How Aspartame Became Legal - The Timeline
From Rich Murray
rmforall@att.net
12-24-02
From Norfolk Genetic Information Network (Taken from Welcome to the Spin
Machine by Michael Manville
http://www.freezerbox.com/archive/2001/04/biotech/
http://www.freezerbox.com/ )
In 1985 Monsanto purchased G.D. Searle, the chemical company that held the
patent to aspartame, the active ingredient in NutraSweet. Monsanto was
apparently untroubled by aspartame's clouded past, including a 1980 FDA Board of
Inquiry, comprised of three independent scientists, which confirmed that it
"might induce brain tumors."
The FDA had actually banned aspartame based on this finding, only to have
Searle Chairman Donald Rumsfeld (currently the Secretary of Defense) vow to
"call in his markers," to get it approved.
On January 21, 1981, the day after Ronald Reagan's inauguration, Searle
re-applied to the FDA for approval to use aspartame in food sweetener, and
Reagan's new FDA commissioner, Arthur Hayes Hull, Jr., appointed a 5-person
Scientific Commission to review the board of inquiry's decision.
It soon became clear that the panel would uphold the ban by a 3-2 decision,
but Hull then installed a sixth member on the commission, and the vote became
deadlocked. He then personally broke the tie in aspartame's favor. Hull later
left the FDA under allegations of impropriety, served briefly as Provost at New
York Medical College, and then took a position with Burston-Marsteller, the
chief public relations firm for both Monsanto and GD Searle. Since that time he
has never spoken publicly about aspartame.
The Aspartame/NutraSweet Timeline
http://www.swankin-turner.com/aspartame.html
http://www.swankin-turner.com/hist.html
Aspartame/NutraSweet: The History of the Aspartame Controversy
By James Turner, ESQ. Director of the National Institute of Science, Law, and
Public Policy (NISLAPP)
National Institute of Science, Law, and Public Policy 1400 16th Street, NW,
Suite 330, Washington, DC 20036 (202) 462-8800 Fax: (202) 265-6564 nislapp@swankin-turner.com
Timeline
December 1965-- While working on an ulcer drug, James Schlatter, a
chemist at G.D. Searle, accidentally discovers aspartame, a substance that is
180 times sweeter than sugar yet has no calories.
Spring 1967-- Searle begins the safety tests on aspartame that are
necessary for applying for FDA approval of food additives.
Fall 1967-- Dr. Harold Waisman, a biochemist at the University of
Wisconsin, conducts aspartame safety tests on infant monkeys on behalf of the
Searle Company. Of the seven monkeys that were being fed aspartame mixed with
milk, one dies and five others have grand mal seizures.
November 1970-- Cyclamate, the reigning low-calorie artificial
sweetener -- is pulled off the market after some scientists associate it with
cancer. Questions are also raised about safety of saccharin, the only other
artificial sweetener on the market, leaving the field wide open for aspartame.
December 18, 1970-- Searle Company executives lay out a "Food and Drug
Sweetener Strategy' that they feel will put the FDA into a positive frame of
mind about aspartame. An internal policy memo describes psychological tactics
the company should use to bring the FDA into a subconscious spirit of
participation" with them on aspartame and get FDA regulators into the "habit of
saying, "Yes"."
Spring 1971-- Neuroscientist Dr. John Olney (whose pioneering work
with monosodium glutamate was responsible for having it removed from baby foods)
informs Searle that his studies show that aspartic acid (one of the ingredients
of aspartame) caused holes in the brains of infant mice. One of Searle's own
researchers confirmed Dr. Olney's findings in a similar study.
February 1973-- After spending tens of millions of dollars conducting
safety tests, the G.D. Searle Company applies for FDA approval and submits over
100 studies they claim support aspartame's safety.
March 5, 1973-- One of the first FDA scientists to review the
aspartame safety data states that "the information provided (by Searle) is
inadequate to permit an evaluation of the potential toxicity of aspartame". She
says in her report that in order to be certain that aspartame is safe, further
clinical tests are needed.
May 1974-- Attorney, Jim Turner (consumer advocate who was
instrumental in getting cyclamate taken off the market) meets with Searle
representatives to discuss Dr. Olney's 1971 study which showed that aspartic
acid caused holes in the brains of infant mice.
July 26, 1974-- The FDA grants aspartame its first approval for
restricted use in dry foods.
August 1974-- Jim Turner and Dr. John Olney file the first objections
against aspartame's approval.
March 24, 1976-- Turner and Olney's petition triggers an FDA
investigation of the laboratory practices of aspartame's manufacturer, G.D.
Searle. The investigation finds Searle's testing procedures shoddy, full of
inaccuracies and "manipulated" test data. The investigators report they "had
never seen anything as bad as Searle's testing."
January 10, 1977-- The FDA formally requests the U.S. Attorney's
office to begin grand jury proceedings to investigate whether indictments should
be filed against Searle for knowingly misrepresenting findings and "concealing
material facts and making false statements" in aspartame safety tests. This is
the first time in the FDA's history that they request a criminal investigation
of a manufacturer.
January 26, 1977-- While the grand jury probe is underway, Sidley &
Austin, the law firm representing Searle, begins job negotiations with the U.S.
Attorney in charge of the investigation, Samuel Skinner.
March 8, 1977-- G. D. Searle hires prominent Washington insider Donald
Rumsfeld as the new CEO to try to turn the beleaguered company around. A former
Member of Congress and Secretary of Defense in the Ford Administration, Rumsfeld
brings in several of his Washington cronies as top management.
