- A senate bill to rid New Mexico of what has been called
"Rumsfeld's Disease" was introduced Thursday by Sen. Gerald Ortiz
y Pino, D-Albuquerque, as 15 other senators from both sides of isle also
signed on, supporting legislation to ban the deadly artificial sweetener,
aspartame.
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- Linked to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for his efforts
in the 1970s for putting the sweetener on the market, New Mexico is the
first state to consider banning the artificial additive linked to numerous
ill-health affects, including cancer.
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- If passed, no food containing any amount of the sweetener
could be manufactured, sold or delivered in Mew Mexico, beginning July
1.
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- After the bill was introduced Thursday morning, Sen.
Ortiz y Pino, appearing on Greg Szymanski's radio show, The Investigative
Journal, said he needs support from six more senators for passage if the
anti-aspartame legislation makes its way for a vote during the short 30-day
legislative session.
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- The Albuquerque democrat also said the bill needs to
be put on the "governor's call list" in order for it to be heard,
remaining optimistic since Gov. Bill Richardson has expressed strong concern
about the health hazards of aspartame in the past.
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- "I decided to introduce this bill, despite strong
opposition by lobbyists because it is the right thing to do and many of
my constituents feel the artificial sweetener is dangerous," said
Sen. Ortiz y Pino while appearing on The Investigative Journal.
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- "I am very optimistic that the banning of aspartame
will be passed into law since 15 senators signed on with me to support
the bill. I know of one other who has said he join us, leaving only six
more votes to get it passed in the senate if it comes to a vote this session."
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- Besides the senate bill, New Mexico's House of Representatives
has also introduced a similar bill, House Bill 202, calling for the same
ban on aspartame.
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- The House version of the bill was introduced by Gallup
democrat, Irvin Harrison, who claims the measure, if passed, "means
a vital national and international precedent would be set, one which could
precipitate a new era of consumer protection in the United States and other
nations."
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- New Mexico resident and Santa Fe art gallery owner Stephen
Fox has been one of the main activists pushing to raise public awareness
and outlaw the use of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved
additive.
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- Fox and many others trying to ban aspartame have for
years been trying to warn unsuspecting users of the dangers, saying aspartame
contains "poisonous and deadly toxins."
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- Before legislation was introduced, Fox tried to get aspartame
banned through the state's Environmental Improvement Board (EIB), but after
pressure from aspartame lobbyists, postponed any action on Fox's request
until July.
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- The New Mexico Legislature established the EIB in 1978
to handle rules on the state's food and water supply, liquid waste, air
quality and radiation control. However, any action by the legislature to
ban aspartame would supersede an EIB ruling.
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- Although the EIB said in October that it had the necessary
power to handle Fox's petition, on Nov. 9, the board backtracked,
asking in writing for Attorney General Patricia Madrid's opinion
on whether state law gives it the authority to regulate aspartame and whether
the board could carry out Fox's request to outlaw or put warning labels
on products that contain the sweetener. The board has not received an answer
from Madrid.
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- Regarding the adverse health affects from aspartame,
a recent report from a highly respected international medical team has
now linked the toxins in aspartame to lymphomas and leukemias.
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- The report by Morando Soffritti "Aspartame induces
lymphomas and leukemias in rats" is in the European Journal of Oncology
for July, 2005. Dr. Sofritti is a member of the European Ramazzini Foundation
of Oncology and Environmental Sciences Cancer Research Centre in Bologna,
Italy.
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- As reported, Dr. Soffritti and his team carefully set
the conditions whereby genetically-uniform test rats were treated equally
with the exception of being divided into groups given varying levels of
the toxic chemical sweetener.
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- According to health experts, rats are deemed appropriate
subjects for testing aspartame on humans because both humans and rats metabolize
the methyl ester in aspartame into methyl alcohol, then formaldehyde then
formic acid - all deadly poisons.
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- Neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock, MD, one of the world's
leading authorities on aspartame neuro toxicity, extensively reviewed the
Soffritti report.
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- "This study confirmed the previous study by
Dr. Trocho and co-workers (1998), which also found the formaldehyde breakdown
product of aspartame to be damaging to cellular DNA and that this damage
was cumulative," said Dr. Blaylock. "The type of damage was a
duplicate of that associated with cancers. These two studies strongly indicate
that drinking a single diet cola sweetened with aspartame every day could
significantly increase one's risk of developing a lymphoma or leukemia.
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- "This study should terrify mothers and all those
consuming aspartame sweetened products. This was a carefully done study
which clearly demonstrated a statistically significant increase in several
types of lymphomas and leukemias in rats. Both of these malignancies have
increased significantly in this country since the widespread use of aspartame.
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- "They also found an increased incidence of malignant
brain tumors, even though it was not statistically significant. This does
not mean there is no association to brain tumors, since ONLY the animals
exposed to aspartame developed the tumors. With children and pregnant women
drinking the largest amount of diet colas, this puts their children at
the greatest risk of developing one of these horrible diseases. Their found
that even lower doses of aspartame could cause these malignancies, yet,
the higher the dose, the more cancers that were seen.
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- "Since aspartame can increase obesity and may even
cause the metabolic syndrome that affects 48 million Americans, there is
no reason to ever consume this product. At the least, it should be immediately
banned from all schools."
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