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Janet Starr Hull PhD, CN

Alternative Health and Holistic Nutrition

Why NutraSweet Will Go Down In History

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Image of young businessman puppeteer
NutraSweet (aspartame) has been manipulating the diet industry for over 30 years.

Am I praising The NutraSweet® Company?  Confused?  Let me explain…..

I wonder how can the diet sweeteners still be around when it is so obvious that they are toxic. 

NutraSweet (aspartame) has been a social icon for the past 30+ years because NutraSweet started a diet fad that shifted the way people eat – all over the world.

Since NutraSweet first came on the market in the 1970s (or tried to; it’s first FDA approval was rescinded), its manufacturers have

  • manipulated its competitors,
  • formed liaisons with government agencies,
  • made deals with the AMA and the media,
  • transformed the soft drink industry.
a candle flame in a dark room
No other artificial sweetener can hold a candle to the history of aspartame.

No other artificial sweetener can hold a candle to the history of aspartame.

By no means am I saying that this diet product is any good, but I have realized, over time, what a historic icon NutraSweet really is. This chemical sugar will go down in American history as one of the most well-strategized products with a marketing campaign that revolutionized American diets.

How many people do you know who still use the stuff?

The jacket cover for Dr. Hull's Splenda book
Read about all of the diet sweeteners in my Splenda book.

Splenda®

What do I think about its competitor, Splenda®?

My first thought is any artificial sweetener is going to be harmful to your health. But it is obvious that NO new chemical sweetener will ever take-the-market like NutraSweet/Equal® did.  

Having discovered the toxicity of aspartame in NutraSweet, I began researching how they made sucralose in Splenda.

I smelled a rat when Splenda came on the market.

There is no free ticket to sugar-free, guys.

I know that.

You know that.

The Sweetener Wars

NutraSweet (now generic aspartame) has remained popular not because it’s a quality product (which it is NOT), but because the NutraSweet Company designed one of the most brilliantly strategized corporate campaigns in consumer history.

They masterminded the diet market and they structured a monopoly more well-thought-out than any other American corporate campaign to date.

So will Splenda, Tagatose®, maltitol and the sugar alcohols, or even natural stevia ever replace NutraSweet’s track record?  

I wouldn’t bet on it.

The NutraSweet Company did not soar to historic popularity because aspartame is an exceptional product (it is an exceptionally harmful product), but it became a multi-billion dollar industry because 7 shrewd corporate and government leaders got away with executing marketing strategies that pocketed the market, after they slipped passed the FDA.

The history of aspartame and the NutraSweet Company stratagem will some day be written about in business journals, marketing textbooks, and taught in university economic classes.  What will they say?  

They’ll expound that the NutraSweet Company carefully planned and successfully achieved their success by eliminating All competition. They tried to get saccharin taken off the market, which didn’t succeed in the long run. I write about the crazy history of saccharin in my books. 

Saccharin was not totally removed from the public market because Monsanto Chemical Company owned BOTH saccharin and NutraSweet, and partially due to saccharin’s true “safety” record.  

How They Took Over The Market

the jacket cover for Dr. Hull's book Sweet Poison
Read all about the history of saccharin and aspartame in my book Sweet Poison.
❖ Marketing strategies were set into motion to gain access to and influence the food and pharmaceutical industries.
❖ Liaisons were established between the NutraSweet Company and government officials, specifically the FDA and US Department of Transportation.
❖ Relationships were bridged between the NutraSweet Company and the AMA (American Medical Association), the American Diabetic Association, the Multiple Sclerosis Society, among others.
❖ Research centers were funded and influenced by the NutraSweet Company at predominant universities throughout the USA.
❖ Research scientists responsible for aspartame safety testing were pay-rolled by the NutraSweet Company.
❖ Marketing relationships were established between the NutraSweet Company and the National Soft Drink Association and the various soft drink companies.  
❖ Contacts were established within American mainstream media primarily through multi-million dollar advertising campaigns from television stations to prominent newspapers and magazines.

 

A book titled Top Secret wrapped in steel chains.
NutraSweet came on the market from behind closed doors.

As I write in my books, there were 7 businessmen and government officials primarily responsible for the creation of the NutraSweet Company and its historic cornering of the market; they prepared and executed these brilliant business strategies behind closed doors.  

Some day the facts in my book will be common knowledge, and the NutraSweet Company will have a chapter in our history. The NutraSweet Company zealously designed and brilliantly executed a marketing campaign that changed society.

This diet sweetener fad has succeeded longer than anyone expected, even the NutraSweet Company officials themselves. (Internal memos show they didn’t think they’d really pull this off.)

So will Splenda or any of the other artificial sweeteners be able to repeat this historic control of the world sweetener market?  

Not likely.  

Without manipulation of its competitors and liaisons with government agencies, the soft drink industry, the AMA and the media, no other artificial sweetener can hold a candle to the history of aspartame.

I am still amazed that people use this stuff today.

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Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only, and is educational in nature. The FDA may not have evaluated some of the statements.  This article is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Please discuss with your own, qualified health care provider before adding supplements or making any changes to your dietary program.

Before taking vitamins, consult your doctor; pre-existing medical conditions or medications you are taking can affect how your body responds to multivitamins.