I received this email in the spring of 1999 through a colleague at the high school where I teach. To be honest, I was pretty shocked and scared at first. However, after a day or so I began to really think about the content of this email. These were some of the things I took note of during my critical analysis of the Markle email:

1. The article is straight out of the Internet, an unregulated medium of (mis)information. As such, all information coming from it should be suspect unless the source is a known and respected, peer-reviewed source. This is especially true for scientific and medical information. Think about it, would you trust an unsolicited chain letter that shows up one day in your postal mailbox? Of course you wouldn't, you'd be suspicious. So why is it that when people get an unsolicited chain email they think it is more valid? My guess is that because it is on the Internet, then some people make the mistaken assumption that the information can be trusted. However, a little digging reveals there is ample evidence that casts a wary eye on the Markle email, as shown by this investigation by About.com.

2. The article makes many serious claims, but it does not list any references to any peer reviewed medical journal in an effort to support its claims. My brother (who is a practicing M.D.) and I've researched this topic thoroughly, and we've found that the claims of the major anti-aspartame websites are far, far afield of anything suggested by the medical research. For instance, the statement in the Markle letter that "There are 92 documented symptoms of aspartame, from coma to death" is erroneous and misleading. Additionally, it is further stated on various anti-aspartame websites that these 92 symptoms have been reported directly to the FDA itself, and they actually appear on a list of "symptoms" of "aspartame poisoning" drawn up by the FDA. Nothing could be further from the truth -- the FDA records complaints about any product it has cleared for public consumption. However, this doesn't mean the same thing as the FDA acknowledging that these complaints are legitimate. Testing the validity of these claims is the purpose of the most recent scientific and medical research on aspartame. Check out the FDA's response and the CDC's investigations concerning these claims of "aspartame poisoning" as well.

3. The Markle email names so many maladies and conditions that happen to everyone at some time or another that if someone wants to claim "it's the Nutrasweet!", then they can "justify" those claims. Who hasn't had headaches, aches & pains, sleeplessness, "thinking in a fog", and so on?! Never mind that there are numerous other causes for these conditions that are also everyday occurences and can be easily explained without having to pin them all on one, unsubstantiated claim (i.e., "Aspartame Kills!"). This is a common error in logic espoused by the anti-aspartamers and those folks they fool into accepting their pseudo-science.

4. There is so much inflammatory and emotive talk in the website and Martini article, I'm reminded of the Robot from Lost in Space flailing its arms around screaming "Warning! Warning!" Spiced in with this misguided passionate plea is a plethora of medical technical talk. This makes the article more believable to those who are not educated in the scientific or medical fields.

5. The author of the article does not balk at throwing around various conspiracy theories as a way of garnering support for their arguments -- of course, the anti-aspartamers don't actually have any valid evidence that has passed muster, so they resort to hysteria & paranoia. Hey, "Aspartame Caused Gulf War Syndrome" may sound convincing to some people, but outrageous claims and anecdotes do not make for serious physical evidence, which is necessary in these (and similar) cases for scientists & doctors to give the claims any validity.

The depths to which the anti-aspartame advocates will sink in their twisted conspiracy mongering knows no bounds... they even try tying their Aspartame Conspiracy into the WTC terrorist attacks! The following post (dated Friday, 9-14-01) was written to the anti-aspartame email list by one of their more prominent advocates in California. As yet, I have seen no one on that list speaking out against this insult to the memory of those who died.

"Isn't the killing of thousands of innocent people by airplane attack/bomb the same as the killing of millions of innocent people by a bio-chemical warfare molecule disguised as an artificial sweetener called aspartame (Equal,NutraSweet)?

If a government/industry/monopolized media can hide, cover-up for 20 years that it is committing molecular genocide upon its people, are 'they' not capable of 'allowing' the massacre that we saw on Sept. 11?"

And just when you think it couldn't get any crazier, the anti-aspartame super-activist Betty Martini starts going on about how drinking diet sodas not only causes "aspartame poisoning" but funds the arch-terrorist Osama Bin Laden as well!

And as of 10-16-01, Bryant Holman (author of the Aspartame Victims Support Group) begins to spin a yarn about how Donald Rumsfeld is "The person most responsible for the aspartame plague". In addition, Holman states that Nutrasweet is poisoning people with aspartame and that "This is... on the same level as people who send anthrax laced letters around the country". Check it out, it's all right here in an email to the anti-aspartame email list:

Of course, who knows, maybe the great World Wide Aspartame Conspiracy (i.e., the government, medical & scientific communities, the media, etc) is covering it all up?! Yeah, sure -- conspiracy and government cover-ups are the primary argument used by crackpots and cranks to promote their unsubstantiated claims; of course, conspiracy theories of all kinds are in vogue now, so they do seem to have quite some appeal to many folks. Unfortunately, conspiracy mongering & innuendo are not sufficient to win over most scientists & medical doctors. Incidentally, anyone (such as said scientists & doctors) who provides evidence that contradicts the views of the anti-aspartamers is almost immediately labeled a pawn of said conspiracy. Trust me, because I've been accused of being a Monsanto-paid hack.

