Neotame, the Stealth Additive–artificial sweetener that can be added to our food, even organic food, without disclosure

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Neotame, the Stealth Additive–artificial sweetener that can be added to our food, even organic food, without disclosure

January 2, 2011 by prof77

The ~~eugenics~~ food additive industry, Monsanto, G.D. Searle, and NutraSweet Co. did it again–inventing a breakthrough artificial chemical sweetener, Neotame. It’s a breakthrough because:

It is NOT required to be disclosed in the annoying “List of Ingredients”, and
It undermines legitimacy of and confidence in the “Organic” label.

Neotame is a highly concentrated artificial food sweetener (40 times sweeter than NutraSweet, 8000 times sweeter than sucrose or ordinary “table sugar”). As a food ingredient you’d think it would be listed in the “List of Ingredients”. You’d be wrong. Neotame is NOT required to be listed.

Food ingredients that are “trace ingredients” (that are a “flavor, or flavor enhancer”) under FDA rules do NOT have to be named individually in the food’s “List of Ingredients.” (Source1: FDA, 21 CFR 101.100(a)(3), and Source2) Because Neotame is so highly concentrated it takes only an insignificant “trace” to flavor (i.e., sweeten) foods and, thus, does NOT have to be disclosed. QED

Is Neotame safe? You decide:

Neotame was tested on humans for only 13 weeks by its manufacturer before being approved by the FDA. (Source, pg. 4)
Codex Alimentarius has “permitted the use of neotame as sweetener in various foods.” (Source)
Neotame is approved to be added to foods under USDA Certified classification “Contains Organic Ingredients”–without any disclosure to consumers. (Source)

Curious?

Sweetness potency of sweeteners currently marketed in the U.S. (Source)
(weight/weight comparison)
———————

Neotame:. . . 8,000

Sucralose: . . . ..600

Saccharin: . . .. .300

Aspartame: . . …200

Acesulfame K: .. 200

Sucrose: ……………1

(Compare with this calculator)
__________________________________

Neotame, USDA Certified Organic’s Dirty Little Secret

By Barbara H. Peterson

Source: Farm Wars

Just when we thought that buying “Organic” was safe, we run headlong into the deliberate poisoning of our organic food supply by the FDA in collusion with none other than the folks who brought us Aspartame. NutraSweet, a former Monsanto asset, has developed a new and improved version of this neurotoxin called Neotame.

Neotame has similar structure to aspartame — except that, from it’s structure, appears to be even more toxic than aspartame. This potential increase in toxicity will make up for the fact that less will be used in diet drinks. Like aspartame, some of the concerns include gradual neurotoxic and immunotoxic damage from the combination of the formaldehyde metabolite (which is toxic at extremely low doses) and the excitotoxic amino acid. (Holisticmed.com)

But surely, this product would be labeled! NOT SO!!! For this little gem, no labeling required. And it is even included in USDA Certified Organic food.

The food labeling requirements required for aspartame have now been dropped for Neotame, and no one is clear why this was allowed to happen. Neotame has been ruled acceptable, and without being included on the list of ingredients, for:

USDA Certified Organic food items.

Certified Kosher products with the official letter k inside the circle on labels. (Janet Hull)

Let me make this perfectly clear. Neotame does not have to be included in ANY list of ingredients! So, if you buy processed food, whether USDA Certified Organic or not, that food most likely will contain Neotame because it is cost-effective, and since no one knows it is there, there is no public backlash similar to what is happening with Aspartame. A win/win situation!

But that’s not all. Just love chowing down on that delicious steak? Well, that cow most likely will have been fed with feed containing…..you guessed it…..Neotame! A product called “Sweetos,” which is actually composed of Neotame, is being substituted for molasses in animal feed.

“Sweetos is an economical substitute for molasses. Sweetos guarantees the masking of unpleasant tastes and odor and improves the palatability of feed. This product will be economical for farmers and manufacturers of cattle feed. It can also be used in mineral mixture,” said Craig Petray, CEO, The NutraSweet Company, a division of Searle, which is a part of Monsanto. (Bungalow Bill)

Why would we feed animals food that is so distasteful that we would have to mask the unpleasantness with an artificial sweetener? Most animals will not eat spoiled, rancid feed. They know by the smell that it is not good. Enter Sweetos (Neotame). Just cover up the unpleasant tastes and odors, and you can feed them anything you want to, courtesy of the oh, so considerate folks at Monsanto and company.

