6.28.2007
If It's Safe Then Why Hide It?
(C) 2007 Stan Spire
Remember the NutraSweet logo? It was a fancy swirl emblazoned on all sorts of products, announcing that it was the perfect sugar substitute. Lately I haven't seen it too often when I'm shopping for food.
NutraSweet is a brand of aspartame. For years there's been some controversy about aspartame; safety issues have been raised. Links made to cancer and brain tumors. The approval process by the FDA for this particular ingredient has been criticized.
One story is a competitor hawking a different sugar substitute started a whispering campaign to ruin aspartame's reputation and so that's why the swirly logo hasn't been so prevalent lately. Or maybe it's because aspartame smells the same by any name; the US patent expired in 1992. So why not announce the inclusion of aspartame in big letters on the front of the container, even if it wasn't made by NutraSweet? Aspartame is still hailed as being safe for people wanting to avoid sugar.
Sugar has been around for generations. Its bad effects are known. Aspartame is relatively recent; no one knows what the long terms affects will be, if any.
Me, I don't wanted aspartame in any food products like yogurt because it upsets my stomach.
So you'll see me holding a cup of yogurt at the supermarket, peering at its ingredients, making sure it contains sugar, not aspartame. The print isn't the largest, to say the least. Also, one brand uses blue letters, not easier to read black print. And while words like milk or whey are put in bold, aspartame doesn't get the bold treatment, just a tiny asterisk. I have to carefully check the label for that one ingredient I'm trying not to ingest. It's amazing how small blue print hides the word; aspartame is lost in the list.
I didn't have this problem when the red and white NutraSweet swirl was prominently placed on the front of the package. It was easier back then to avoid eyestrain and an upset stomach.
# posted by Stan Spire @ 4:30 AM 
