Aspartame Poisoning

[blondie]

what a scary piece of infromation - you try to give your children "suger free" because thats what you are told is best for them and its obviously not -will be checking all my labels from now on.

thanks cait

[Cait]

There does seem to be some controversy over whether or not the information is correct. But as we have known for many years that it DOES cause some effects, I think it indicates that we should be cautious about it in any case. I'm going to out it to the parents at a meeting this week, so they can decide whether we continue to use sugar free or not. As a registered tooth friendly Preschool we can't really use full sugar, and there's a lot of fruit acid in pure fruit juice.... Looks like we're damned if we do, and damned if we don't!

 

Actually, quite a few of the full sugar squashes have it in too, Robinsons for example. In fact I only found a few that didn't have it, Ribena full sugar, Vimto full sugar and a rather nice ocean spray cranberry and raspberry.

[sunnyday]

There does seem to be some controversy over whether or not the information is correct. But as we have known for many years that it DOES cause some effects, I think it indicates that we should be cautious about it in any case. I'm going to out it to the parents at a meeting this week, so they can decide whether we continue to use sugar free or not. As a registered tooth friendly Preschool we can't really use full sugar, and there's a lot of fruit acid in pure fruit juice.... Looks like we're damned if we do, and damned if we don't!

 

Actually, quite a few of the full sugar squashes have it in too, Robinsons for example. In fact I only found a few that didn't have it, Ribena full sugar, Vimto full sugar and a rather nice ocean spray cranberry and raspberry.

We only offer milk or water at pre-school - this was unpopular with parents to start with - some bringing other drinks - met with them and explained that I really didn't want them to do that - all accepted that.

 

Almost always find that when introducing/implementing 'change' it is parents who are often 'resistant' not the children!

 

Sunnyday

[Cait]

Absolutely. We had a Gran complain when we gave her grandchild water - she actually said it was scandalous that we'd not offered juice. We offer milk or water but we do now have sugar free which is diluted so much that it might as well be water! Children think that it's juice though, so hey! There's only a couple who have it, mostly they have their milk quota

[HappyMaz]

I haven't entered this debate until now. However reading people saying they will restrict their children to drinking water and milk made me remember a long standing campaign against the dairy industry which asserts that milk is responsible for many of the illnesses and diseases which face us, and that cow's milk is inherently unsuitable to give to children. I don't know what to believe, but offer this link which discusses work being carried out by seemingly respected professionals.

 

I wonder if there is anything completely safe in this world.

 

Maz

[Marion]

My son also is lactose intolerance and has a bad reaction to all dairy produce so things are never as simple as they may seem initially basically he wasn't allowed snack in school.

 

I'm not sure about in other LAs but in mine nurseries aren't allowed to offer juice/ diluted juice or carbonated drinks to children.

Edited April 19, 2009 by Marion

[sunnyday]

I haven't entered this debate until now. However reading people saying they will restrict their children to drinking water and milk made me remember a long standing campaign against the dairy industry which asserts that milk is responsible for many of the illnesses and diseases which face us, and that cow's milk is inherently unsuitable to give to children. I don't know what to believe, but offer this link which discusses work being carried out by seemingly respected professionals.

 

I wonder if there is anything completely safe in this world.

 

Maz

V. interesting reading Maz.

 

And no probably nothing completely safe - deep sigh!

 

Sunnyday

[sunnyday]

Replying to my own posts again!

 

This has made me think about my family and my in-laws, those that are happily 'still with us' and those that have 'passed away'.

 

I have thought about their diets and their life style choices - i.e. healthy eaters/poor diets, drinkers/tea total, smokers/non-smokers and.............

 

with the exception of my dear father-in-law who was a heavy smoker and died of lung cancer aged 72

 

..............really couldn't come up with any firm conclusions or even theories

 

bit of a ramble there - apologies if very boring

 

Sunnyday

[HappyMaz]

..............really couldn't come up with any firm conclusions or even theories

This is the problem with all this so-called medical expertise - we will all know someone whose life experience proves the exception to the rule. Unless you have specific allergies or other health problems such as those described by contributors to this thread, I would advocate a little of what you fancy in moderation. It can be hard to make informed choices when opinion varies from one week to the next about whether certain foods are good or bad for you, and when something that was deemed 'unhealthy' last month is found by a subsequent study to have redeeming features which make it not so unhealthy after all.

