“Is there a list of products with aspartame?”
The most frequent question we get at DORway is “Is there is a list of products that use aspartame?” Unfortunately, there isn’t a comprehensible list available. My father started a small list you can view here. But please be aware that the list is old, and aspartame is now estimated to be in more than 10,000 products, including prescription and over-the-counter drugs.
Aspartame is marketed as aspartame, NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, Naturtaste, E951, Canderel and Benevia and just 951 in New Zealand. Because the patent on aspartame has expired, it is now in all types of products, which use their own private names. For example, recently Ajinomoto, one of the producers of aspartame rebranded aspartame with the name AminoSweet. But sometimes, the powers that be simply put “contains phenylalanine” because the law requires a PKU warning for phenylketonurics who cannot metabolize the phenylalanine in aspartame, but it doesn’t require the disclosure of aspartame. However, if you see phenylalanine, that’s a synonym for aspartame.
Your best defense is to know how to read your food label and avoid the use of processed foods. I stumbled upon an article recently that may help. Check out How to Read Food Labels on Scientific Psychic.
What We Use: Sugar in the Raw
Another question I get frequently in e-mail is about sugar substitutes – what to use. Personally, we use raw sugar, or sugar in the raw. It’s a natural, unrefined sugar made exclusively from sugar cane. One packet (approximately 1 teaspoon) of Sugar In The Raw has 5 grams of carbohydrate and only 20 calories and it’s processed by the body in much the same way that regular sugar is, so it’s not recommended for people who can’t or shouldn’t use sugar. We use it in moderation, and our reasons for choosing raw sugar are not driven by weight control, more out of a desire to use all natural products.
It might be interested to note that the FDA deems raw sugar as “unfit for human consumption” on the account that it’s “dirty.” The packets of raw sugar you see in your local restaurants are probably Turbinado, which is a further refinement of raw sugar. My question to the FDA: You’re OK with possible cancer causing agents in aspartame, preterm birth issues, neurological issues (including autism links), possible weight gain and more, but you’re not OK with a little dirt? Personally, we think it’s because it’s natural and therefore not patentable and if it’s not patentable it doesn’t bring you any money, but that’s our opinion.
Other Options
If you cannot or prefer not to use sugar in any of its forms, two alternative sweeteners we hear a great deal of positive things about are:
Stevia
You don’t have to wait on the corporations to introduce this newly FDA-approved sweetener into your foods. The real thing has been available as a supplement for years.
Product Information:
- Pack of four packages, each package containing 100 natural, calorie-free sweetener tablets (400 total tablets)
- Contains 30 grams of stevia (leaf) extract; each tablet as sweet as on teaspoon of sugar; no artificial sweeteners; 100% natural
- 100% fat, calorie, and carbohydrate free; quickly dissolves in hot liquid
- All-natural sweetener used for centuries in South America
- Made from stevia leaves grown in Paraguay
Just Like Sugar
Product Information:
Food sensitivity
Free Of Soy, yeast, animal derivatives, MSG, l-glutamic acid, d-glutamine acid, aspartic acid, gluten, wheat, dairy and preservatives.
Nutrition facts
Calories 0″ Calories from Fat 0″Total Fat 0 g 0%”Saturated Fat 0 g 0%”Trans Fat 0 g *”Cholesterol 0 mg 0%”Sodium 0 g 0%” Total Carbohydrate 0 g 0%”Dietary Fiber 0 g 0%”Sugars 0 g”Protein 0 g *”Vitamin A 0% “Vitamin C 0%”Calcium 0%”Iron 0%
List of marketing terms for aspartame courtesy of Dr. Betty Martini..