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Eleven year old Jennifer Cohen from Oradell, New Jersey, chose
an experiment for her 6th grade science project that the FDA and
the manufacturer's of aspartame should have found to be an obvious
test subject. Using sound principles and double blind testing she
developed and ran her tests like a professional. Her goal was
simple: What happens to aspartame in diet coke? Upon completion
of her experiment a reputable food laboratory performed all the
necessary chemical evaluations and presented her with the startling
results. The laboratory data proved that aspartame breaks down into
formaldehyde and DKP (a brain tumor agent) over a wide range of
temperatures, from the Soft Drink Association's suggested test
temperature of 104 degrees (and higher) to even in the refrigerator.
Dr. H. J. Roberts, world expert on aspartame, said the experiment
was very important adding: "Jennifer deserves two gold stars".
No wonder the population is rampant with so many of the problems
listed in the FDA's acknowledged symptoms of aspartame poisoning
(http:www.dorway.com/badnews.html). With results such as this, it
is obvious why the pharmaceutical companies never tested their
product in this manner!

For those who require independent confirmation of all facts Winston
Laboratories located in Ridgefield, New Jersey, (201-440-0022) ran the
tests on the diet cokes used in the following experiment.

(Note 1: This is on DORway at: http://www.dorway.com/jcohen.html)
(Note 2: This is in pamphlet form at http://www.dorway.com/jenpamp.html
Download this as a pamphlet in Wordperfect 6 format from
http://www.dorway.com/jenpamp.zip

NOTE: Her WEB page was featured in the 5 May issue of "Food Chemical News".
(Volume 39 No.11, pages 18 and 19, John Briley, author)

---------------------------------- Begin J. Cohen report

THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT STORAGE TEMPERATURES ON THE
TASTE AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF DIET COKE
BY JENNIFER COHEN
-----------------

Jennifer Cohen is an eleven-year old student in Mrs. Simmons' sixth gradeOradell, New Jersey class. The principal of Oradell Public School is Scott Ryan. He may be reached at 201 261-1181. Jennifer conducted an experiment proving aspartame, the artificial sweetener in diet soda, breaks down into two deadly neurotoxins when stored at room temperature and under refrigeration.

-----------------

ABSTRACT: The level of aspartame in a can of Diet Coke was found to be
0.06% by a food testing laboratory. The remaining cans from one case of Diet coke were stored under three different heat conditions for 10 weeks. Seven cans were stored in an incubator (104 degrees Fahrenheit), seven cans were stored at room temperature (68-70 degrees Fahrenheit). At the end of 70 days samples were tested for levels of aspartame, formaldehyde and DKP (diketopiperazine). The refrigerated sample contained 0.058 percent aspartame, 0.001 percent DKP and 53.5 parts per billion of formaldehyde. The room temperature sample contained 0.051 percent aspartame, 0.002 percent DKP and 231 parts per billion of formaldehyde. The incubator sample contained 0.026 percent aspartame, 0.010 percent DKP and 76.2 parts per billion of formaldehyde. In addition 10 human subjects tasted each soda sample plus a new can of Diet Coke and rated each sample for taste on a 1-4 scale with 1 being the best and 4 being the worst. The new can of Diet Coke received an average rating of 2.0. The sample stored in the refrigerator received an average rating of 2.6. The sample stored at room temperature received an average rating of 2.5. The sample stored in the incubator received an average rating of 3.8. The effects of heat on Diet coke produced the worst taste and the highest amount of loss of aspartame as well as the greatest increase in levels of DKP. The most pleasing taste was for the new can of Diet Coke. The room temperature sample and the refrigerated sample scored almost the same in the taste test. All samples revealed a presence of formaldehyde. However, the highest level of formaldehyde occurred in the room temperature can. There was also formaldehyde present in the refrigerated sample.

BACKGROUND: Aspartame was discovered in l965 by Searle chemist, Jim
Schlatter. He was developing this drug for another use and after
accidentally licking his finger found that aspartame was sweet. Today
aspartame is consumed by more than 100 million people in the United
States. This chemical (aspartame) has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) who said that an individual can safely consume 97 packets of aspartame every day. Aspartame is in many products including some that children use such as diet soda, light yogurt, Flintstone Vitamins, baked goods, puddings, and Winterfresh gum. It has been known to cause headaches, nausea, vision problems, seizures and cancer in its users.

