Dangers at the Grocery Store

Is Your SuperMarket a Minefield ?

(for original article, click here)

Recently, I went shopping with my 11 year old nephew, and was shocked and unprepared for the experience. Like other kids his age, he preferred diet sodas containing aspartame and brominated vegetable oil (BVO). He also preferred processed foods high in MSG.

I found myself protesting his choices, explaining the dangers of food additives, and removing these items from the shopping cart as fast I could. These food additives are harmful to health, and represent a minefield at the Supermarket waiting for the unsuspecting consumer.

Above Left Image: Shopping cart with child courtesy of wikimedia commons.

Aspartame's Dubious Honor

Since the 1981 approval as a food additive, aspartame has the dubious honor of the most complaints reported to the FDA's Adverse Reaction Monitoring System, accounting for 75 per cent of all complaints.(9)

Diet Sodas are a Mine Field

Aspartame is a chemical sweetener in diet sodas such as diet Coke and Diet Pepsi with names such as Nutrasweet, Equal, etc. Little packets of aspartame are placed on the tables at restaurants for use as a coffee sweetener instead of sugar.

Left Image Naval Mine Field with Diver courtesy of Wikimedia commons.

Safety Studies on Aspartame - Cancer?

The Aspartame industry has sponsored 74 aspartame safety studies, all showing Apartame consumption is safe. When studies are done privately, with no connection to the aspartame industry or the FDA, 89 of 90 aspartame safety studies identified problems with aspartame use.(1) A disturbing 2007 study by Soffritti at the Ramazzini Institute in Italy showed aspartame to be a multipotential carcinogen.(2)

Avoid the Apartame Mine Field

Many people drink diet sodas thinking this will help lose weight. A recent study shows this is a fallacy, finding a 41% increased risk of being overweight for every can or bottle of diet soft drink consumed daily.(8) The sweetener aspartame activates receptors in the brain to expect sugar (glucose), when none is forthcoming, the aspartame user merely increases junk food and sugar intake.

Left Image: Danger Mines courtesy Wikimedia commons

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