But of course, Monsanto is no longer associated with NutraSweet. In the time-honored tradition of covering its assets, Monsanto has a proven track record of spinning off controversial portions of its company that generate too much scrutiny, such as it did with the Solutia solution.

Says the Farm Industry News, “Monsanto, which has long resided in the crosshairs of public scorn and scrutiny, appears to have dodged at least one bullet by spinning off its industrial chemical business into a separate entity called Solutia a couple of years ago. Solutia has since been hammered by lawsuits regarding PCB contamination from what were once called Monsanto chemical plants in Alabama and other states” (Source Watch)

So what is the solution to this problem? Buy local organic food, know your local farmer, and don’t buy processed foods whether they are labeled “Organic” or not. This requires a drastic change in lifestyle that most will not want to make. For those who choose to ride the wheel of chance by succumbing to this genocidal adulteration of our food supply by those who stand to profit from our sickness and early demise, my only comment is….it is your choice. But for those of us who have decided to fight this battle one bite at a time by hitting these sociopaths in the pocketbook where it hurts……viva la revolucion!

(C) 2010 Barbara H. Peterson (Source)

How can foods containing Neotame be legally called “Organic” foods?

Barbara Peterson, in her article “The USDA’s Organic Deception“, explains: (Source)

Neotame can be included in USDA Certified “Contains Organic Ingredients” without labeling. As I stated in a previous article “USDA Certified Organic’s Dirty Little Secret: Neotame,” Neotame does not have to be labeled. Period. Why? Because the FDA approved it as a general purpose sweetener, and it is designated as a “flavor, or flavor enhancer.” And since it is not a protein hydrolysate, the following applies:

If the flavor consists of two or more ingredients, the label either may declare each ingredient by its common or usual name or may state “All flavor ingredients contained in this product are approved for use in a regulation of the Food and Drug Administration.” Any flavor ingredient not contained in one of these regulations, and any nonflavor ingredient, shall be separately listed on the label. (FDA)

As mentioned earlier in this article: “Food ingredients that are “trace ingredients” (that are a “flavor, or flavor enhancer”) under FDA rules do NOT have to be named individually in the food’s “List of Ingredients.” (Source1: FDA, 21 CFR 101.100(a)(3), and Source2) Because Neotame is so highly concentrated it takes only an insignificant “trace” to flavor (i.e., sweeten) foods and, thus, does NOT have to be disclosed.”

It’s exploitation of loopholes in: U.S. Federal Regulations, Title 7: Agriculture:

Here’s two more examples of how loopholes in the regulations defining the “organic” label are being exploited:

Organic chocolate ice cream” means that both the chocolate and the ice cream are organic, but if you reverse two words and make it “chocolate organic ice cream,” the chocolate is not organic. Or if you are really adept at manipulation, you can actually manufacture “organic beer” with conventional hops, label it “USDA Certified Organic,” and charge a premium price for it. See the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances, which includes hops as one of the approved non-organic substances allowed in USDA Certified Organic products. (Source)

Neotame

On July 5, 2002, Monsanto received FDA approval for, Neotame, a molecule, “based on the aspartame formula” with one critical addition: 3-dimethylbutyl [listed on EPA's most hazardous chemical list]. Neotame is touted as being 13,000 times sweeter than sugar. It was approved by the USFDA over formally registered objections of the Aspartame Consumer Safety Network and others. (Long term effects on humans are unknown.) Read the full release on The Aspartame Consumer Safety Network. (Source)

According to Neotame’s marketing:

As a sweetener, neotame can reduce or replace the sugar and caloric content of products while maintaining great taste.

What is neotame? Neotame is a new sweetener and flavor enhancer, which has a clean sweet taste like sugar. Because it is so intensely sweet (about 8,000 times sweeter than sugar by weight), only very small amounts are needed to sweeten foods and beverages. Neotame can be used alone or blended with other non-nutritive or nutritive sweeteners.

