Article: Roger Williams, UK Parliament Member, Applauds Reinvestigation of Aspartame's Neurotoxicity

23rd June 2009

Roger Williams, MP for Brecon and Radnorshire and Liberal Democrat Food and Rural Affairs spokesperson, has welcomed the announcement that the Food Standards Agency, FSA, are to reinvestigate the safety of the diet product Aspartame.

Andrew Wadge, Chief Scientist at the FSA has said that "The Agency's view remains that aspartame can be consumed safely and we are not recommending any changes to its current use. However, we know that some people consider they react badly to consuming this sweetener so we think it is important to increase our knowledge about
what is happening."

Roger Williams, said:

"Although the FSA say that the safety of this product has already been established, the fact that a fresh scoping study is being carried out points to concern about this product.

"I welcome this new investigation and look forward to seeing what conclusions are drawn by the FSA."

"It is disappointing that the results will not be available until 2011 but nonetheless it is a positive step forward by the FSA.

"In recent years I have done significant work on these chemical compounds and my belief is that they can have profoundly damaging effects on certain individuals. "

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from Stephen Fox:

Despite all of the desparate posturing and puff pieces exuding from the industry spokespersons like those employed by the Japanese monster poison maker, Ajinomoto, this is brilliant, long overdue, as well as legislatively, medically and legally appropriate.

Given that Venezuela has recently banned Coke Zero because it contains aspartame and acesulfame K, I wonder what has taken so long in the UK. Great insights coming from a real leader like Roger Williams, MP, Wales, should have been listened to three and a half years ago when he first
circulated the shocking Early Day Motion on the Neurotoxic Properties of Aspartame.

Here is the text:

TOXIC PROPERTIES OF ASPARTAME 30.01.2006 January 30, 2006

Williams, Roger

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.

Signatures( 47)

Conservative Party
Conway, Derek
Goodwill, Robert
Pelling, Andrew
Spink, Bob

Democratic Unionist Party
Campbell, Gregory
McCrea, Dr William
Robinson, Iris
Simpson, David

Labour Party
Jones, Lynne
Austin, John
Banks, Gordon
Brown, Lyn
Corbyn, Jeremy
Crausby, David
Cryer, Ann
Dismore, Andrew
Drew, David
Etherington, Bill
Godsiff, Roger
Hoyle, Lindsay
Jenkins, Brian
Lazarowicz, Mark
McDonnell, John
Simpson, Alan
Taylor, David
Turner, Desmond
Vis, Rudi
Open: 18 Closed: 1

Liberal Democrats
Baker, Norman
Brake, Tom
Brooke, Annette
Cable, Vincent
George, Andrew
Hancock, Mike
Harvey, Nick
Horwood, Martin
Keetch, Paul
Mulholland, Greg
Opik, Lembit
Stunell, Andrew
Swinson, Jo
Williams, Mark
Williams, Roger
Williams, Stephen
Younger-Ross, Richard

Plaid Cymru
Llwyd, Elfyn

Respect
Galloway, George

Social Democratic and Labour Party
McDonnell, Alasdair