'Neotame' (Aspartame) To Go Unlabeled Into Organic Foods!

[Serpo]

By Barbara H. Peterson
http://farmwars.info/?p=4897
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!http://farmwars.info/?p=4897

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

[Santa]

Oh great. This may mean that there's a strong likelihood that the feed I'm feeding my chickens also has Sweetos in it.

[palani]

I just heard the other day from a guy who delivers HFCS that he makes tanker truck deliveries to bee farmers. He dumps his load into 55 gallon drums. Says the bee farmers use it to give the bees nutrition when they ship them. Sounds like a fairly inadequate cover story. More likely they are blending honey with HFCS for commercial gain.

I don't think you can trust many people these days when money is the game.

[SilverMagnet]

Pissing in the well is simply another method to get rid of the useless eaters according to those seeking population control. Also, it keeps the healthcare profession in the secure job sector. Win/Win for everyone except the consumer/patient.

[vacuum]

This is big news. It basically undermines what little confidence was left in the food supply.

Notice how increasingly food companies have to advertise on the front of their packaging what is not in their product? Soon we'll see packages that say "No gmo, no neotame, etc" because there is no other way to get that information.

Soon, if you don't grow it yourself, you simply won't know for sure. There may even come a day when you will have to worry about seeds you buy being gmo and not knowing it.

Growing your own food will also soon become about as legal as growing pot I'm sure.

[Serpo]

This is big news. It basically undermines what little confidence was left in the food supply.

Notice how increasingly food companies have to advertise on the front of their packaging what is not in their product? Soon we'll see packages that say "No gmo, no neotame, etc" because there is no other way to get that information.

Soon, if you don't grow it yourself, you simply won't know for sure. There may even come a day when you will have to worry about seeds you buy being gmo and not knowing it.

Growing your own food will also soon become about as legal as growing pot I'm sure.

Im sorry with all the added additives there is no room for the food ....label

[Bullion_Bob]

Aspartame was Rumsfeld's brain child politico money making scheme. Talk about abusing one's own political power to promote a debilitating neurotoxin after it had already failed (and for good reason).

There is no way I can see anyone being able to put something more toxic than aspartame into the organic marketplace, and make any friends so to speak.

[Nordmann]

They are doing this intentionally because they want us dead or on prescription drugs which doesn't work, but only cause more grief, they are cashing in on both ends. All western so called health authorities are crackpots which sole purpose in life is to give the international capitalist scumbags the freedom to push whatever poison they want on the general public.

Have your daily dose of MSG, Aspartame, and Fluoride and enjoy your stay at planet earth.

[madfranks]

I just bought a few bottles of organic juice, and it occurred to me that sweetening organic juices will probably be one of the primary uses of this new chemical. Man this pisses me off.

[vacuum]

Some interesting comments from the article:

"Diana says:
January 1, 2011 at 6:04 pm

Hi, Barbara. An introduction, first, if you please. We are a small group of USDA certified organic artisan crafters of delicious authentic certified organic personal care products. We are based on a micro-farm in Maryland where we craft our certified products according to the National Organic Program regulations, and where we conduct our native plant and herb research. We also have an organic track record — we’ve been in business since 1992.

Our business was born as a result of our intense research into healthier lifestyle options and cancer prevention after my experience with life-threatening cancer and radical chemotherapy in 1988. We are committed to being as organic as we possibly can, and we have made it our company mission to educate others about the tremendous value in living an organic lifestyle. Thus, we are concerned about our food supply (certified organic foods are key ingredients in our body care product range!), most definitely, but, very importantly, we are also extremely concerned about the body care chemicals that folks rub INTO their bodies and wash down the drain into our drinking and crop irrigation water every single day.

Regarding your sweet posting, we share your dissatisfaction with the increased widespread intrusion of the corporations into our lives and with their obvious arrogant strategies to control our food supply. We also strongly agree that their attempts to dilute organic’s higher standards are quite unacceptable. However, we felt compelled to dash off this brief note about the chemical sweeteners. There is one thing that does need to be clarified about this situation, but first, if you don’t mind, for those organic newbies out there, I believe a little organic labeling background would be helpful.

There are three labeling categories under the National Organic Program federal regulations. The first category is “100% organic” in which all ingredients in a product — excluding water and salt — must be USDA certified organic. Products meeting this level of organic-ness may use the USDA Organic seal on the front of the package. This is an uncommon labeling designation for foods as it, typically, applies to single ingredient products and most food products are multi-ingredient products. (Water and salt are excluded from organic labeling percentage calculations because, though they are natural, they are not alive — do not grow — and cannot be considered “organic” under the National Organic Program — NOP.)

The second labeling category is “organic.” In this category, products must be composed of 95% USDA certified organic ingredients — excluding water and salt — and the remaining 5% of the ingredients must be listed on the National List of Prohibited and Allowed substances.** Products meeting this level of organic-ness may use the USDA Organic seal on the front of the package. There are a wide variety of acceptable product choices in this labeling category in the marketplace.

