Last week there was a proposition to add Aspartame, the artificial sweetener, to dairy products without adding this ingredient to the label.
Aspartame is known to have many negative effects that were mentioned in this previous Healthy Tip (click here), but the biggest concern is for children. Aspartame increases appetite and creates a desire for more sweets, leading to a greater risk of obesity in kids. Aspartame stimulates the brain in kids potentially making them hyperactive, violent and less able to focus. The cumulative effect can cause neurological damage.
I doubt that anyone has requested dairy to be sweeter, and who would want the aftertaste of aspartame in their milk? Aspartame not only contains no beneficial nutrients, it is a genetically modified product contributing to a sicker US Nation. The fact that Monsanto Corporation requested aspartame not be listed as an ingredient, makes me think that people would never buy this milk if they knew. So if this is allowed to occur, what products can be added without labeling next?
Please consider casting your vote against this proposal, by going to https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/02/20/2013-03835/flavored-milk-petition-to-amend-the-standard-of-identity-for-milk-and-17-additional-dairy-products or click on this link, while comments are still being accepted. In the mean time, please have your children avoid anything with aspartame.