The US FDA has caved into “pressure” from the powerful sugar and artificial sweetener lobby and issued a warning letter to Celestial Seasonings for using a popular natural sweetener in some of its teas. The letter indicates the FDA classifies the herb stevia as “unsafe”, even though it is a main staple sweetener in countries like China and Japan and has been used without negative health effects by indigenous people for at least 400 years. In the FDA’s letter to Celestial Seasonings, the agency aggressively condemns the use of the herb, noting that “enforcement action may include seizure of violative products”. The FDA claims no evidence has been provided to the agency regarding the herb’s safety, but federal records reveal the FDA has received over a thousand scientific studies regarding stevia, and all but one of them verify the safety of the herb. In sharp contrast, nearly half of the studies provided to the FDA regarding the artificial sweetener aspartame, previously owned by Monsanto, indicate serious health concerns, yet it is one of the most commonly used (and one of the most profitable) sweeteners in the U.S. The FDA has also strengthened enforcement of stevia imports at the borders and updated a document that mandates detainment of imported food products containing stevia. It is exasperating that the people we pay to look after our food (in this case the FDA) can be bought off by those who simply want to profit from us. The best thing you can do immediately is to stop buying products with aspartame in them and tell your friends that is is a dangerous chemical known to induce cancer in a significant number of subjects.
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