How can neotame be used? Neotame was approved for general use as a sweetener and flavor enhancer in foods and beverages in 2002 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Neotame can be enjoyed by all segments of the population. (Source)

Neotame safety studies are described here: http://www.neotame.com/pdf/neotame_science_brochure_US_New.pdf

Notice that Neotame’s longest safety study of “Human Tolerance” of Neotame was only 13 weeks in duration–hence, long term effects are unknown.

Given all of the problems with aspartame industry research and scientific abuse, it is clear that any neotame research that Monsanto, industry groups, or consultants or research friends of Monsanto have any part of should be rejected until which time more trustworthy, independent research can be conducted. Such experiments should include independent animals studies and especially long-term (e.g., 4-5 years+) human studies in various susceptible population groups. (Source)

Neotame is a brand name for this chemical: (Source)

N-(N-(3,3-Dimethylbutyl)-L-alpha-aspartyl)-L-phenylalanine 1-methyl ester.

It is a derivative of the dipeptide composed of the amino acids, aspartic acid and phenylalanine.

Molecular Structure

Molecular Formula		C₂₀H₃₀N₂O₅
Molecular Weight		378.46
CAS Registry Number		165450-17-9

The FDA

Dr. Mercola, founder of the world’s most visited natural health web site, Mercola.com, says this about the FDA:

Many people actually consider the FDA to be a “subsidiary” of the Monsanto Company. It sounds impossible, but when you look at all the Monsanto executives who have gone through the revolving door between private industry and government oversight, a truly disturbing picture emerges of the foxes guarding the henhouse. (Source)

See also:

USDA Certified Organic’s Dirty Little Secret: Neotame
Sweetos (Ensign website)
Neotame (abstracted from the April 2005 issue of Pure Facts)
Monsanto’s Neotame molecule allowed in USDA certified organic foods
Aspartame induces lymphomas and leukaemias in rats (Study produced in the European Journal of Oncology)
Food consumption and body weight changes with neotame, a new sweetener with intense taste: differentiating effects of palatability from toxicity in dietary safety studies. (Study financed by NutraSweet saying that Neotame is safe)
Scientific Opinion of the Panel on Food Additives, Flavourings, Processing Aids and Materials in Contact with Food
Neotame website aimed at manufacturers
Neotame wins approval in Europe
Neotame Ingredients

Aspartame has got a new name but, do not be fooled, it is still the same (greenreview.blogspot.com)
Glenn D. Braunstein, M.D.: Artificial Sweeteners: Are They Better or Worse Than the Real Thing? (jeffpruett.wordpress.com)
USDA Certified Organic’s Dirty Little Secret: Neotame (ppjg.wordpress.com)

Many people actually consider the FDA to be a “subsidiary” of the Monsanto Company. It sounds impossible, but when you look at all the Monsanto executives who have gone through the revolving door between private industry and government oversight, a truly disturbing picture emerges of the foxes guarding the henhouse.

Posted in Economics, trade and business, fraud, global, Harm, pain and hurt, health, news, U.S. | Tagged Aspartame, Codex Alimentarius, deception, FDA, food, Food additive, Food and Drug Administration, Food safety, fraud, health care, Monsanto, Neotame, NutraSweet, Organic food, Sugar substitute | 2 Comments

2 Responses

on January 20, 2011 at 11:26 am | Reply carol

Thank you for contacting Whole Foods Market with your concerns. There is a great deal of misinformation circulating on the internet regarding Neotame. Contrary to some sources, Neotame is required to be included in the ingredients list of any products that contain it. It cannot be hidden under “natural flavors” or “spices.”

According to the USDA National Organic Standard, Neotame is not acceptable in products labeled “organic” or “made with organic ingredients.” In addition, Neotame is unacceptable to Whole Foods Market quality standards and is not allowed in any products sold in our stores.

If you have any further questions please use our on-line response form.

Best regards,

Carijane Grigsby-Etter

Global Customer Information Specialist | Whole Foods Market | 550 Bowie Street | Austin, Texas 78703
- on January 28, 2011 at 7:43 pm | Reply prof77
  
  Interesting that the representative from Whole Foods Market (“WFM”) should assert that the information in the above blog post is “misinformation” without citing their sources.
  
