URGENT: NutraSweet/MENTHANOL/TRUTH

[Betty Martini]

Today Erica at Coca Cola told me Diet Minute Maid Orange Drink has been 
discontinued in the Atlanta area, but she was not given a reason why.
Erica also gave me these figures on diet drinks.   800 438-2653

       Aspartame in Diet Coke                185 mg/can
                 in Diet Orange Drink        222 mg/can   20% more

Dr. H. J. Roberts wrote in Aspartame (NutraSweet) Is It Safe?
"certain diet colas (especially orange drinks) contain considerably more
aspartame than others"     Charles Press, Philadelphia.

       Of course, carbonation is a source of acidity in soft drinks, 
       but the citric acid in Orange Drink is flavoring, added to 
       produce a citric taste and requires more aspartame to sweeten.
        
       Orange juice is a more complex substance, nutritious to boot!
        
       In the  "olden days"  as Mark Pendergast reports in "For God, 
       Country and Coca Cola" the syrup formula had two principle sources 
       of acid:   Citric Acid 3 oz,   Lime Juice  1 Qt  (Approx 55# formula)
       Most of the formula here presented was sugar, 30 pounds! That's your
       regular Classic Coke type produce.  Later phosphoric acid was 
       substituted in place of the citric acid, it's cheaper and guttier.
       Subsequent carbonation when the syrup is diluted bring additional
       carbonic acid to the drink.  

April 20, 1995 the Department of Health & Human Services released this data
on an easy-to-read chart: 


              TABLE 2 SYMPTOMS ATTRIBUTED TO ASPARTAME
       
Headache             1847         There were thousands of additional
Dizziness             735         symptomatic reactions on this report
Changes in mood       656         which I've not listed for brevity. 
Vomiting, Nausea      647         Among these is which you might consider
Change in vision      362         The Ultimate Symptom. 
Diarrhea              330         
Seizures, Convulsions 290*        * TOTAL SEIZURES =  464!
Grand Mal             174*
Memory Loss           255         I care about these victims, and the
Fatigue, weakness     242         multitudes who suffered without 
Other Neurological    230         Why don't you study the voluminous data on
Rash                  226         
Grand Mal             174         this neurotoxin with an open mind.

Oh yes: TABLE 1 of this report showed diet soft drinks as the  #1 source 
of these afflictions, with 3021 notations.  In June the FDA, according
to a report I've received, closed the complaint window so the tally has
ceased, too many bodies to count.   They've received more complaints about
aspartame than any other product almost 80% of all complaints!

So we have a government agency assigned to protect us that covers it's ears
to citizen complaints of illness and injury.  Looks like the Godfather hired
the district attorney to tell us:  No more crime in this city!

                                 Betty Martini
                                 Domain:  betty at pd.org
                                 UUCP:  ...!emory!pd.org!betty

On 4 Aug 1995, Joseph Bret Wood wrote:

> In article <Pine.SUN.3.91.950803111025.6088C-100000 at noel.pd.org>,
> Betty Martini  <betty at noel.pd.org> wrote:
> [snip]
> >it in several things.  You may have seen one post that says they no 
> >longer can get Diet Orange (Coke).  I haven't checked that out as yet but 
> >I would see the reasoning in it since in something  with acid they would 
> >have to use much more aspartame, and "they" may be getting many more 
> >complaints.
> 
> Yet another example of chemical ignorance.  First off, the carbonation in
> ALL soft drinks forms an equilibrium concentration of carbonic acid, therefore
> all carbonated beverages are acidic.  (In fact, I've heard that in olden
> days drinks were carbonated by adding H2CO3 powder, rather than bottling under
> CO2 pressure.)
> 
>                 CO2 + H2O  <===>  H2CO3   (Carbonic Acid)
> 
> Secondly, you've heard that oranges contain citric acid!  Wow!  You're SOOOOO
> SMART!  Did you ever check the ingredient label of Coke, or Diet Coke?  They
> contain Phosphoric Acid, which is a much stronger acid than citric acid.
> 
> (Although the relative pH's depend on the concentration of acid, Colas 
> even FEEL more acidic when you drink them.  Just like fresh carbonated 
> beverages feel more acidic on your throat than flat ones, because they have
> more carbonic acid.)
> 
> -Bret Wood
> -bretwood at cs.uoregon.edu>