July 1, 1977-- Samuel Skinner leaves the U.S. Attorney's office and
takes a job with Searle's law firm. (see Jan. 26th)
August 1, 1977-- The Bressler Report, compiled by FDA investigators
and headed by Jerome Bressler, is released. The report finds that 98 of the 196
animals died during one of Searle's studies and weren't autopsied until later
dates, in some cases over one year after death. Many other errors and
inconsistencies are noted. For example, a rat was reported alive, then dead,
then alive, then dead again; a mass, a uterine polyp, and ovarian neoplasms were
found in animals but not reported or diagnosed in Searle's reports.
December 8, 1977-- U.S. Attorney Skinner's withdrawal and resignation
stalls the Searle grand jury investigation for so long that the statue of
limitations on the aspartame charges runs out. The grand jury investigation is
dropped.
June 1, 1979-- The FDA established a Public Board of Inquiry (PBOI) to
rule on safety issues surrounding NutraSweet.
September 30, 1980-- The Public Board of Inquiry concludes NutraSweet
should not be approved pending further investigations of brain tumors in
animals. The board states it "has not been presented with proof of reasonable
certainty that aspartame is safe for use as a food additive."
January 1981-- Donald Rumsfeld, CEO of Searle, states in a sales
meeting that he is going to make a big push to get aspartame approved within the
year. Rumsfeld says he will use his political pull in Washington, rather than
scientific means, to make sure it gets approved.
January 21, 1981-- Ronald Reagan is sworn in as President of the
United States. Reagan's transition team, which includes Donald Rumsfeld, CEO of
G. D. Searle, hand picks Dr. Arthur Hull Hayes Jr. to be the new FDA
Commissioner.
March, 1981-- An FDA commissioner's panel is established to review
issues raised by the Public Board of Inquiry.
May 19, 1981-- Three of six in-house FDA scientists who were
responsible for reviewing the brain tumor issues, Dr. Robert Condon, Dr. Satya
Dubey, and Dr. Douglas Park, advise against approval of NutraSweet, stating on
the record that the Searle tests are unreliable and not adequate to determine
the safety of aspartame.
July 15, 1981-- In one of his first official acts, Dr. Arthur Hayes
Jr., the new FDA commissioner, overrules the Public Board of Inquiry, ignores
the recommendations of his own internal FDA team and approves NutraSweet for dry
products. Hayes says that aspartame has been shown to be safe for its' proposed
uses and says few compounds have withstood such detailed testing and repeated
close scrutiny.
October 15, 1982-- The FDA announces that Searle has filed a petition
that aspartame be approved as a sweetener in carbonated beverages and other
liquids.
July 1, 1983-- The National Soft Drink Association (NSDA) urges the
FDA to delay approval of aspartame for carbonated beverages pending further
testing because aspartame is very unstable in liquid form. When liquid aspartame
is stored in temperatures above 85 degrees Fahrenheit, it breaks down into DKP
and formaldehyde, both of which are known toxins.
July 8, 1983-- The National Soft Drink Association drafts an objection
to the final ruling which permits the use of aspartame in carbonated beverages
and syrup bases and requests a hearing on the objections. The association says
that Searle has not provided responsible certainty that aspartame and its'
degradation products are safe for use in soft drinks.
August 8, 1983-- Consumer Attorney, Jim Turner of the Community
Nutrition Institute and Dr. Woodrow Monte, Arizona State University's Director
of Food Science and Nutritional Laboratories, file suit with the FDA objecting
to aspartame approval based on unresolved safety issues.
September, 1983-- FDA Commissioner Hayes resigns under a cloud of
controversy about his taking unauthorized rides aboard a General Foods jet.
(General foods is a major customer of NutraSweet) Burson-Marsteller, Searle's
public relation firm (which also represented several of NutraSweet's major
users), immediately hires Hayes as senior scientific consultant.
Fall 1983-- The first carbonated beverages containing aspartame are
sold for public consumption.
November 1984-- Center for Disease Control (CDC) "Evaluation of
consumer complaints related to aspartame use." (summary by B. Mullarkey)
November 3, 1987-- U.S. hearing, "NutraSweet: Health and Safety
Concerns," Committee on Labor and Human Resources, Senator Howard Metzenbaum,
chairman.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/857 RTM:
www.dorway.com
original documents and long reviews of flaws in aspartame toxicity research
7.31.2 rmforall
http://www.dorway.com/upipart1.txt UPI reporter Gregory Gordon: 96K 3-part
expose Oct 1987
"Survey of aspartame studies: correlation of outcome and funding sources,"
1998, unpublished:
http://www.dorway.com/peerrev.html
Walton found 166 separate published studies in the peer reviewed medical
literature, which had relevance for questions of human safety. The 74 studies
funded by industry all (100%) attested to aspartame's safety, whereas of the 92
non-industry funded studies, 84 (91%) identified a problem. Six of the seven
non-industry funded studies that were favorable to aspartame safety were from
the FDA, which has a public record that shows a strong pro-industry bias. Ralph
G. Walton, MD, Prof. of Clinical Psychology, Northeastern Ohio Universities,
College of Medicine, Dept. of Psychiatry, Youngstown, OH 44501, Chairman, The
Center for Behavioral Medicine, Northside Medical Center, 500 Gypsy Lane, P.O.
Box 240 Youngstown, OH 44501 330-740-3621
rwalton193@aol.com
http://www.neoucom.edu/DEPTS/Psychiatry/walton.htm
