Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund

Protecting, defending, and broadening the rights and viability of independent farmers, artisanal food producers, and their consumers.

Keep Aspartame Out of “Milk”! Action Alert

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Aspartame & “Milk”

Dairy industry petitions the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve aspartame as a hidden additive in milk, yogurt, eggnog and cream.

The integrity of our food supply is poised for another blow with a citizens petition submitted to FDA by the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF). These industry groups are asking FDA to alter the definition of “milk” to include chemical sweeteners such as aspartame and sucralose without listing these additives on the front panel.

While aimed principally at replacing sugar in flavored milks served to school children, the petition also asks for the right to put hidden artificial sweeteners in a host of dairy products including nonfat dried milk (always added to reduced-fat milks), yogurt, cream, half-and-half, sour cream, eggnog and whipping cream. Truly, no conventional dairy product will be safe if the petitioners get their way.
 
 

ACTIONS TO TAKE

1. Submit a comment

at regulations.gov for Docket ID: FDA-2009-P-0147-0012 . You may use the talking points below.

Even if your comment is very short, we need thousands of people letting the government know that granting this petition would be a disaster to our food supply, especially for children. It’s best to compose your comments before submitting them. Comments 2,000 words or less can be copied and pasted into the comment box. Longer comments can be attached as a letter.

  1. For the required field “Organization Name,” please enter “Citizen”.
  2. For “Category,” you can use “Individual Consumer”.
  3. Remember to hit “submit comment” when you are done. You should be taken to another screen that includes a confirmation number for your comment, which is how you know your comment was successfully submitted.

The comment period ends on May 21, 2013.

2. Sign the online petition

by the consumer group, SumOfUs.org, which has gathered over 100,000 signers to oppose this move.

3. Circulate this Action Alert

through social media and direct emails to others.


TALKING POINTS

  1. Adding hidden artificial sweeteners to dairy products would hurt the dairy industry by further reducing the number of people who could safely consume dairy products.
  2. Adding hidden artificial sweeteners to dairy products would generate severe consumer backlash to all conventional dairy products.
  3. The FDA lists more than ninety documented symptoms of aspartame toxicity, including abdominal pain, anxiety attacks, brain cancer, breathing difficulties, chronic fatigue, depression, headaches, migraines, dizziness, marked personality changes, memory loss, panic attacks, rapid heartbeat, vision loss and weight gain.
  4. Aspartame releases methanol upon digestion, and methanol poisoning causes headaches, behavioral disturbances and inflammation of the nerves. Another breakdown product of aspartame is poisonous formaldehyde.
  5. Thousands of adverse reactions to aspartame have been reported to the FDA, mostly concerned with abnormal brain function, brain tumors, epilepsy and Parkinson’s.
  6. Children’s brains are four times more susceptible to damage from excitotoxins like aspartame than those of adults and react with ADD- and ADHD-type symptoms, impaired learning, depression and nausea.
  7. People who are sensitive to aspartame can have life-threatening reactions to it.
  8. Sucralose side effects include rashes, panic attacks, dizziness, numbness, diarrhea, swelling, headaches, cramping and stomach pain.

The proposed regulations restrict our freedom of choice. Industry players who oppose consumers’ ability to choose raw milk are now trying to force consumers to consume artificial additives without their knowledge or consent.


MORE INFORMATION
Dairy industry petitions the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve aspartame as a hidden, unlabeled additive in milk and 17 other dairy products, including yogurt, eggnog and cream. Read FDA’s questions for comments

Got Disgust? Aspartame in Dairy Products with No Warning Label

Podcast by Kim Hartke about the Aspartame in dairy products issue. In this show you’ll hear from Sally Fallon Morell, Jane Hersey and Dr. Kendra Pearsall on the dairy industry’s attempt to hide chemical sweeteners in milk. You’ll learn about a sneaky additive that goes unmentioned on labels and hear about the deluge of complaints to the FDA that this proposal has inspired! See additional sources referred to in the podcast at www.HartkeIsOnline.com


They Want to Hide Toxic Sweeteners in Your Child’s School Milk

Listen to the Know Your Food Podcast
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In the episode of Know Your Food Podcast #25 (KYF#25), host Wardee talks to special guests Sally Fallon Morell, president and founder of the Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF) and author of Nourishing Traditions and also serves as secretary of the Board of Directors for the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund; Kimberly Hartke, WAPF publicist and blogger at Hartke is Online!; and Cathy Raymond, Outreach Director for WAPF as well as and the Outreach and Fundraising Director for the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund. Posted March 14, 2013 at www.gnowfglins.com
 
 
Last Updated: 4/17/2013