The ingredients in aspartame are aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methyl alcohol. Methyl alcohol is a chemical that breaks down in high
temperatures and turns into formaldehyde and DKP (diketopiperazine), two chemicals known to cause problems in the nervous system. Aspartame's life is 262 days at 77 degrees Fahrenheit, or 25 degrees Celsius. The FDA gets more complaints about aspartame than any other food or drink. The symptoms of aspartame are a lot like the symptoms of multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease. Ever since aspartame was approved in l985, there has been an increase in brain tumors. There is no direct proof that aspartame caused the brain tumors, but there is enough reason to suspect that, and the television show, "60 Minutes" recently did a report linking the increase in brain cancer to aspartame use.

The FDA reviewed Searle's studies of this artificial sweetener in which
rats were fed aspartame daily with their meals for one year. There were 12 brain tumors in the 320 rats that were fed aspartame and no brain tumors in the 120 rats that were not fed aspartame.

There was also a study done at the University of Wisconsin on rhesus
monkeys. they were fed aspartame daily. After day 200 of a one year
study the monkeys developed epileptic seizures. After the study ended,
the aspartame was discontinued and the monkeys were are fully watched for 60 days. The monkeys had no more seizures.

METHOD: I did my own experiment on aspartame. On January 21, l997, I
bought a new case of Diet Coke from the supermarket. I put 7 cans in the refrigerator, 7 cans in my room at room temperature (about 69 degrees) and I put 7 cans in a BOEKEL incubator (80 Watts, 120 AC volts, 0.75 Amps, catalog # 131500) and set the temperature at 40 degrees Celsius which is 104 degrees Fahrenheit. I left them in there for 10 weeks (70 days). I had a thermometer next to each group of cans and I checked the temperatures daily. I took the remaining three cans and brought them to Winston Laboratories in Ridgefield, New jersey to test for a beginning level of aspartame. When I got the test results back, they revealed that there was normally 0.06 per cent of aspartame in the can of diet soda.

I chose that temperature because in l985 the National Soft Drink
Association reported a similar experiment in which diet soda stored at
that temperature turned into formaldehyde. In that experiment they
explained that 104 degrees Fahrenheit was equal to a daytime temperature in Phoenix, Arizona over the summer. The National Soft Drink Association recommended that aspartame not be approved for use by people in soda.

They published this experiment and their recommendation in the
Congressional Record.

On April 1, I took the cans of aspartame out of the refrigerator, out of my room and out of the incubator. That day I brought the samples to
Winston Laboratory for analysis.

I was going to do a taste in my sister's fourth grade class, but the
school nurse said that I couldn't because of all the bad things people say about aspartame, so instead I tested the samples on a group of adults.

I performed a double blind experiment. My mother helped to label each
sample with a number. I conducted the experiment but I did not know which sample each person was drinking. I put all of the cans in a cooler and covered them with ice sos that they would be served at the same temperature. I gave each person a small cup of the soda from the
refrigerator, from the incubator, from my room, and from a new can of soda fresh from the supermarket. I asked them to rate the taste on a scale of one to four, four being the worst and one being the best. The actual results are to be found in table#1.

Table 1

ROOM COLD WARM NEW
TEMP. STORAGE STORAGE CAN
SAMPLE SAMPLE SAMPLE SAMPLE
#517 #502 #540 #563

SUBJECT #1 4 4 4 3
SUBJECT #2 3 2 4 1
SUBJECT #3 2 3 3 2
SUBJECT #4 1 2 4 2
SUBJECT #5 2 2 4 1
SUBJECT #6 2 3 4 1
SUBJECT #7 2 3 3 4
SUBJECT #8 3 2 4 3
SUBJECT #9 3 2 4 1
SUBJECT #10 3 3 4 2

AVERAGE 2.5 2.6 3.8 2.0

Table #2 contains the results of the testing conducted on the samples
analyzed by Winston Laboratories. In the sample that was in the
refrigerator all that was left of the 0.06 per cent of the aspartame was 0.058 percent. That extra aspartame had turned into 0.001 percent DKP and 53.5 parts per billion of formaldehyde In the sample from my room, all that was left of the 0.06 percent aspartame was 0.051 per cent. The extra aspartame had turned into 0.002 percent DKP and 231 parts per billion of formaldehyde. In the sample that was in the incubator all that was left of the 0.06 percent aspartame was 0.026 percent. The extra aspartame had turned into 0.010 percent DkP and 76.2 parts per billion in the formaldehyde.

