Did you know...??

Aspartame was introduced as an artificial sweetener by the Monsanto Company in the 1970s. For much of the intervening time, individuals and special interest groups have maintained that aspartame damages the nervous system. Given the number and popularity of the items that are sweetened using aspartame (i.e., yogurts, soft drinks), the special interest groups assert that the general population is at risk for neurological damage caused by the ingestion of aspartame.

Alleged harmful effects of aspartame ingestion include seizures and a change in the level of dopamine, a brain neurotransmitter. Symptoms associated with lupus, multiple sclerosis, and Alzheimer's disease have been claimed to result from an excess intake of aspartame. As well, aspartame consumption is claimed to increase the difficulty of diet-dependent diabetics in regulating their blood glucose level.
and this is in the pop peole drink

people*****

Yes I do know, yes I have lupus, yes I used to drink 1 6-12 pack a day of diet pepsi, now, I try to keep it to 1. as for the other foods, I keep it simple, I choose full fat yougurts, My weight is pretty good, I do have CNS issues but have before th apartarmne. and even now with one still do. so I try hard to stay away, its a final addiction being broken very very slowly. to go from what I did drink to what I do drink i amazing. It was my breakfast and luch at a point. I know the damage have had read articles, looked into it. however the rest of my diet I give on a scale of 1 -10 about a 7 1/2 I eat good, with occasional treat because depravation of what you want makes you binge and I dont do that, which would be the same for the diet soda, if totally deprived Id go tailspinning and binge on a 6 pack instead of one, but my coffee is now black.

You did bring a good point up to the people who may not have known though

Aspartame, used by more than 100 million people around the world, is found in more than 6,000 products. This low-calorie sweetener has been extensively researched and more than 200 studies have been conducted. Aspartame is approved for use in more than 100 countries.

Description:
Aspartame is a nutritive sweetener made by joining two amino acids (protein components) -- L-phenylalanine and L-aspartic acid, with a third component called a methyl ester group. Very little is needed for a sweet taste, making aspartame virtually non-caloric.

Relative Sweetness:
180 to 200 times sweeter than sucrose.

Metabolism:
It is digested as a protein. The components are metabolized normally.

Assets:
Aspartame has a sugar-like taste. It enhances some flavors and is appropriate for many applications. When aspartame is combined with other low-calorie sweeteners, they enhance each other so that the combinations are sweeter than the sum of the individual sweeteners.

Limitations:
Aspartame is not suitable in applications that require prolonged exposure to high temperatures as it loses sweetness. However, it can successfully be added to recipes, and an encapsulated form is now available for commercial baking. It also is used successfully in beverages, but does lose its sweetness in liquids over an extended period of time. (The rate of change is gradual and is determined by temperature and acidity.) Persons with PKU (phenylketonuria) must restrict their intake of phenylalanine. As such, all U.S. products containing aspartame are labeled: 鈥淭his product contains phenylalanine.鈥?br>
Applications:
It is approved for use in any category of food or beverage, including tabletop sweeteners, carbonated soft drinks, refrigerated and nonrefrigerated ready-to-drink beverages, frozen desserts and novelties, puddings and fillings, yogurt-type products, baked goods and candies.

Safety:
Aspartame has been extensively studied in animals and humans for more than two decades. In 1981, when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) first approved aspartame, it noted: "Few compounds have withstood such detailed testing and repeated, close scrutiny, and the process through which aspartame has gone should provide the public with additional confidence of its safety." FDA has affirmed the safety of aspartame 26 times over a period of 23 years.

Status:
Aspartame is classified as a 鈥済eneral purpose sweetener鈥?by FDA and is approved for use in all foods and beverages. Aspartame is approved for use in more than 100 countries and is the sweetening ingredient in 6,000 food and beverage products.

also see link
http://www.acsh.org/healthissues/newsID....

http://www.aspartame.org/aspartame_lates...

yep there are so many man made preservatives,and sweeteners that are not good for you.including all the fake butters.if you don't abuse natural butter or sugar it won't do a damn bit of harm to your body.
there's only 20 calories in a teaspoon of sugar

I'm sorry didn't actually see a question in there. Did you know that there are studies showing that the pallets of Coke sent overseas during the first Gulf war actually caused all the symptoms of Gulf war sickness. That when the soda reaches a certain temperature the Aspartame converts to basically embalming fluid.

I heard that aspartame can cause colon cancer not neurological disorder.