by Tyler Mittan
(NewsTarget) The FDA is protecting Americans from a natural sweetener, Stevia,
because of unnamed, unspecific health concerns. The FDA issued a warning to Hain
Celestial Group Inc. for using Stevia, an herbal sweetener, in it's herbal tea.
It was a letter to Hain that said, "data and information necessary to support
the safe use have been lacking.” The FDA did not cite any specific literature
but did say the literature that was attained warned, "about control of blood
sugar, and the effects on the reproductive, cardiovascular and renal systems.”
Coincidentally, Coca-Cola and Pepsi have both been having a fond interest of
stevia, and have yet to
receive a letter from the FDA
about using it.
The FDA has been known to give into big business corporate interests, as shown
with FDA approval of G.D. Searle's Nutrasweet in 1981, in which G.D. Searle
omitted negative experiments of Nutrasweet. After Nutrasweet was approved for
limited use in 1974, the FDA was pressured to create a task force on Nutrasweet
after Dr. John Olney conducted an experiment in which he fed asparic acid (Nutrasweet)
to mice and found that holes began to grow in the brains of the mice that were
fed it. The task force found an experiment in which 7 baby monkey's were fed
aspartame mixed with
milk. The results were, not only, the monkey's having seizures and one dying,
but the negative data was omitted. G.D. Searle's integrity had not only been
tested just this once but one time before with a grand jury investigation of 2
drugs in which falsified data was given.
In 1977, after a smaller task force that had been set up for aspartame found
falsified data about aspartame, G.D. Searle was once again under investigation
of a grand jury which time ran out and didn't go anywhere. Once again the FDA
was at a standstill, 3 FDA scientist did not say it was safe, 3 did say it was
safe. At this time the FDA commissioner, Dr. Goyan, decided not to approve
aspartame. The public health decision was overturned in 1981, a new FDA
commissioner took Goyan's place. Aspartame was allowed on the shelves (for dry
food, then in 1983 was approved for soft drinks). Coincidentally, the new FDA
commissioner at the time, Dr. Arthur Hayes, went to work for G.D. Searle's
marketing company, Burson-Marsteller.
Will the FDA give into the larger corporate interests and unfairly attack
smaller companies? Or will it allow a ban on a natural sweetener and keep
allowing artificial, unsafe sweeteners? Only time will tell.
http://www.newstarget.com/z022339.html