  It is especially interesting to hear from WFM when their claim to organic credentials is suspect and under attack, as detailed here:
  
  The Organic Elite Surrenders to Monsanto: What Now?
  By Ronnie Cummins
  Organic Consumers Association, Jan 27, 2011
  
  http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_22449.cfm
  
  “the Organic Elite, spearheaded by Whole Foods Market, Organic Valley, and Stonyfield Farm, has decided it’s time to surrender to Monsanto. Top executives from these companies have publicly admitted that they no longer oppose the mass commercialization of GE crops, such as Monsanto’s controversial Roundup Ready alfalfa, and are prepared to sit down and cut a deal for “coexistence” with Monsanto and USDA biotech cheerleader Tom Vilsack.
  
  In a cleverly worded, but profoundly misleading email sent to its customers last week, Whole Foods Market, while proclaiming their support for organics and “seed purity,” gave the green light to USDA bureaucrats to approve the “conditional deregulation” of Monsanto’s genetically engineered, herbicide-resistant alfalfa. Beyond the regulatory euphemism of “conditional deregulation,” this means that WFM and their colleagues are willing to go along with the massive planting of a chemical and energy-intensive GE perennial crop, alfalfa; guaranteed to spread its mutant genes and seeds across the nation; guaranteed to contaminate the alfalfa fed to organic animals; guaranteed to lead to massive poisoning of farm workers and destruction of the essential soil food web by the toxic herbicide, Roundup; and guaranteed to produce Roundup-resistant superweeds that will require even more deadly herbicides such as 2,4 D to be sprayed on millions of acres of alfalfa across the U.S.
  
  In exchange for allowing Monsanto’s premeditated pollution of the alfalfa gene pool, WFM wants “compensation.” In exchange for a new assault on farmworkers and rural communities (a recent large-scale Swedish study found that spraying Roundup doubles farm workers’ and rural residents’ risk of getting cancer), WFM expects the pro-biotech USDA to begin to regulate rather than cheerlead for Monsanto. In payment for a new broad spectrum attack on the soil’s crucial ability to provide nutrition for food crops and to sequester dangerous greenhouse gases (recent studies show that Roundup devastates essential soil microorganisms that provide plant nutrition and sequester climate-destabilizing greenhouse gases), WFM wants the Biotech Bully of St. Louis to agree to pay “compensation” (i.e. hush money) to farmers “for any losses related to the contamination of his crop.”
  
  In its email of Jan. 21, 2011 WFM calls for “public oversight by the USDA rather than reliance on the biotechnology industry,” even though WFM knows full well that federal regulations on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) do not require pre-market safety testing, nor labeling; and that even federal judges have repeatedly ruled that so-called government “oversight” of Frankencrops such as Monsanto’s sugar beets and alfalfa is basically a farce. At the end of its email, WFM admits that its surrender to Monsanto is permanent: “The policy set for GE alfalfa will most likely guide policies for other GE crops as well True coexistence is a must.”
  
  Why Is Organic Inc. Surrendering?
  
  According to informed sources, the CEOs of WFM and Stonyfield are personal friends of former Iowa governor, now USDA Secretary, Tom Vilsack, and in fact made financial contributions to Vilsack’s previous electoral campaigns. Vilsack was hailed as “Governor of the Year” in 2001 by the Biotechnology Industry Organization, and traveled in a Monsanto corporate jet on the campaign trail. Perhaps even more fundamental to Organic Inc.’s abject surrender is the fact that the organic elite has become more and more isolated from the concerns and passions of organic consumers and locavores. The Organic Inc. CEOs are tired of activist pressure, boycotts, and petitions. Several of them have told me this to my face. They apparently believe that the battle against GMOs has been lost, and that it’s time to reach for the consolation prize. The consolation prize they seek is a so-called “coexistence” between the biotech Behemoth and the organic community that will lull the public to sleep and greenwash the unpleasant fact that Monsanto’s unlabeled and unregulated genetically engineered crops are now spreading their toxic genes on 1/3 of U.S. (and 1/10 of global) crop land.
  
