http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/aspartame-with-milk-may-trigger-brain-seizures/
This was a scary article and from all the remarks and other mentioned articles, something to be aware of these days. I mean, what next? How many times as parents have we chided our children with, "Finish you milk, it is good for you!" Seems from this article that it might not be so true. And you have to wonder why the milk companies are allowed to dictate laws to the FDA.
One reason for the extra sweetening is that children aren't drinking enough milk. The thought is to make it sweeter and entice more children into consuming it thus raising the revenue of the dairy companies. Think about it . . . It doesn't end if you merely stop serving milk to your children. The aspartame is showing up in ice cream (made from dairy), milk drinks at our favorite coffee haunts, shakes when we grab a hamburger, even the cheese on our hamburger.
We were roundly chastised by both sides of the family when our children were small because we never put out glasses of milk at dinner time. Our thinking was that milk has a lot of fat and calories and we would rather the children fill up on protein and vegetable items, first. We considered milk a treat. We did get a pat on the back from the pediatrician when she found out our 'rule' as she did not advocate too much consumption of milk.
Another consideration regarding this addition of aspartame to the milk supply . . . many people have mild to severe allergies to aspartame. My husband found this out when he got a massive vertigo attack and had to be taken by ambulance to emergency. After we figured out the problem, we religiously avoided anything that showed any kind of artificial sweeteners in the ingredients. It wasn't enough. We were out and about, one day, and treated ourselves to an ice cream cone at a popular ice cream place. Won't mention names here! My husband got chocolate and within an hour, he got a bad vertigo attack. He had asked if there were artificial sweeteners in the ice cream and the clerk assured him they were only in the diet blends. A little research revealed that aspartame and such are often added to non-diet foods to enhance the sweet taste and, as in this case, not part of the labeling.
You have to wonder what the milk board and companies that knowingly use daily products containing aspartame are thinking? Even with the bad effects, my husband's allergy to aspartame is minor compared to other people. Don't they worry about lawsuits if someone gets sick because the information wasn't forthcoming? What about small children? Will the future bring about severe problems because they got a sweet treat as toddlers?
My family used to laugh at me because I didn't care for potlucks as I didn't know under what circumstances the food was prepared. The FDA seems to be turning our country into a potluck nightmare.
Hope this ruling doesn't pass or that the information is exaggerated but how much or how little aspartame is really okay?
Just about thirty years ago, my husband and I first met at the Getty Villa in Los Angeles County. Today, we went back with our nineteen year old son. He had a school project to work on and we enjoyed seeing all the changes that come about in the space of 30 years. There was quite a lot as the Getty Villa was actually closed for almost ten years for renovations. Basically, we couldn't find too much that we recalled but thoroughly enjoyed viewing the ancient artifacts in the actual replica of an ancient Roma Villa.
