My book, Sweet Poison, has recently been published in Japan, YOSHIDA Michiyo, Soft Cover, 2013; Japanese translation by Books Crossing Borders through The English Agency (Japan) Ltd.
I’m sure it’s ruffling some feathers over there, though, because Ajinomoto, a Japanese corporation, manufactures over 40 percent of the world’s aspartame supply.
Oops.
Actually, aspartame has always been “Made in Japan.”
Sweet Poison 快い毒
Sweet Poison “raises the flag” on this current issue of great importance in Japan – aspartame dangers. Aspartame is one of the most controversial topics in modern time, and its safety concerns are impacting Japan today.
Japan’s Department of Neurology, Neurological Institute, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, has shown that in Japanese people born after modernization in the 1960s, the ratio of conventional to opticospinal Multiple Sclerosis (MS) has increased rapidly in Japan.
Nationwide surveys conducted over the past 30 years have revealed a four-fold increase in the number of MS patients in Japan. The survey also showed a decrease in the age at onset, and documented increases in patients with conventional MS.
MS is becoming a growing issue in children in both the U.S. and Japan.
According to data from the Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a startling 20 percent of the Japanese population are now “obese” — a threefold increase from 1962 to 2002. A broad-based review of Japanese schoolchildren published in 2004 by the National Institute of Health and Nutrition in Tokyo showed that the prevalence of obesity in Japan was on the rise — particularly in rural areas.
As early as 1981, researchers warned that aspartame would cause epidemic weight gain.
The truth about aspartame dangers is finally reaching the Japanese consumer, and this directly involves Japan’s youth. I encourage every teacher, parent, and student to promote research projects studying the history of the diet sweetener industry, and to become more aware of the research proving aspartame is a dangerous food additive.
Increased knowledge can guide Japan into a healthier future. As I wrote in Sweet Poison, I had to learn this lesson the hard way….
Made In Japan
Aspartame was first discovered in the United States in 1965. At this time, the Japanese company Ajinomoto was contracted to exclusively manufacture and supply this “revolutionary” amino acid-based sweetener, and the industrial synthesis of aspartame was deemed as perfected.
Today, the questionable safety of aspartame puts its manufacturers in the middle of global consumer safety concerns. Contrary to Ajinomoto’s claims that the two amino acids used in aspartame are all natural, research has discovered that the ingredients found in aspartame are not natural and are highly toxic to human health. Scientific studies continue to confirm that aspartame causes disease and weight gain.
With over $125 million US currently invested in aspartame by Ajinomoto, the push to sell aspartame worldwide is as strong as ever, but our consumer questions still remain unanswered. People want to know why global governments have approved aspartame amid the proven safety concerns, and why nothing is being done today about its health dangers.
The aspartame safety debate marches on….now in Japan.
ありがとうございます吉田 Michiyo
