By Barbara H. Peterson
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
December 31, 2010 at 7:56 pm
An excellent post!
I am so tired of all the cheating in the food industry. Organic has become a yuppie thing so now we have all this so called healthy good being made by companies that don’t care. Huge companies are buying up small farms and companies and change them..
happy New Year!
January 5, 2011 at 9:55 am
organic has not become a yuppie thing…it has become a corporate marketing tool…
January 1, 2011 at 9:00 am
Thanks for letting us know. I hope the real organic companies will be able to state on their labels that the product Does Not contain this junk!
January 3, 2011 at 6:48 am
I heard they are planning on inserting a new ingredient into the food supply which will cause everybody to go naked everywhere. I’m not sure that it’s secual prurience – maybe they’ll do it in winter, just hoping we’ll all freeze to death.
January 2, 2011 at 2:46 pm
organic is a bit of a racket in and of itself. in many circumstances, it is a pay for the use of the label scheme and nothing more. we have gone through all the hoops ourselves for exporting a berry from the patagonia region of chile – http://www.patagoniamaqui.com.
not all its cracked up to be when you figure out how it all works.
January 5, 2011 at 9:56 am
i always thought it was akin to the good housekeeping seal of approval…
January 6, 2011 at 12:25 pm
I received the following email from Whole Foods Market customer service that denies your claims. (See below.)
Do you think they’re part of the same agribusiness corporate conspiracy that created this situation? Or that their information is incorrect?
Jim Guinness
————-
Hello Jim,
Thanks for your email. Neotame DOES have to be included in the ingredient deck. Neither neotame nor any artificial sweetener are allowed under the USDA’s National Organic Standards, and its use is not acceptable at products sold at Whole Foods Market.
If you have any further questions please use our on-line response form.
Best regards,
Jessie
Jessie Walker | Customer Information Specialist
Whole Foods Market | Global Headquarters
Phone 512-542-0670 | Fax 512-482-7670
January 6, 2011 at 12:31 pm
Hi Jim,
My response is in a follow-up posting: “The USDA’S Organic Deception” at http://farmwars.info/?p=4913. Will post here shortly. I haven’t looked into Whole Foods, so I cannot comment regarding whether or not this is intentional or unintentional. The FDA and USDA regulations are difficult to wade through at best.
January 6, 2011 at 1:12 pm
I work for an organic certification agency, and I have to say that this posting is irresponsible, unfounded, psuedo-journalism. The claim is simply not true. The National Organic Program today issued a clarification making it perfectly clear that Neotame is NOT allowed in certified organic foods. Quoted below:
Announcement January 6, 2011
The National Organic Program has received inquiries concerning Internet claims that the artificial sweetener Neotame is allowed in organic foods.
To clarify, it is NOT permitted in organic foods or foods labeled “made with organic [specified ingredient or food group],” nor is it permitted in organic livestock feed.
Neotame Not Allowed in Organic Foods
All additives used as ingredients or processing aids for foods labeled “organic” or “made with organic [specified ingredient or food group]” must appear on the National List (7 CFR 205.605-205.606).
The NOP is not aware of any complaints at present regarding Neotame in organic food products. Complaints may be filed by phone or e-mail to the NOP Compliance and Enforcement Division:
NOP Compliance and Enforcement
USDA Agricultural Marketing Service
1400 Independence Ave., SW
Mail Stop 0268
Washington, D.C. 20250
Phone: 202-720-3252
Fax: 202-205-7808
E-mail: nopcompliance@ams.usda.gov
January 6, 2011 at 3:25 pm
Robin,
Since there is conflicting information from the FDA and USDA sites, the following phrase in the follow-up “The USDA’s Organic Deception” article has been changed from
Neotame can be included in the USDA Certified “Made With Organic Ingredients” classification as well as “Contains Organic Ingredients” without labeling.
to
Neotame can be included in the USDA Certified classification “Contains Organic Ingredients” without labeling.
February 15, 2011 at 5:39 pm
My husband, our two daughters and I raise almost all our own food including beefers. We stopped feeding “Sweet Feed Supplement” two years ago because there happens to be very little real “feed” in the um, ”feed”. Which left us with corn….. you know, the GMO corn. And let’s face it, organic feed, while commendable, is comparable in price to feeding our beefers filet mignon, and now I give you mad cow disease. So let’s do an experiment and take one bottle fed, spring calf (named Picky) and raise him on grass alone, no corn, no Sweetos, no feed supplement of any kind, in other words nothing poisonous. Now I don’t sing to my doggies at night but that calf was fat, happy and healthy! Guess what? Best meat we ever raised! (is that PETA panting?) We were brainwashed into getting as many pounds on the beefer in the shortest time possible at all costs. The cost is poisonous food!