I don’t eat out a lot, but when I do, I like to go to cafeterias or to small family-owned restaurants. The other night, my son and I went to dinner, and I noticed these colored packets of equal® sweeteners on the table. I had never seen them before, so I grabbed some packs to bring home to investigate.
Anyone reading this article should agree that aspartame’s history has been chaotic, to say the least. Aspartame has been sold many times to many companies since it was first discovered in the mid-1960s; each new company recasted the brand and advertised in different markets because aspartame’s health concerns just won’t go away.
Aspartame’s history and product information is documented in my book, Sweet Poison, and this is the BEST source for the most accurate data on aspartame.
When you go online today, most of the data and the history of aspartame is incorrect – its history has been modified over time.
People forget. Read Sweet Poison.
Quick History
- aspartame was discovered in 1965 by GD Searle as an ulcer drug that ended up sweet;
- after this discovery, Searle changed the FDA approval application from a drug to a food additive;
- the first FDA approval in 1974 was rescinded due to brain tumor issues, but its second approval request was finally pushed through in 1981 for use only as a dry, tabletop sweetener;
- it was approved for soft drinks in 1983, and it took off from there;
- saccharin was labeled a carcinogen in 1974 with a codicil that the warning would be removed in the year 2000 (because they knew saccharin never caused cancer – read my book, Splenda®: Is It Safe Or Not?);
- Monsanto bought GD Searle in 1985, and formed The NutraSweet Company;
- Monsanto held the patent for saccharin at this time, and now owned both saccharin and NutraSweet;
- NutraSweet’s patent was due to expire in 1992, and competitors were priming to enter the diet sweetener market;
- In March 2000, The NutraSweet Company was divided and sold; sucralose came on the American market and was sold as Splenda;
- Stevia’s suppression was lifting, and stevia was now being more freely marketed;
- NutraSweet’s Equal and Canderel brands were purchased by Tabletop Holdings and Brener International in March 2000, and the new company formed Merisant.
Rebranded Again
So now, Merisant US, Inc is relabeling and rebranding the artificial sweeteners once again. You can’t blame them, I guess – it’s good marketing.
The packets may look different, but what’s inside those colorful packets hasn’t changed.
The research beginning in the late 1960s has undoubtably proven that aspartame can be dangerous to your health. The research in the 1990s has also proven that sucralose can be harmful to your health.
Other than the packaging, nothing hasn’t changed inside those colorful artificial sweetener packages, but as time goes on – don’t forget.
Read my books and learn for yourself. This issue hasn’t gone away, no matter how you color the packets.
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If you want to learn more about healthy living, contact me at janethull.com. Remember that you are never alone when you are looking for good health!
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