Oh good God!

So do we switch to regular soda now? Is there anything that's still safe to drink? We're not importing any water from China are we?

The FDA really needs to answer this question of the relative safety of diet drinks. You'd think that might be a little important.

Wait, you guys don't think that maybe the FDA has been paid off, do you?

Holly crap! I have a four-can-a-day Coke Zero habit! WTF am I gonna do now?!

I was watching this Al Gore and Michael Moore co-produced documentary, and it said there has been a 967% increase in unsafe food consumption in the US since Bush came to power.

Basically, Bush is protecting his cronies in the food industry and allowing them to do whatever they want.

Since it's a documentary, it must be true.

Holy Sh!t, Batman! George Bush is making us eat more unhealthy food? How did he do that?

I knew that everything was his fault. God bless you Michael Moore.

I find it hard to believe that Mr. Bush would ever ignore the truth in favor of what suits his interests.

*Edit: We're sorry to report that this user has suffered a massive, Irony-induced aneurysm. Condolences will be sent to the next of kin.

ever notice brands like Colgate and Crest using Saccharin (that infamous cancer causing sweetener) in your toothpaste?

I noticed it when the Diethylene Glycol scare came up. Looks like many of us have been exposed to saccharin after all...ON A DAILY BASIS.

Thanks Colgate!

Isn't this report old news? Or am I thinking of something else. Either way, hallelujah!

My doctor said if I eat too much sugar, it would be bad for my health for certain. Do you think that there is any studies to back that up?

As I'm a cynic [who does drink a lot of diet pop] I have to wonder if the saccharine, ACE K & cyclamate manufacturer's are behind this study.
The last time studies came out attacking aspartame, it turned out that Sherwin-Williams was behind them.
S-W was at the time the largest maker of saccharine, as originally it was a byproduct of paint manufacturing.
That's why Se. Howard Metzenbaum was the biggest critic of aspartame in Congress. He was owned by Sherwin-Williams.

CSPI has done the Chicken Little dance waaaaay too often to foster any kind of confidence in their conclusions; someone should irretrievably revoke their right to use "science" in their title and then force that weeny spokesman to eat a steak like a real frickin' red-blooded American male!

But you gotta love this: "People shouldn't panic, but they should stop buying beverages and foods containing aspartame." Uhhh, yeah, that's not panicking?

They'll be happy only when they've enlisted Big Brother in banning anything more tasty than Chico-San rice cakes. Mmmmm, styrofoam.

@ironchef: Actually, recent, more modern studies found that the saccharin cancer link was far overblown, and it no longer has to carry the warnings it used to.

Funny about this though, if things were flipped, you'd get the "refined sugar" nuts coming out telling us how bad that is. You can't win.

Listen folks, if you drink 4 liters of any one product in a day - day in and day out - you'll probably have a problem. Try some moderation. I am always shocked at how much diet soda some people drink. If you're drinking two two-liters or 8-10 cans a day like some folks, you're probably overdoing it. Switch it up a bit.

"The study, which can be read here, followed a group of 4,000 rats... beginning during "prenatal" life."

So, the conclusiveness of this study only directly applies to people born of a mother who had drank aspartame whilst they were in the womb?

Seems a little limited on the 'applicability to people in general' front.

Know what never causes problems in rats? Tap water. Preferably through a Brita Filter.

These sweeteners are some of the most heavily tested substances in the world. If the FDA ignored the FUD caused by this one study, then it's probably with good reason.

Let the study be duplicated and verified, then we can address this issue. At this point in time, it's not worth it to get all worked up.

If you have any hope that the FDA will protect you, you need to watch the PBS Frontline episode about the FDA...

So, they're recommending that you avoid a product which has been consumed by hundreds of millions of people every day for decades with very little proven ill effect, and instead use one that has only been approved for use for 8 years and has no associated long-term study of risks? Major retailers also make a point of not carrying sucralose (Splenda) for that reason- it has the potential to be dangerous, aside from being completely artificial.

In my opinion, don't eat anything your body can't metabolize. Avoid this Splenda crap and just have real sugar in moderation.

@Topcat:
Your body can't metabolize insoluble fiber, but I dare say that you should probably be eating a good quantity of that!

Hmm, why must these studies make life so difficult?

Drink diet soda and get cancer of the everything OR drink regular soda and get fat and obliterate your health that way.

Whelp, guess it's back to good ol' whiskey for me.

