natural defence mechanisms that mitigate its toxic effects; recognises that methanol is a well known poison and is further converted into formaldehyde, a class A carcinogen according to the World Health Organisation's International Agency for Research on Cancer; accepts that severe health concerns occur from the gradual accumulation of formaldehyde in the body which cannot be excreted and that further research has shown that long term low level exposure to formaldehyde induces leukaemia and nasopharyngeal cancer in humans; acknowledges that of the 166 studies conducted on aspartame's safety deemed relevant to humans, 92 per cent. of independently sponsored studies identified one or more problems with aspartame's safety whereas industry-sponsored studies found unanimously in favour of aspartame's safety; and urges the Government to abide by the precautionary principle and make use of Statutes 13 and 16 of the 1990 Food Safety Act to remove aspartame from the permitted list of additives on the UK market.