NutraSweet Causes Cancer - Hoaxes
Whether or not aspartame causes health problems is subject to debate. Some believe that it causes headaches, or breaks down to form formaldehyde. Whether those fears are true or not, to date, the claims and information in the email below are completely made up. For real information about aspartame, see this page: http://www.ehso.com/ehshome/aspartame.php
Here is the email - Remember it is a FAKE:
From the Council of the Blind:
An "article" attributed to Nancy Markle containing allegations about aspartame has recently been circulating on the Internet.
One of the symptoms she and her "sources" have attributed to aspartame have been substantiated in any clinical scientific study. We'd like to take this opportunity to respond to these egregious allegations and assure you that aspartame is not associated with any adverse effects.
Let us first look at the components of NutraSweet and how our body metabolizes these components. NutraSweet is our company's brand name for the sweetener aspartame. Aspartame is composed of two amino acids, aspartic acid and the methyl ester of phenylalanine. When aspartame is digested, it yields 10% methanol by weight. What aspartame critics fail to mention, however, is that many commonly consumed beverages and foods yield methanol upon digestion. The body then converts the methanol to formaldehyde which is instantly converted to a metabolite called formate. Formate is then quickly eliminated by the body in the form of carbon dioxide and water. Most of us are unaware of the daily processes our bodies go through to digest the various foods we consume. Methanol is an abundant, naturally occurring compound found in such foods as fruits and fruit juices. For example, four to five times more methanol is obtained from a serving of tomato juice than from an equivalent volume of beverage sweetened with aspartame.
And if you want to see the humorous side of hoax emails, read the spoof of the bubble-boy scams.
And please let us know about any suspicious calls or emails you receive. We look for patterns so that we can alert the authorities and victims to new scams, before it is too late!
For a comprehensive list of national and international agencies to report scams, see this page.