  WFM and most of the largest organic companies have deliberately separated themselves from anti-GMO efforts and cut off all funding to campaigns working to label or ban GMOs. The so-called Non-GMO Project, funded by Whole Foods and giant wholesaler United Natural Foods (UNFI) is basically a greenwashing effort (although the 100% organic companies involved in this project seem to be operating in good faith) to show that certified organic foods are basically free from GMOs (we already know this since GMOs are banned in organic production), while failing to focus on so-called “natural” foods, which constitute most of WFM and UNFI’s sales and are routinely contaminated with GMOs.
  
  From their “business as usual” perspective, successful lawsuits against GMOs filed by public interest groups such as the Center for Food Safety; or noisy attacks on Monsanto by groups like the Organic Consumers Association, create bad publicity, rattle their big customers such as Wal-Mart, Target, Kroger, Costco, Supervalu, Publix and Safeway; and remind consumers that organic crops and foods such as corn, soybeans, and canola are slowly but surely becoming contaminated by Monsanto’s GMOs.
  
  Whole Food’s Dirty Little Secret: Most of the So-Called “Natural” Processed Foods and Animal Products They Sell Are Contaminated with GMOs
  
  The main reason, however, why Whole Foods is pleading for coexistence with Monsanto, Dow, Bayer, Syngenta, BASF and the rest of the biotech bullies, is that they desperately want the controversy surrounding genetically engineered foods and crops to go away. Why? Because they know, just as we do, that 2/3 of WFM’s $9 billion annual sales is derived from so-called “natural” processed foods and animal products that are contaminated with GMOs. We and our allies have tested their so-called “natural” products (no doubt WFM’s lab has too) containing non-organic corn and soy, and guess what: they’re all contaminated with GMOs, in contrast to their certified organic products, which are basically free of GMOs, or else contain barely detectable trace amounts.
  
  Approximately 2/3 of the products sold by Whole Foods Market and their main distributor, United Natural Foods (UNFI) are not certified organic, but rather are conventional (chemical-intensive and GMO-tainted) foods and products disguised as “natural.”
  
  Unprecedented wholesale and retail control of the organic marketplace by UNFI and Whole Foods, employing a business model of selling twice as much so-called “natural” food as certified organic food, coupled with the takeover of many organic companies by multinational food corporations such as Dean Foods, threatens the growth of the organic movement.
  
  Covering Up GMO Contamination: Perpetrating “Natural” Fraud
  
  Many well-meaning consumers are confused about the difference between conventional products marketed as “natural,” and those nutritionally/environmentally superior and climate-friendly products that are “certified organic.”
  
  Retail stores like WFM and wholesale distributors like UNFI have failed to educate their customers about the qualitative difference between natural and certified organic, conveniently glossing over the fact that nearly all of the processed “natural” foods and products they sell contain GMOs, or else come from a “natural” supply chain where animals are force-fed GMO grains in factory farms or Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs).
  
  A troubling trend in organics today is the calculated shift on the part of certain large formerly organic brands from certified organic ingredients and products to so-called “natural” ingredients. With the exception of the “grass-fed and grass-finished” meat sector, most “natural” meat, dairy, and eggs are coming from animals reared on GMO grains and drugs, and confined, entirely, or for a good portion of their lives, in CAFOs.
  
  Whole Foods and UNFI are maximizing their profits by selling quasi-natural products at premium organic prices. Organic consumers are increasingly left without certified organic choices while genuine organic farmers and ranchers continue to lose market share to “natural” imposters. It’s no wonder that less than 1% of American farmland is certified organic, while well-intentioned but misled consumers have boosted organic and “natural” purchases to $80 billion annually-approximately 12% of all grocery store sales.
  
