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NEWS ... GLOBAL NEWS ... Cooperation is needed to establish a com- BRITISH MP CALLS FOR URGENT BAN ON ASPARTAME mon language and standards, said Cal Slemp, vice-president and global leader for member of the parliamentary select committee on food and the environment yes- security and privacy services at IBM terday called for emergency action to ban the artificial sweetener aspartame, used Global Services. in 6,000 food, drink and medicinal products. The common language for exchanging The Liberal Democrat MP Roger Williams said in an adjournment debate in the user access information is also known as — | Commons that there was "compelling and reliable evidence for this carcinogenic sub- federated IAM. stance to be banned from the UK food and drinks market altogether". In licensing "Governments have a huge part to play _| aspartame for use, regulators around the world had failed in their main task of protect- in this, because they have ultimate respon- _| ing the public, he told MPs. sibility for their citizens, and depending on Mr Williams highlighted new concerns about the additive's safety, raised by a the country they may have ultimate respon- _| recent Italian study that linked aspartame to cancer in rats. He said the history of sibility for the businesses and e-commerce | aspartame's licensing put "regulators and politicians to shame", with the likes of as well,’ Slemp said. . Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary and former head of Searle, the company tructod thied party Tight Ho we noted, wor that discovered the sweetener, "calling in his markers" to get it approved. : ; thiness. "So we've got inconsistent and Responding for the government, the public health minister, Caroline Flint, said a incomplete implementation [in individual thorough independent review of safety data had been conducted as recently as 2001 countries}, and also no standard approach and the Food Standards Agency advice remained the same: aspartame is safe for use in food. She said the government took food safety very seriously. to the future nor a target to shoot at." " ‘ " . . 9308 Slemp believes that now is the right time I am advised that aspartame does not cause cancer," she said, adding that artificial to establish a global body that will consider _ | Sweeteners also help to control obesity. a : the interests of all countries and build up a The European Food Safety Authority would be reviewing the Italian study as soon foundation, which the individual countries _ | a8 it had full data on it, but an initial review by the UK's expert committee on toxicity can expand upon to fulfil their unique __ | had not been convinced by its authors' interpretation of their data. requirements. Aspartame is now consumed on average every day by one in 15 people worldwide, "There are organisations that work _ | most of whom are children, according to the MP. It is used to sweeten no fewer than together on this issue and issues like that | 6,000 products, from crisps, confectionery, chewing gums, diet and sports drinks to across borders all the time, and it can be as__| vitamin pills and medicines, including those for children. Yet the science that sup- grandiose as to say the UN has a process in _| ported its approval was "biased, inconclusive and incompetent". place to share information like that and cre- Mr Williams said he was using the immunity he was afforded under parliamentary ate working groups to try to create stan- | privilege to initiate a debate about aspartame's safety, which had been largely dards or expectations and acTOss multiple repressed since the early 1980s with the help of the sweetener industry's lawyers. Jurisdictions," said Slemp. T just don't Independent research published in November by the European Ramazzini know what the name would be. Foundation showed that moderate regular consumption of aspartame led to a repeated (Source: ZDNet Asia, November 10, 2005) incidence of malignant tumours in rats and "should have set alarm bells ringing in health departments around the world", said Mr Williams. "The World Health EAR OXYGEN Organization recognises such findings in rats as being highly predictive of a carcino- stud b blished in the April genic risk for humans. The contrast between the quality of the science in the study, to be published in the Apri Ramazzini study and the industry studies could not be more clear and more damaging 2006 edition of the American Journal iho int " Physiology — Heart and Circulatory Coa 9 . . of 7 : . - Mr Williams, the MP for Brecon and Radnorshire and a Cambridge science gradu- Physiology, reveals that hyperbaric oxygen . se “ renee we ate, said he had been looking into the safety of aspartame for more than a year. At treatments increase by eightfold the num- . : ws : on A ber of s salle circulating ina natientte | first he had been unconvinced by the "internet conspiracy theories", but he said that er of stem cells circulating in a patient's " aan as x body. S valle alen cz : what he had found "truly horrified" him. Sound science and proper regulatory and ody. Stem cells, also called progenitor litical independ had b table by their ab in th lof cells, are crucial to injury repair. Pp dependence had been notable by their absence in the approval of aspar- Stem cells exist in the bone marrow of _ | tame, he said. In addition to Mr Rumsfeld being instrumental in securing aspartame's human beings and animals and are capable approval with the support of the then newly elected US president Ronald Reagan, of changing their nature to become part of there had been numerous examples of decision-makers who were worried about aspar- many different organs and tissues. In tame's safety being discredited or removed from their positions. Industry sympathis- response to injury, these cells move from “ ha He ees ee and, in turn, were recompensed with lucrative the bone marrow to the injured sites, where | JODS s Siry. they differentiate into cells that assist in the The European Food Safety Authority said last night [December 14] that it planned healing process. to review the safety of aspartame as "a matter of high priority" in the light of the The movement, or mobilisation, of stem Ramazzini Foundation study. The foundation's director, Dr Morando Soffritti, said he cells can be triggered by a variety of stim- | expected to send the authority a 1,000-page dossier by the end of the month. uli including pharmaceutical agents as well The industry's Aspartame Information Service said Mr Williams's material brought as hyperbaric oxygen treatments. no new information to the public. "The minister's response was accurate and on (Source: via http://www.eurekalert.org/ — | point", according to a statement. pub_releases/2005-12/uops-psf122805.php) (Source: By Felicity Lawrence, The Guardian, UK, December 15, 2005) HYPERBARIC OXYGEN MOBILISES STEM CELLS study, to be published in the April 2006 edition of the American Journal of Physiology — Heart and Circulatory Physiology, reveals that hyperbaric oxygen treatments increase by eightfold the num- ber of stem cells circulating in a patient's body. Stem cells, also called progenitor cells, are crucial to injury repair. Stem cells exist in the bone marrow of human beings and animals and are capable of changing their nature to become part of many different organs and tissues. In response to injury, these cells move from the bone marrow to the injured sites, where they differentiate into cells that assist in the healing process. The movement, or mobilisation, of stem cells can be triggered by a variety of stim- uli including pharmaceutical agents as well as hyperbaric oxygen treatments. (Source: via http://www.eurekalert.org/ pub_releases/2005-12/uops-psf122805.php) NEXUS +9 FEBRUARY — MARCH 2006 www.nexusmagazine.com