Charles Foerster: Neurotoxins in Your Chocolate Milk?

This is a time, when the public has an opportunity to materially affect how they, the consumers, may protect their own health, and that of their offspring for generations to come. In that respect, the timer is running down, and anyone who consumes milk might want to see what the milk producers have planned. The 17 other dairy products on the hit list include: acidified milk, sweetened condensed milk, nonfat dry milk, nonfat dry milk fortified with vitamins A and D, evaporated milk, dry cream, heavy cream, light cream, light whipping cream, sour cream, acidified sour cream, yogurt, low fat yogurt, and non fat yogurt. To summarize the corporate petition, the IDFA and NMPF International Dairy Foods Association and the National Milk Producers Federation have petitioned the FDA to seek approval to allow optional characterizing flavoring ingredients in milk, to be chocolate flavoring added to milk, to be sweetened with any safe and suitable sweetener, including non nutritive sweeteners such as aspartame. The Federal Register has the petition listed on their website, where it can be viewed, and comments can be posted. The proposed amendments to the milk standard of identity would be to promote more healthy eating practices, reduce childhood obesity, as well as promote honesty and fair dealing in the marketplace, so they say. A more likely scenario is that by using aspartame to flavor the dairy products, their costs will be lowered, and their profits will increase. Buyers beware. Without doubt, the petitioners are using childhood obesity as the talking point, to sell the idea of using the cheap but toxic aspartame as sweeteners for flavoring in dairy products. While the idea of more healthy eating habits, and a reduction in childhood obesity are obviously good ideas, using additional aspartame in the food chain is counter productive and dangerous. The diets of Americans and their children in particular, are loaded with the substance. Formula: C14H18N205. Molar mass: 294.3 g/mol IUPAC ID: N-(L a Aspartyl) -L phenylaline, 1-methyl ester. Melting point: 246 C Density: 1.35 g/cm3 So why should we be concerned? A study was done by the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, which showed adverse health effects to people who consumed aspartame flavored diet drinks. The study suggested that instead of fighting obesity and its associated hazards, the use of aspartame might actually contribute to the conditions.