** It is important to note that the sweetening agents being discussed here are NOT included on the National List. Thus, Neotame or Sweetos is not permitted in foods labeled as “organic” or “100% organic” and that bear the USDA organic seal.

There is a final, third labeling category under the National Organic Program and this category is a lesser — not as strict — labeling category. The third category is the “made with organic” category. In order to bear this claim, products must be composed of, at minimum, 70% USDA certified organic ingredients and the remaining 30%, well…you take your chances. Synthetic sweeteners, highly undesirable chemicals, could, quite unfortunately, be included in a product in the “made with organic” category.

So, in regard to labeling shenanigans, and products that include non-organic and/or synthetic materials, sadly, many companies see the “made with organic” category as their cost-cutting, increase-our-profits-get-richer-more-quickly exploitative opportunity.

According to the National Organic Program rules, products in the third “made with organic…” labeling category can use ANY FDA-approved, synthetic additives, or any conventional food ingredients in the remaining non-organic 30% portion of their product’s content. So, this third “made with organic…” labeling category is the category to be wary of, and where it pays to scrutinize that ingredients listing. Unfortunately, there is growing trend of more and more companies utilizing and/or switching to this labeling category, even companies that entered the market place with products originally labeled as “organic.”

Giant retailers dictate their desired profit margins and organic processors rush to meet their demands in order to secure high-volume shelf space in national chain stores. In order to give the big chains and their national distributors the cut of profits that they demand, companies are looking to see where they can cut corners, while stretching the limits of their image and former organic reputations, to produce the large volumes of products at the rock-bottom lowest cost for their profit-seeking, high-volume retail partners. The industry’s new strategy is all about volume, volume, volume, and profits — at any cost — and, if organic suffers, oh well, that’s the price you must pay for our domination.

Bottom line: if you want the healthiest true organic food or body care products, in this the best of all possible worlds, then make it a priority to search out ethical companies and USDA certified organic products that are labeled as “100% Organic” and “organic” (95%) as your first choice. Of course, organic and local would truly be the best of all possible worlds.

Remember, “If it doesn’t have the seal (the USDA organic seal), it ain’t the Real Deal!”

(Afterthoughts: why is that people who say they are concerned about eating and farming organically rub nasty chemicals into their skin and scalp every day, and wash those chemicals down their drains into our drinking water? Why are organic-minded people giving their money to, and fueling the obscene mega-growth of, companies that make fake-natural and fake-organic body care products? Could it be that bad drinking water — water contaminated with synthetic shampoo surfactants and preservatives, and chemically-fragrant body lotion — is at the root of this problem in which people are becoming more apathetic and less environmentally-conscious?)

Lastly, for a little fun, check out our organic educational project — our Organic Rap Video — filmed on location by our team on our organic farm! A little humiliation for the organic cause is a worthy sacrifice! : ) Enjoy! Thanks for caring!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBXZeJcwB8E&fmt=18"




"Barbara H. Peterson says:
January 1, 2011 at 6:52 pm

Hi Diana,

I believe the loophole lies here:

“The following criteria will be utilized in the evaluation of substances or ingredients for the organic production and handling sections of the National List:

(a) Synthetic and nonsynthetic substances considered for inclusion on or deletion from the National List of allowed and prohibited substances will be evaluated using the criteria specified in the Act (7 U.S.C. 6517 and 6518).

(b) In addition to the criteria set forth in the Act, any synthetic substance used as a processing aid or adjuvant will be evaluated against the following criteria:

(1) The substance cannot be produced from a natural source and there are no organic substitutes;

(2) The substance’s manufacture, use, and disposal do not have adverse effects on the environment and are done in a manner compatible with organic handling;

(3) The nutritional quality of the food is maintained when the substance is used, and the substance, itself, or its breakdown products do not have an adverse effect on human health as defined by applicable Federal regulations;

(4) The substance’s primary use is not as a preservative or to recreate or improve flavors, colors, textures, or nutritive value lost during processing, except where the replacement of nutrients is required by law;

(5) The substance is listed as generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) when used in accordance with FDA’s good manufacturing practices (GMP) and contains no residues of heavy metals or other contaminants in excess of tolerances set by FDA; and

(6) The substance is essential for the handling of organically produced agricultural products.

(c) Nonsynthetics used in organic processing will be evaluated using the criteria specified in the Act (7 U.S.C. 6517 and 6518).”

http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text....9.32.2.354.6"




"snapblack says:
January 1, 2011 at 7:06 pm

Valerie, check out this link -
http://www.greenfield-hydroponics.com/fodder.html -GF60 looks to be suitable for a household setup, the larger models for communities. Yes, there are viable means of producing clean food free of the contaminants you mention.

That’s the good news….however, I see no point in avoiding what appears to go unmentioned in all of these stories and commentary attached – this is not going to stop till they have poisoned/killed everyone targeted in America. That’s about 90% of you. This is, just like WT7, a planned demolition. Your options are to stay and be slowly destroyed, or get out of the pot while it is still doable…please all give your strongest consideration to those two options…this is not an exercise, it’s the real deal."