  The Solution: Truth-in-Labeling Will Enable Consumers to Drive So-Called “Natural” GMO and CAFO-Tainted Foods Off the Market
  
  There can be no such thing as “coexistence” with a reckless industry that undermines public health, destroys biodiversity, damages the environment, tortures and poisons animals, destabilizes the climate, and economically devastates the world’s 1.5 billion seed-saving small farmers. There is no such thing as coexistence between GMOs and organics in the European Union. Why? Because in the EU there are almost no GMO crops under cultivation, nor GM consumer food products on supermarket shelves. And why is this? Because under EU law, all foods containing GMOs or GMO ingredients must be labeled. Consumers have the freedom to choose or not to choose GMOs; while farmers, food processors, and retailers have (at least legally) the right to lace foods with GMOs, as long as they are safety-tested and labeled. Of course the EU food industry understands that consumers, for the most part, do not want to purchase or consume GE foods. European farmers and food companies, even junk food purveyors like McDonald’s and Wal-Mart, understand quite well the concept expressed by a Monsanto executive when GMOs first came on the market: “If you put a label on genetically engineered food you might as well put a skull and crossbones on it.”
  
  The biotech industry and Organic Inc. are supremely conscious of the fact that North American consumers, like their European counterparts, are wary and suspicious of GMO foods. Even without a PhD, consumers understand you don’t want your food safety or environmental sustainability decisions to be made by out-of-control chemical companies like Monsanto, Dow, or Dupont – the same people who brought you toxic pesticides, Agent Orange, PCBs, and now global warming. Industry leaders are acutely aware of the fact that every single industry or government poll over the last 16 years has shown that 85-95% of American consumers want mandatory labels on GMO foods. Why? So that we can avoid buying them. GMO foods have absolutely no benefits for consumers or the environment, only hazards. This is why Monsanto and their friends in the Bush, Clinton, and Obama administrations have prevented consumer GMO truth-in-labeling laws from getting a public discussion in Congress.
  
  Although Congressman Dennis Kucinich (Democrat, Ohio) recently introduced a bill in Congress calling for mandatory labeling and safety testing for GMOs, don’t hold your breath for Congress to take a stand for truth-in-labeling and consumers’ right to know what’s in their food. Especially since the 2010 Supreme Court decision in the so-called “Citizens United” case gave big corporations and billionaires the right to spend unlimited amounts of money (and remain anonymous, as they do so) to buy media coverage and elections, our chances of passing federal GMO labeling laws against the wishes of Monsanto and Food Inc. are all but non-existent. Perfectly dramatizing the “Revolving Door” between Monsanto and the Federal Government, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, formerly chief counsel for Monsanto, delivered one of the decisive votes in the Citizens United case, in effect giving Monsanto and other biotech bullies the right to buy the votes it needs in the U.S. Congress.
  
  With big money controlling Congress and the media, we have little choice but to shift our focus and go local. We’ve got to concentrate our forces where our leverage and power lie, in the marketplace, at the retail level; pressuring retail food stores to voluntarily label their products; while on the legislative front we must organize a broad coalition to pass mandatory GMO (and CAFO) labeling laws, at the city, county, and state levels.
  
  The Organic Consumers Association, joined by our consumer, farmer, environmental, and labor allies, has just launched a nationwide Truth-in-Labeling campaign to stop Monsanto and the Biotech Bullies from force-feeding unlabeled GMOs to animals and humans.
  
  Utilizing scientific data, legal precedent, and consumer power the OCA and our local coalitions will educate and mobilize at the grassroots level to pressure giant supermarket chains (Wal-Mart, Kroger, Costco, Safeway, Supervalu, and Publix) and natural food retailers such as Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s to voluntarily implement “truth-in-labeling” practices for GMOs and CAFO products; while simultaneously organizing a critical mass to pass mandatory local and state truth-in-labeling ordinances – similar to labeling laws already in effect for country of origin, irradiated food, allergens, and carcinogens. If local and state government bodies refuse to take action, wherever possible we must attempt to gather sufficient petition signatures and place these truth-in-labeling initiatives directly on the ballot in 2011 or 2012. If you’re interesting in helping organize or coordinate a Millions Against Monsanto and Factory Farms Truth-in-Labeling campaign in your local community, sign up here: http://organicconsumers.org/oca-volunteer/
  
  To pressure Whole Foods Market and the nation’s largest supermarket chains to voluntarily adopt truth-in-labeling practices sign here, and circulate this petition widely: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_22309.cfm
  
  Ronnie Cummins
  Organic Consumers Association”

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