CORRECTED -URGENT ACTON ALERT

Our previous version of this alert sent March 11, 2013, stated that artificial sweeteners would not even be listed on the ingredients listing on the back of the dairy product package. A spokesman from the FDA informs us that by law, artificial sweeteners must be listed, and that what is at issue is the “nutrient claim” labeling on the front of dairy packaging.

NUTRITION NONPROFIT LEADS PROTEST OF DAIRY ADULTERATION PROPOSAL

The integrity of our food supply is poised for another blow with an FDA petition submitted by the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF). These industry groups are asking the FDA to alter the definition of “milk” to include chemical sweeteners such as aspartame and sucralose without putting “Low Calorie” or “Reduced Calorie” on the label.

What this means to the consumer is that flavored milks and other dairy foods, whether sugar- or HFCS-sweetened OR artificially or chemically sweetened will be indistinguishable from one another on the store shelves. Chocolate Milk, for instance, won’t have the label, “Sugar Free Chocolate Milk” if it has a chemical sweetener added. It will simply say, Chocolate Milk.

An FDA spokesman assures us that chemical sweeteners will still need to be declared on the ingredients list, but only the most careful shopper will scrutinize the list. This is why the Weston A. Price Foundation is against this petition.

While aimed principally at replacing sugar in flavored milks served to school children, the petition also asks for the right to put artificial sweeteners in a host of dairy products including nonfat dried milk(always added to reduced-fat milks), yogurt, cream, half-and-half, sour cream, eggnog and whipping cream. Truly, no conventional dairy product will be safe if the petitioners get their way.

To read the petition, click here:

https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/02/20/2013-03835/flavored-milk-petition-to-amend-the-standard-of-identity-for-milk-and-17-additional-dairy-products

ACTIONS TO TAKE

1. Please file a comment at

http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=FDA-2009-P-0147-0012

Even if your comment is very short, we need thousands of people letting the government know that granting this petition would be a disaster to our food supply, especially for children. It’s best to compose your comments before submitting them. Comments 2000 words or less can be copied and pasted into the comment box. Longer comments can be attached as a letter.

For the required field “Organization Name,” please enter “Citizen.”

For “Category,” you can use “Individual Consumer”

Remember to hit “submit comment” when you are done. You should be taken to another screen that includes a confirmation number for your comment, which is how you know your comment was successfully submitted.

The comment period ends on May 21, 2013

1. A petition from a consumer group, SumOfUs, has gathered almost 100,000 signers to oppose this move. To sign this petition, go to:

2. http://action.sumofus.org/a/aspartame-milk/?sub=homepage.

3. Please circulate this Action Alert to other email groups.

TALKING POINTS

• Obscuring artificial sweeteners to dairy products would hurt the dairy industry by further reducing the numbers of people who could safely consume dairy products.

• Not highlighting artificial sweeteners on the front of the container of dairy products would generate severe consumer backlash to all conventional dairy products.

• The FDA lists more than ninety documented symptoms of aspartame toxicity, including abdominal pain, anxiety attacks, brain cancer, breathing difficulties, chronic fatigue, depression, headaches, migraines, dizziness, marked personality changes, memory loss, panic attacks, rapid heartbeat, vision loss and weight gain

• Aspartame releases methanol upon digestion, and methanol poisoning causes headaches, behavioral disturbances and inflammation of the nerves. Another breakdown product of aspartame is poisonous formaldehyde..

• Thousands of adverse reactions to aspartame have been reported to the FDA, mostly concerned with abnormal brain function, brain tumors, epilepsy and Parkinson’s.

• Children’s brains are four times more susceptible to damage from excitotoxins like aspartame than those of adults and react with ADD ADHD type symptoms, impaired learning, depression and nausea.

• Sucralose side effects include rashes, panic attacks, dizziness, numbness, diarrhea, swelling, headaches, cramping and stomach pain.

• People who are sensitive to aspartame can have life-threatening reactions to it.

• The proposed regulations restrict our freedom of choice. Industry players who oppose consumers’ ability to choose raw milk are now trying to fool consumers into consume artificial additives, with labeling trickery.