@mrestko: I should have specified: substances you can't metabolize because they are artificially produced specifically for that purpose.

Olean/Olestra anyone?

@Greasy Thumb Guzik: You are very misinformed sir. Saccharin was discovered in 1879 at John Hopkins University by Ira Remsen and Constantine Fahlberg. For further disabuse from incorrect information about saccharin, the Wiki article would be a good start [en.wikipedia.org]

@astrochimp: I would think that in the womb exposure would be of significant concern for many people born after 1981 [to 1983], and certainly many more/most everyone born after 1983 in the USA.

Hmmm.. Aspartame-flavored drinks taste like ass, and has an aftertaste of unwiped ass. What could possibly be the first clue it may not be good to consume? After all, it was the same way people figured McDonalds was a bad idea.

My condolances to diabedics, for no man, woman, or child (except Newfies) should ever have to give up real sugar.

I'm switching from Caffeine Free Diet Pepsi to beer immediately!

As someone who works in a lab and has worked with rats: holy crap that's a lot of rats!!!!! I'm impressed that a single study was done with so many rats. If it's "statistically significant" with such a large "n" (subjects/rats), then there's a pretty good chance it's real. Sure, it should be replicated, but who the hell is going to do another study with that many rats? And yes it's still significant even if it was administered to rats prenatally. I'm pretty sure there's a significant number of pregnant women probably drinking sodas with aspartame, especially if they're attempting to avoid gestational diabetes but can't give up their soda.

My sil has diabetes & hypertension. I love how she chugs the diet soda and diet snackwells cookies thinking shes being "healthy"!

Here is an idea eat foods as close to their original state as possible.

@ironchef

Hey genius, don't swallow toothpaste. If you think saccharin is bad for you, look up fluoride.

"ever notice brands like Colgate and Crest using Saccharin (that infamous cancer causing sweetener) in your toothpaste?

I noticed it when the Diethylene Glycol scare came up. Looks like many of us have been exposed to saccharin after all...ON A DAILY BASIS.

Thanks Colgate!"

@thrust: Well said. Drinks or food with aspertame have that bitter and metallic aftertaste. Definitely feels and tastes unnatural to say the least. I don't know how people can stand it! I'd rather eat and drink foods without it in moderation and face the consequences.

Actually, this reminds me of a funny (perhaps pathetic to some) personal story of mine. While I was visiting Harvard, my ex-girlfriend took me to a private party with students in an advanced math class (so I was the only "outsider" there). To my surprise and horror, there was NO regular soda! Only Diet Coke, Diet Dr. Pepper, Diet... you get the idea. And guess what almost everybody were drinking there? The funny (and sad thing) was, I ended up drinking alcohol for the first time and some water (nothing beats NYC tap water!), just to avoid drinking those aspartame laced soda. Thankfully, that isn't the case at my college.

Aspartame was never supposed to be legalized for use in liquids. It becomes highly unstable and seperates into carcinogenic compounds. Besides cancer, you can also get decreased short term memory, migraines and aboput 100 other known side effects. Would you rather have some sugar, or a highly toxic chemical?

Monsanto has so much money, and influence in government, that they can basically do anything.
Agent Orange, DDT, Roundup Weed Killer, Roundup ready soybeans, bio-engineered foods and Nutra-Sweet, all courtesy of the same company. Monsanto.

I'm pretty sure I read on the internet somewhere that Donald Rumsfeld was the CEO of Searle when they pushed aspartame approval through without the required testing.

But could a sweet [sic] guy like him ever do something so ethically challenged? I remain skeptical. [And addicted to Diet Coke]

hmmm. how about drinking water and eating bananas?

go banana!

@synergy
I agree that with a sample size of 4000, the statistical significance probably does indicate that the results of the study are real. The problem that with that interpretation though is that there is no mention of effect size (granted, I didn't read the paper, so it might be mentioned). With 4000 subjects, the chance of finding statistical significance isn't that difficult, even for a miniscule effect. Therefore, eventhough there was a significant effect obtained, it might not really be as impressive as it appears on first glance.

The FDA said it's safe so it's ok to drink, so there is no need to worry.
*takes sip of Diet Coke*
Ahhhhhh...refreshing!
*holds up can and smiles*

I don't think I'll ever understand the need for diet sodas or diet anything else for that matter. What is so hard about simply eating a bit less of things that a high calorie or high fat.

It seems so weak to say to companies, in effect, "please make diet products because I have to drink 10 cokes a days, I cannot control my intake, I am a piggie".