In September of 2005, I was contacted by someone who claims that a new, updated version of the Markle email is now circulating on the Internet. I have been unable to confirm the existence of this newly evolved email flummery, but I'll keep an eye out for it regardless. Note that the new version claims that aspartame now causes, you guessed it, ADD and ADHD - what are the chances of that?!! What's next, blaming "aspartame poisoning" for baldness and bad checks?

Posted below is the entire text of this new version -- keep an eye out for it! If anyone comes across this on the Internet, please let me know.

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In October of 2001, my sister started getting very sick. She had stomach spasms and she was having a hard time getting around. Walking was a major chore. It took everything she had just to get out of bed; she was in so much pain.

By March 2002, she had undergone several tissue and muscle biopsies and was on 24 various prescription medications. The doctors could not determine what was wrong with her. She was in so much pain, and so sick...she just knew she was dying.

She put her house, bank accounts, life insurance, etc., in her oldest daughters name, and made sure that her younger children were to be taken care of. She also wanted her last hooray, so she planned a trip to FL (basically in a wheelchair) for March 22nd.

On March 19th I called her to ask how her most recent tests went, and she said they didn't find anything on the test, but they believe she had MS.

I recalled an article a friend of mine E-mailed to me and I asked my sister if she drank diet soda? She told me that she did. As a matter of fact, she was getting ready to crack one open that moment... I told her not to open it, and to stop drinking the diet soda!!! I E-mailed her the article my friend, a lawyer, had sent.

My sister called me within 32 hours after our phone conversation and told me she had stopped drinking the diet soda AND she could walk!!!! The muscle spasms went away. She said she didn't feel 100% but she sure felt a lot better. She told me she was going to her doctor with this article and would call me when she got home.

Well, she called me, and said her doctor was amazed! He is going to call all of his MS patients to find out if they consumed artificial sweeteners of any kind...

In a nutshell, she was being poisoned by the Aspartame in the diet soda... and literally dying a slow and miserable death.

When she got to FL March 22nd, all she had to take was one pill, and that was a pill for the Aspartame poisoning! She is well on her way to a complete recovery. and she is walking!!! No wheelchair!!!

This article saved her life If it says "SUGAR FREE" on the label, DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!!!

I have spent several days lecturing at the WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE on "ASPARTAME," marketed as 'NutraSweet,' 'Equal,' and 'Spoonful.'

In the keynote address by the EPA, it was announced that in the United States in 2001 there is an epidemic of multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus. It was difficult to determine exactly what toxin was causing this to be rampant.

I stood up and said that I was there to lecture on exactly that subject. I will explain why Aspartame is so dangerous: When the temperature of this sweetener exceeds 86 degrees F, the wood alcohol in ASPARTAME converts to formaldehyde and then to formic acid, which in turn causes metabolic acidosis. Formic acid is the poison found in the sting of fire ants. The methanol toxicity mimics, among other conditions, multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus.

Many people were being diagnosed in error. Although multiple sclerosis is not a death sentence.. methanol toxicity is!

Systemic lupus has become almost as rampant as multiple sclerosis, especially with Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi drinkers. The victim usually does not know that the Aspartame is the culprit. He or she continues its use; irritating the lupus to such a degree that it may become a life-threatening condition. We have seen patients with systemic lupus become asymptotic, once taken off diet sodas.

In cases of those diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, (when in reality, the disease is methanol toxicity), most of the symptoms disappear. We've seen many cases where vision loss returned and hearing loss improved markedly.

This also applies to cases of tinnitus and fibromyalgia.

During a lecture, I said, "If you are using ASPARTAME (NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc.) and you suffer from fibromyalgia symptoms, spasms, shooting, pains, numbness in your legs, cramps, vertigo, dizziness, headaches, tinnitus, joint pain, unexplainable depression, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, blurred vision, or memory loss...you probably have ASPARTAME poisoning!"

People were jumping up during the lecture saying, "I have some of these symptoms."

Is it reversible?" Yes! Yes! Yes! STOP drinking diet sodas and be alert for Aspartame on food labels!

Many products are fortified with it!!!

This is a serious problem. Dr. Espart (one of my speakers) remarked that so many people seem to be symptomatic for MS and during his recent visit to a hospice; a nurse stated that six of her friends, who were heavy Diet Coke addicts, had all been diagnosed with MS. This is beyond coincidence!