Table 2

ASPARTAME DKP FORMALDEHYDE
% % Parts per billion

BASELINE CAN 0.060% **

SAMPLE # 502 0.058% 0.0001% 53.5
(refrigerated)

SAMPLE # 517 0.051% 0.002% 231.0
room temperature)

SAMPLE #540 0.026% 0.010% 76.2
(incubator)

SAMPLE # 563 * * *
(new can)

* Sample #563 (new can of Diet Coke was not tested by the lab. It was used for the taste test only. The baseline can was not tested for
formaldehyde or DKP because it was assumed that FDA would ban any new
product containing poison. The total cost of testing was $1250. This
may not be a lot of money to a drug company but it is to me. As it is,
I will be baby-sitting for the summer of 1997 to pay for this study. -JC

DISCUSSION: There was an obvious preference for the newly purchased
sample of Diet Coke. The scores for the sample in the refrigerator and
room temperature were similar but were not as high as the new soda. The score for the incubator sample were very low. Nearly everybody hated the taste.

There are taste differences. Ten people preferred the new soda to the
other three samples. With 1 being the best and 4 being the worst, their average score for the new soda was 2.0.

The aspartame contained in diet soda stored over time can break down into formaldehyde and DKP, two very dangerous poisons. Taste tests revealed a noticeable difference among tasters. The higher the heat of storage, the worse the taste.

Diet soda stored for ten weeks loses flavor. Aspartame in that soda
breaks down into two products, formaldehyde and DKP. The warmer the
temperature, the greater the loss of aspartame and the greater the
increase in DKP.

Temperature creates two effects. First, the higher the temperature of
storage, the higher the level of DKP in the soda. Second, room
temperature seems to create the highest levels of formaldehyde in soda.
At very high temperatures, the formaldehyde breaks down. However, even
stored in a refrigerator at cold temperature, the aspartame breaks down
into formaldehyde.

After diet soda containing aspartame is purchased it should not be stored in the heat or under any condition for a long period of time. Further research should be performed with more samples at different temperatures for different time periods so that safety levels can be determined.

Concerning aspartame, the FDA says, "we believe that based on all the
information that we received to date that this is a safe product." I
say, "Decide for yourself." Jennifer Cohen

Bibliography

1) Artificial Sweeteners. "The World Book Encyclopedia" 1997
2) Azarnoff, Daniel. "Aspartame" McGraw-Hill.
Encyclopedia of Science and Technology 1987
3) Constantine, Alex. "The NutraPoison"
http://www.dorway.com/possible.html (items 26 and 27) March 13, 1997
4) Jibrin, Janis. "How Sweet It Is."
American Health December 1995: 84-85
5) Jibrin, Janis. "Is Sugar Poison?"
Mademoiselle December 1995: 84-85
6) Lepke, Janet. "A Dieter's Guide To Sugar Substitutes."
Consumer's Digest May/June 1995: 71-74
7) Rao, K.S., McConnell, R.G., Waisman, H.A. SC-18862
52 Week Oral Toxicity Study In The Infant Monkey
8) Roberts, H.J. Aspartame (Nutra Sweet) Is It Safe?
Philadelphia: The Charles Press, 1990]
9) Roberts, H.J. Sweetener Dearest. West Palm Beach:
The Sunshine Sentinel Press, 1992

----------------------------------------------- End J. Cohen report

COMMENT: Ms. Cohen did an excellent report in all respects. Dr.
Roberts, renowned expert on aspartame and its toxic effects gives
her two gold stars. From the viewpoint of an informed layman, I
give her FIVE gold stars and a heart-felt "Thank you!"

I understand that the Jewish faith forbids the use of formaldehyde and
the act of embalming. I also understand that somehow Nutrasweet was
placed on a list of "Kosher" foods. It doesn't make sense that it is Kosher to EMBALM oneself while alive, on a dose by dose basis, but NOT Kosher to be embalmed after death. Did Nutrasweet lie once again, this time to the Jewish faith? Will their lies and disinformation EVER cease?

Coke has a new advertising campaign where they state that Diet
Coke is: "You are what you drink". Congratulations, Coca Cola,
for finally getting it right! As Jennifer Cohen just proved, diet
coke drinkers are consuming formaldehyde and diketopiperazine (DKP,
a brain tumor agent) with each and every sip.

The aspartame to methanol to formaldehyde to formic acid conversion
of this chameleon substance (with a side-order of DKP and perhaps
other tumor agents) makes an excellent toxic soup that gives rise
to the 92 FDA acknowledged symptoms of aspartame poisoning.