What ever happened to the idea of a "treat"? What ever happened to self control?

Why not just have one regular coke every couple days? Why no just have small dish of ice cream once a week?

I'm sure someone will have a smartass answer for these questions.

@radleyas:
Just like raising my children, it's not my job! Soon you're going to tell me that if I break a law, it's actually my fault when I get caught.

I actually prefer the taste of Diet Coke/Pepsi to the regular stuff.

Now if they would only dump the fructose and go back to real sugar, I would go back to drinking the real stuff in a heartbeat.

@radleyas: I can agree with your moderation point except for one fact. The food industry dumps billions into research into how to get you to consume more product.

As someone who's allergic to artificial sweeteners, it's been amazing to me to find out how many products apparently need to be artificially sweetened. I can't have anything that says Sugar Free. Toothpaste, mouthwash, ok I can sort of understand those. Luckily I've been able to find products like Tom's of Maine. But even chewing gum and some ice creams have fallen to the "Sugar Free" camp. Is it really that hard to have a little self-control? And how is it that simple solutions to lowering fat content like using carrageenan aren't more prevalent, if we're so concerned about our health?

I'm sure someone will have a smartass answer for these questions.

@radleyas: Ask a smartass question...

I can drink upwards of 6 cans of Diet Coke a day if I don't pay attention. I love it. Regular Coke tastes like Karo, Splenda tastes like peaches soaked in pool water... aspartame is where it's at.

Of course, I smoke, drink beer, and cook food in butter, so the Diet Coke isn't exactly the worst of my problems. Is this kind of thing worth worrying about? Probably. Am I worrying? Nah.

@Red_Eye:

Well, you don't have to listen to the food industry. You do have control over you life and what goes into your body.

@colflesh: I am by no means the one who does the statistics in my lab, but it's a small sample size usually where something can be magnified beyond what would actually show up in a larger population. This has happened in my lab recently. He took a small sample size of about 400 and had significance for something, but when another 900 samples were plugged in, the significance disappeared.

Saccharin has been used for a very very very long time. Use that. The others are too new, and we can't know.

@suburbancowboy:

My sister-in-law stupidly lives on Diet Mountain Dew and I can back up the side effects. She gets headaches all the time, she's gained weight and is constantly tired. I keep telling her to lay off the pop and she just ignores it. I know it's mean but I can't wait for the day she gets breast cancer and I can go "I told you so." I think her doctor is just as stupid. She's told her doctor about her consumption and her doctor only told her that if she wants to stop drinking it, to do it gradually. SHE DIDN'T TELL HER TO STOP DRINKING IT. *Pounds head on wall.*

@mopar_man: Ok... Umm... DIET Mountaindew? What is this heresy you speak of, that the sugariest of sugary sweets be made without SUGAR?

Oh, another (so-far unmentioned) fun fact on the diet crap... Asparteme is usually paired with its retarded half-cousin Sorbitol. Good ol Sorbi can give you the shits in such a bad way that you'll feel it all the way down to your toes... LITERALLY.

I can't wait for the media's annual saccharin/aspartame rehash.

Is it at all weird that people are going to panic, rid the shelves of aspartame-containing products, and forward obnoxious "warning" chain letters, while they continue to drive without seatbelts, overindulge in fat/calories, continue to smoke, and avoid exercise? The "American Way" is in due time going to consist of totaling your mega-Transformer SUV while downing a Big Gulp because we're too busy looking for TERRORISTS on the road.

@colflesh: right on. I haven't read the paper yet, but I'd also be interested in seeing their p values. For those unfamiliar with stats, "science" has a threshold of p

@synergy: yes, but if he jacked up the sample size again beyond 900, he'd start to find other "significant" results that were possibly meaningless. Think of it as a curve

@mopar_man:
I used to get stomach aches a lot and I told my doctor that I had 5 or 6 cans of soda in a day and he acted shocked. Also told me to drink more water and less crap. Guess what, he was right.

Hasn't sucralose (Splenda) been available in Canada for decades though? I've always assumed the slow approval by the FDA was more due to lobbying by the makers of saccarine and aspartame than any ill health related reasons.

That said, moderation is still the key.

This is why I'm happy that I've switched to seltzer. All the bubbles without the poison. Add a little lemon juice and real sugar and you've got a decent drink.

@LionelEHutz:

I mix fruit juice with seltzer. Great treat and very refreshing!