Diet soda is NOT a diet product! It is a chemically altered, multiple SODIUM (salt) and ASPARTAME containing product that actually makes you crave carbohydrates. It is far more likely to make you GAIN weight!

These products also contain formaldehyde, which stores in the fat cells, particularly in the hips and thighs. Formaldehyde is an absolute toxin and is used primarily to preserve "tissue specimens."

Many products we use every day contain this chemical but we SHOULD NOT store it IN our body!!!

Dr. H. J. Roberts stated in his lectures that once free of the "diet products" and with no significant increase in exercise; his patients lost an average of 19 pounds over a trial period.

Aspartame is especially dangerous for diabetics. We found that some physicians, who believed that they had a patient with retinopathy, in fact, had symptoms caused by Aspartame. The Aspartame drives the blood sugar out of control. Thus diabetics may suffer acute memory loss due to the fact that aspartic acid and phenylalanine are NEUROTOXIC when taken without the other amino acids necessary for a good balance. Treating diabetes is all about BALANCE. Especially with diabetics, the Aspartame passes the blood/brain barrier and it then deteriorates the neurons of the brain; causing various levels of brain damage, seizures, depression, manic depression, panic attacks, uncontrollable anger and rage.

Consumption of Aspartame causes these same symptoms in non-diabetics, as well.

Documentation and observation also reveal that thousands of children diagnosed with ADD and AHD have had complete turnarounds in their behavior when these chemicals have been removed from their diet. So called "behavior modification prescription drugs" (Ritalin and others) are no longer needed. Truth be told, they were never NEEDED in the first place!

Most of these children were being "poisoned" on a daily basis with the very foods that were "better for them than sugar."

It is also suspected that the Aspartame in thousands of pallets of diet Coke and diet Pepsi consumed by men and women fighting in the Gulf War, may be partially to blame for the well-known Gulf War Syndrome.

Dr. Roberts warns that it can cause birth defects, i.e., mental retardation, if taken at the time of conception and during early pregnancy. Children are especially at risk for neurological disorders and should NEVER be given artificial sweeteners. There are many different case histories to relate of children suffering grand mal seizures and other neurological disturbances due to the use of NutraSweet.

Unfortunately, it is not always easy to convince people that Aspartame is to blame for their child's illness. Stevia, which, which is a sweet herb, NOT A MANUFACTURED ADDITIVE, helps in the metabolism of sugar, which would be ideal for diabetics. It has now been approved as a dietary supplement by the FDA. It is known that for many years the FDA outlawed this true sweet food," due to their loyalty to MONSANTO Chemical Company."

Books on this subject are available:

EXCITOTOXINS: THE TASTE THAT KILLS written by Dr. Russell Blayblock (Health Press 1-800-643-2665) AND: DEFENSE AGAINST ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE-written by DR H. J. Roberts, also a diabetic specialist.

These two doctors will soon be posting a position paper with case histories on the deadly effects of Aspartame on the Internet. According to the Conference of the American College of Physicians, "We are talking about a plague of neurological diseases directly caused by the use of this deadly poison."

Herein lies the problem: There were Congressional Hearings when Aspartame was included 100 different products and strong objection was made concerning it's use. Since this initial hearing, there have been two subsequent hearings and still, nothing has been done. The drug and chemical lobbies have very deep pockets. Sadly, MONSANTO'S patent on Aspartame has EXPIRED!!

There are now over 5,000 products on the market that contain this deadly chemical and there will be thousands more introduced.

Everybody wants a "piece of the Aspartame pie." I assure you that MONSANTO, the creator of Aspartame, knows how deadly it is. And isn't it ironic that MONSANTO funds, among others, the American Diabetes Association, the American Dietetic Association and the Conference of the American College of Physicians? This has been recently exposed in the New York Times. These cannot criticize any additives or convey their link to MONSANTO because they take money from the food industry and are required to endorse their products.

Senator Howard Metzenbaum wrote and presented a bill that would require label warnings on products containing Aspartame, especially regarding pregnant women, children and infants. The bill would also institute independent studies on the known dangers and the problems existing in the general population regarding seizures, changes in brain chemistry, neurological changes and behavioral symptoms. The bill was killed.

It is known that the powerful drug and chemical lobbies are responsible for this, letting loose the hounds of disease and death on an unsuspecting and uninformed public.

Well, you're informed now!!!! YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW!!!!

Below is a funny link to the "DiHydrogen Monoxide Research Division" which is, in reality, a spoof of Internet health-scare spams. The people that put this site together are intentionally making fun of folks like, well, the anti-aspartamers. Enjoy!

NOTE: "DiHydrogen Monoxide" is just a molecule of two hydrogen atoms and a single oxygen atom... also known as water! It just goes to show you how easily some people can be scared and bamboozled. Take care what you read on the Internet :o)