When their record-keeping was still above board, the FDA stated that it
was the most complained about substance, comprising over 75%
of their complaints. Then they stated that less that one (1) percent of the consumers file complaints. The stated 10,000 complaints (in
the early 80's) would then translate to over 1,000,000 potential
complainers of the LESSOR effects of aspartame poisoning, ...
headaches, hives, vision and memory problems. That would
seem to be a significant figure.

Most important, this does NOT include the even larger number
of people suffering from long-term problems such as arthritis-
like pains, vision loss, and problems that lead to a misdiagnosis
of MS, CFS, Fibromyalgia or a whole host of other "diseases",
because doctors have been brainwashed into believing that
aspartame is as pure as the driven snow!

-----------------------------------------------

Here are some of the more important of my 146 pages now totalling over 3 megabytes of TEXT... mostly on aspartame!

http://www.dorway.com/badnews.html Most of the 92 FDA acknowledged
symptoms of aspartame poisoning, and how it does its dirty deeds [think
methanol (wood alcohol that makes skid row drunks go blind), formaldehyde (do-it-yourself embalming) and formic acid (better known as ant sting poison)]. It should be noted that a Freedom of Information Act request was required to obtain this document from the DHHS/FDA. Most of those symptoms are listed below in a pamphlet.

http://www.dorway.com/barua.html An excellent overview by two Indian doctors, complete with many references. This article was published in the Journal Of The Diabetic Association Of India 1995 :Vol. 35, No. 4. so a doctor should feel more comfortable with the information.

In addition... the following pages are also significant:

http://www.dorway.com/nuindex1.html Main menu
http://www.dorway.com/whatis.html A brief of what it is, and is NOT!
http://www.dorway.com/noban.html Why is it not removed from the market?
http://www.dorway.com/offasprt.html Debunking of the IFIC safety myth
http://www.dorway.com/enclosur.html Sordid history of its path to market
http://www.dorway.com/asprlink.html Links many other sites
http://www.dorway.com/books.html Links to books on aspartame
http://www.dorway.com/stevia.html Assorted alternative sweeteners
http://www.dorway.com/detox.html Suggestions on how to detoxify
http://www.dorway.com/reprtfrm.html Report a bad experience to the FDA

April 9-15 1997: The FDA RECALL LETTER of 9 April, some smoking guns (cancer types) by Dr. Gross, one of the FDA toxicologists who sought to indict Searle for submitting fraudulent tests, and more.

http://www.dorway.com/97recall.html Recall letter
http://www.dorway.com/gross1.html Dr. Gross memo on proposed bad procedures
http://www.dorway.com/gross2.html Oct/87 Dr. Gross letter to Sen.
Metzenbaum
http://www.dorway.com/gross3.html Nov/87 Dr. Gross letter to Sen.
Metzenbaum
http://www.dorway.com/wsjprosc.html '86 Wall Street Journal on two US prosec.
http://www.dorway.com/deadbill.html Original 1985 Metzenbaum bill (he only asked for more tests)

Aspartame has what is called "acceptable daily intake" or "ADI" applied to it. Water, sugar and chicken soup don't. Visit DORway to find out why!

In summary: Aspartame is a U.S. National disgrace. It is a cumulative toxic poison; a medical time-bomb coming to fruition. Why was it necessary for a sixth-grader to do what the FDA/DHHS/NIH/WHO and a lot of others should have done? Why are victims like myself having to present this information to the public?

The brain cancer aspect is bad enough, and with respect to the Delany ammendment it should have been enough to keep aspartame off the
market. However, it is the Pandora's box of ailments that take years to develop... that may well break the back of our medical system. There is strong evidence that this is part of the "gulf war syndrome", perhaps a major part.

Last, but NOT least. The latest information is that a Monsanto VP by the name of Dr. Virginia Weldon is considered a TOP contender to be the new FDA commissioner! We think this is a terrible idea and there is a big push to get the word out, why this is a bad idea, and to get ANY drug/chemical employee OFF the list of possible candidates. The revolving door MUST stop! The payoffs, dishonesty and disinformation MUST stop. The FDA MUST be held accountable... or be disolved! Serve the PUBLIC, or no one! The FULL story at:

I say "Preserve YOUR right to be embalmed, but only AFTER you die!"

Visit for the WHOLE story!

• aspartame nutrasweet

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