 

I must admit to avoiding reading about the latest health/food scares because there'll be another one along in a minute.

 

Maz

[JacquieL]

Oh good back to the gin with slimline as nothing else tastes the same!

I think the 'all things in moderation' is the way to go really. Although I think the fresher and more natural the food the better, but there's nothing wrong with the occasional treat. I do agree with keeping most sugary drinks out of nursery/school, and where the policy is kept to the children don't seem to have problems at all. When free fruit for schools was introduced some children wouldn't touch the fruit at first, but bit by bit they soon began to eat and enjoy it. Taste preference is developed when they are very young, and if they have always had water as an alternative to milk or fresh juice then they will happily drink it.

Human milk is a natural food for young children but of course we give them cows milk not breast milk (this conjures up an interesting picture does it not ). There are other ways to obtain calcium etc. but I don't think cows milk does as much damage as not having it if the child isn't a good eater. Obviously children with allergies need to be catered for but they are in the minority.

[Guest Kristine]

I get SERIOUS headaches from this poison!

 

I could not and would not ever knowingly give this to a child.

 

We have a water only policy at our school (primary and EY). The children soon get used to it. I think kids should be drinking more water anyway. If the parents want them to drink artificially sweetened and coloured drinks, they can do that at home.

 

Sometimes I put carrots with other fruit and vege in a blender and add water as a treat. Another one is a carton of milk with a banana or two, but most of the time the kids just go to the water fountain we have in our room

 

I give pure juice and milk etc to my son, but he tends to prefer water now and he's eight. (and yes he does drink the odd coke etc but I certainly don't encourage it!!)

 

Parent's might not like it if you go 'water' friendly, but if the kids have access to fresh fruit every day, what does it matter? There is enough sugar in the food they eat.

 

Sorry for going on and on... that's just what I think

Kristine x

[Upsy Daisy]

I have always had a water only policy as a childminder and have never had a problem getting children to drink it. Some parents have struggled with this idea and one even used to 'hide' squash in an opaque drinks bottle hoping I wouldn't notice! I like children to have access to their drinks all of the time but I don't want the carpets and furniture spattered with squash, sugar free or not.

 

I was amazed when my daughter started school and was given squash with her lunch every day as a matter of course. She filled herself up on squash then couldn't eat her lunch every day. I had to speak to the head twice before they began to offer water as an alternative.

 

I also have a fruit/veg only snack policy which the children cope with fine but some parents have worried that their child needs biscuits to keep them going.

[SmileyPR]

I don't know why, but I have NEVER been able to stand it's flavour! I just hate it! I can immediately notice when something contains aspartame. It is not only sugar-free products, but also low-fat ones. It is better just to put less sugar in our drinks or food and use brown natural sugar when we do so.

[Guest]

Whilst I’m not saying that aspartame is in any way safe (I’m not a scientist and can’t prove it one way or another after all) I do think that so called ‘true stories’ like this should be treated with caution.

 

First of all this woman was supposedly being severely poisoned by aspartame. Exactly how much aspartame was she consuming? Many people consume large quantities of diet or sugar free drinks a day and suffer absolutely no ill effects. Why aren’t they being poisoned? Either she was consuming a ridiculously large quantity and we should note that consuming a large quantity of vitamin A is also poisonous, but no one would ever call for a ban on all products containing it. Alternatively she was allergic to aspartame, which is an entirely different matter. Many people are allergic to strawberries or nuts, but again we wouldn’t consider banning these.

 

Secondly I find it a little far fetched that anyone, let alone a nurse that one of the speakers just happened to come across, would know 6 people who had MS, especially since disease affects 1 in 800 people (it specifically says these were her friends, not patients). For most people even knowing 2 people with the disease would still be considered unusual (unless they were members of the same family as there is a slight genetic link).

 

There are other things in the article that I find strange as well but I won’t list them all.

 

The point I’m trying to make isn’t that aspartame is safe, or that we should give children in our care sugar free drinks. I still firmly believe that water is the best drink to give children and that we should limit artificial chemicals in our own and our children’s diets as much as possible. All I’m saying is that stories like these cause panic and worry, but should really be treated with caution.

Edited August 9, 2010 by Guest