With the new debate about Ethoxyquin, I thought I'd throw out this tidbit
also.  Remember all the controversy and some hysteria about the article
on Aspartame?  I felt pretty sure it was BS, and now I'm very sure.  Did
anyone see the recent issue of Time magazine with the article on Internet
Urban Legends?  It specifically tears apart the Aspartame article.
 
First, the "author" Nancy Markle does not exist.  Second, there was no such
thing as the World Environmental Conference, and third, the stuff about
aspartame being harmful because it converts to methanol is silly.  Many
common vegetables convert to small amounts of methanol in our bodies.  A
serving of carrots produces more methanol than a drink with Aspartame.
 
Last but not least, I decided just for grins to try to see if any of the
"doctors" she quotes in the article ever actually wrote anything pertaining
to Aspartame.  I did a Medline search and guess what?  The named "doctors"
have never published ANYTHING that I could find, let alone anything on
Aspartame.  I seriously doubt they even exist.
 
In short, the whole Aspartame thing was one gigantic hoax.  There is
absolutely no truth to anything in the article.
 
If your ferret likes Diet Coke, let it have a few licks.  It's not going to
hurt anything.
 
Debbie Kemmerer
[Posted in FML issue 2615]