Its always in my head when shopping, what is in the food I,m buying. I was an organic farmer, now I,m just a big gardener, so have over the years learn some very important things about our food. I would like to know what you know. what is bad in our food system. Because if your putting buy food you might want to know if any thing nasty is in it.
All start with this. artificial Sweetener.

Neotame artificial Sweetener maybe not so sweet after all.
Neotame is a new artificial sweetener that is hitting the store shelf's near you. Along with the rest of them like aspartame (Nutrasweet), sucralose (Splenda) and saccharin (Sweet 'n Low).

Since 2002 an artificial sweetener called neotame has been approved for use in food and drink products around the world.

Neotame is a chemical derivative of aspartame, a bunch of new chemicals are used in its manufacturing, it appears even more toxic than aspartame, although the proponents of neotame claim that increased toxicity is not a concern, because less of it is needed to achieve the desired effect. Wow, that statement does not make me feel good at all. And it doesn't make me feel any better knowing neotame is made by the Monsanto Company.

Monsanto was the owner of the NutraSweet Company but has sold it to someone else, but the approval of neotame came under Monsanto's ownership, and was most likely a result of Monsanto's has always had a cozy relationship with the FDA. In 1998, Monsanto applied for FDA approval for neotame, "based on the aspartame formula" with one critical addition: 3-dimethylbutyl, which just happens to be listed on the EPA's most hazardous chemical list.

And this from Health Canada. http://canadagazette.gc.ca/archives/p2/2007/2007-08-22/html/sor-dors176-eng.html
Health Canada has received a submission to amend the Food and Drug Regulations to permit the use of neotame, a substance that is 7,000 to 13,000 times sweeter than sugar. Neotame can be used as a high intensity sweetener in carbonated soft drinks, beverage concentrates, beverage mixes (powdered soft drinks, pre-sweetened cocoa, or coffee mixes), unstandardized dairy beverages, unstandardized fruit juices, breakfast cereals, dessert mixes, toppings, topping mixes, fillings, filling mixes, unstandardized desserts, yogurt, confectionery glazes for snack foods, sweetened seasonings or coating mixes for snack foods, confections, including candies and their coatings, chewing gum, breath freshener products, unstandardized fruit spreads, purées, sauces, unstandardized table syrups, unstandardized salad dressings, peanut and other nut spreads, condiments, unstandardized baked goods, baking mixes, and as a table-top sweetener at maximum levels of use specified in the amendments. So its in a whole lot of crap.
According to Dr. Janet Hull, author of Sweet Poison, "Neotame contains all the dangerous elements found in aspartame and more: the amino acids L-aspartic acid and L-phenylalanine, plus two organic functional groups, one known as a methyl ester group and the other as a neohexyl group ... Neotame does not have to carry the PKU warning, as aspartame is required by law to do. Neotame is manufactured from aspartame, and builds on aspartame's ability to provide more sweetness from less raw material, as it is 30-60 times sweeter than aspartame.
Unfortunately, one byproduct your body creates by breaking down aspartame is formaldehyde, you know the stuff we used in high School biology class to knock out the frogs for dissecting. Formaldehyde is extremely toxic to your health even in very small doses. The NutraSweet Company claims the addition of 3,3-Dimethylbutyraldehyde to aspartame makes it more stable at higher temperatures, and reduces the availability of phenylalanine. But nowhere do they discuss the formation of formaldehyde when your body breaks down aspartame, which is the main ingredient of neotame.
The U.S. National Library of Medicine, which has over 11 million medical citations, neotame returns zero double-blind scientific studies on toxicity in humans or animals. If neotame was indeed completely safe to ingest, you would think the NutraSweet Company would have published at least one double-blind safety study in the public domain? They haven't.
Open letter from Dr. Robert's to FDA
Dear Sir:
I am writing to express my extreme opposition to approving the Food Additive Petition for Neotame submitted by Monsanto Company. To read the rest of the letter follow the link.
http://webhome.idirect.com/~wolfnowl/aspartame3.htm

For those interested in limiting neotame in their diets, here's a list of some products that already contain neotame.
Kroger's fruit juice and certain powdered ice-teas
Detour energy bars (certain varieties)
Roman Meal Bread line
Herr's pretzels
Wrigley Chewing Gum (in Australia)

My conclusion to use any artificial sweeter would be a resounding NO. The only problem is trying to find out what industries have put it in there products and to stay clear of those products. An other good idea is to send off a E-mail letter to the companies that are putting the artificial sweeteners in there products. I would tell them I well not buy there products because of health safety concerns of Neotame aspartame (Nutrasweet), sucralose (Splenda) and saccharin (Sweet 'n Low).
And if you should receive a repose to your letter and they tell you that Health Canada has approved all theses artificial sweeteners, you can ask them back that you would like a copy of the scientific studies result of the soluble-blind scientific studies on toxicity in humans or animals for neotame.