Legal Poison.

Forget the depression post for the time being. I thought my little black dog had gone back to sleep this morning, but he’s still growling with intent. So let’s do the aspartame post instead, just in case there’s anybody out there who isn’t yet aware of the infamous aspartame issue.

I’m not going to attempt the whole story on a blog. There are countless internet sources doing that, and my technical knowledge is limited anyway. Instead, let me offer a few bullet points to lay out the basics of what appears to be a very serious issue.

1) Aspartame is the ubiquitous artificial sweetener used in nearly all sugar-substitute products, most notably ‘diet’ versions of fizzy drinks.

2) I gather that when its creator, Monsanto, first sought a licence to use it, the American Good Guys (the FDA) refused because independent research indicated that it was just too injurious to human health. But then the American Bad Guys (the combined forces of the political system, corporate America, and those researchers who were beholden to corporate America for their funding) secretly marshalled their formidable resources and won the day. Aspartame subsequently flooded the world.

3) Many authoritative sources state unequivocally that when the wood alcohol in aspartame reaches 86°F it turns first into formaldehyde, and then formic acid. 86°F is lower than human body heat, and formic acid is the nasty component of ant stings.

4) I’ve seen it reported that the FDA originally identified sixty nine deleterious conditions that were linked with the ingestion of aspartame. Its favourite trick, however, is to mimic the effects of multiple sclerosis so convincingly that people become just as ill as they would be with the real thing. Note the irony of the last three words.

5) Some European states have got the message, apparently, and banned the stuff. Others haven’t, like Britain.

It’s hard to understand why a much bigger fuss isn’t being made about this, but maybe that’s just the system covering an inconvenient truth with a layer of slime as usual. And let’s face it, what value the health of a large number of people when compared with the megabucks to be made from the diet megacraze? It’s an impressive strategy they have going: the fast food industry gets rich by making people obese, the fashion industry and lifestyle media persuade people that being proportionately wider than a bus ticket makes you socially unacceptable, and Voila! – you now have millions of people queuing up to spend even more money on things that have the word ‘diet’ on the label. Oh, and the wheelchair industry sells lots of wheelchairs to people who can’t walk, and the healthcare industry … you get the picture. Clever trick. Yes indeed.

Simple solution: never buy anything that has the word ‘diet’ on the label, or anything else that contains artificial sweetener. Most of all, never, ever give such things to children. Avoid them like the plague, otherwise something akin to the plague is what you – or your children – might end up with.

And please excuse me if you've heard all this before.