Everytime the government and the swarming Health Nazis - who use government to their advantage - determine that something is evil, or "not good for you," they of course manage to distort the market, and their edicts to rid us of "evil" bring rise to an even more dangerous product. Such is the case with high-fructose corn syrup and trans fats, as I explained here.
Stevia is another great product that has been, yes, demonized in order to benefit the hugely-powerful artificial sweetener indiustry. As Wilt notes, Stevia is a natural sweetener, not artifical, and it has been around for a very long time. So what does our corporatist state give us in place of Stevia? Why that great ant killer known as Aspartame. Dr. Mercola calls it "the most dangerous substance on the market that is added to foods." Aspartame is a chemical poison. The whole case behind the FDA passage of aspartame is very interesting.
In short: The FDA, in its Decision of the Public Board of Inquiry in 1980, originally denied approval for aspartame after large numbers of laboratory animals grew tumors (and had other assorted health problems) as a result of being fed aspartame. The report notes (p. 51) that "the Board has not been presented with proof of a reasonable certainty that aspartame is safe for use as a food additive under its intended conditions of use." Approval for aspartame was then immediately withdrawn. You can read it in the FDA decision for yourself. This ended about 15 years of deceptiveness and hokum on the part of the drug company G.D. Searle (later acquired by Monsanto), the maker of Nutrasweet.
In 1981, suddenly, aspartame was approved....and how so? Well, you see, at the time Donald Rumsfeld was CEO, President, and Chairman of G.D. Searle (check my facts). When Reagan was elected in 1980, he joined the transition team, and immediately, a Defense Department guy - Arthur Hull Hayes - was appointed the commissioner of the FDA the exact day that Reagan took office. Remember, Rumsfeld was the Secretary of Defense just prior to his appointment at G.D. Searle. Rumsfeld was known to have explicity said that he would find an FDA commissioner that would approve aspartame. Also -- Donald Kendal, Rumsfeld's close friend, was the chairman of Pepsi, a company that would make zillions on the sale of its aspartame-sweetened soda.
Almost immediately, aspartame was approved - by Hayes - for use in dry goods, and later, it was approved for use in soft drinks. This is in spite of the fact that his internal FDA advisors (all doctors) had warned against its approval. The NSDA (National Soft Drink Association) also warned that aspartame was not safe in liquid form, especially when it warms up beyond room temperature. Rumsfeld later received "pharmaceutical industry leader" awards, and also received millions in bonuses post-aspartame passage.
Once again, the feds, in the name of "protecting you," are killing you. Yet they will oppress an entire populace for eating Big Macs and storm the school vending machines containing non-diet, sugar-laden soda.
