Aspartame

[teamsaint]

The ubiquitous artificial sweetener, is in an awful lot of products.
Some people are not happy with the testing, much of which seems to have been carried out on behalf of its producers.
Watch out, because it is also in non diet (ie regular) soft drinks, squashes etc. In fact some major stores have NO lemonade that don't contain it...and it goes by other names such as Sucralose.
Its not a product I would voluntarily use, is all.

[Nick Armstrong]

Couldn't agree more, I have never been able to enjoy any product with this (or indeed any other) artificial sweetener. There's always a detectable and nasty tang on the tongue. (Just remembering my dad's saccharine tablets when I was growing up )

Best standard lemonade (e.g. Pimms, for the making of ) is I think this one from Waitrose http://www.waitrose.com/shop/Product...sh+lemon+juice No nastinesses in there

[Tapiola]

Totally agree with you both.

Most insidious of all is the squash which brands itself "no added sugar" (i.e. ripped to the gills with aspartame). It is very difficult to avoid. The only squashes I will buy for my wee ones is Tesco's/Co-op/Sainsbury's Hi Juice and Robinson's Barley Water. Everything less I see seems to be full of the A word.

[Resurrection Man]

There really is way way too much junk stuffed into much of what is on the supermarket shelves. Food is mucked about with something rotten. One ingredient that is in so much prepared stuff and which I think causes many people digestion problems is modified starch. Nothing will convince me otherwise.

My wife is coeliac, lactose and soya intolerant. So she will scrupulously read the labels. Rule No 1 ...if it has more than two lines of ingredients the she doesn't even bother to read any further...not because there might be one of the allergens inside it, simply because there are too many stabiliser this, preservative that.

I am also convinced that there is hidden stuff in there despite assurances that there is not. I cook a lot of Thai food and getting hold of fresh ingredients can be difficult. So looking at some of the stuff in jars, the ingredients appear harmless. Yet a taste test on many will bring out an adverse reaction in my wife. Yet the ingredients do not list anything that would appear to be an allergen. Even something as basic as coconut milk in liquid form. Ingredients 'coconut milk 66%, water' and again within minutes of a tiny sip, she got a severe migraine and stomach cramps. This milk is stored in the supermarket at ambient and has a long shelf life. I am surprised that simply coconut milk and water can last that long without going rancid. Coconut milk in solid form from a different manufacturer is fine which seems to me to exclude an allergy to coconut.

[amateur51]

There really is way way too much junk stuffed into much of what is on the supermarket shelves. Food is mucked about with something rotten. One ingredient that is in so much prepared stuff and which I think causes many people digestion problems is modified starch. Nothing will convince me otherwise.

My wife is coeliac, lactose and soya intolerant. So she will scrupulously read the labels. Rule No 1 ...if it has more than two lines of ingredients the she doesn't even bother to read any further...not because there might be one of the allergens inside it, simply because there are too many stabiliser this, preservative that.

I am also convinced that there is hidden stuff in there despite assurances that there is not. I cook a lot of Thai food and getting hold of fresh ingredients can be difficult. So looking at some of the stuff in jars, the ingredients appear harmless. Yet a taste test on many will bring out an adverse reaction in my wife. Yet the ingredients do not list anything that would appear to be an allergen. Even something as basic as coconut milk in liquid form. Ingredients 'coconut milk 66%, water' and again within minutes of a tiny sip, she got a severe migraine and stomach cramps. This milk is stored in the supermarket at ambient and has a long shelf life. I am surprised that simply coconut milk and water can last that long without going rancid. Coconut milk in solid form from a different manufacturer is fine which seems to me to exclude an allergy to coconut.

Is The Consumers' Assoc interested in this sort of thing, RM? Sounds very unpleasant. I was very pleased when they got rid of those dodgy transfats typically found in biscuits but I often wonder what else we don't know about our food

[Ariosto]

By the way AM51 - I haven't gone to bed yet ...

[amateur51]

By the way AM51 - I haven't gone to bed yet ...

[teamsaint]

There really is way way too much junk stuffed into much of what is on the supermarket shelves. Food is mucked about with something rotten. One ingredient that is in so much prepared stuff and which I think causes many people digestion problems is modified starch. Nothing will convince me otherwise.

My wife is coeliac, lactose and soya intolerant. So she will scrupulously read the labels. Rule No 1 ...if it has more than two lines of ingredients the she doesn't even bother to read any further...not because there might be one of the allergens inside it, simply because there are too many stabiliser this, preservative that.

I am also convinced that there is hidden stuff in there despite assurances that there is not. I cook a lot of Thai food and getting hold of fresh ingredients can be difficult. So looking at some of the stuff in jars, the ingredients appear harmless. Yet a taste test on many will bring out an adverse reaction in my wife. Yet the ingredients do not list anything that would appear to be an allergen. Even something as basic as coconut milk in liquid form. Ingredients 'coconut milk 66%, water' and again within minutes of a tiny sip, she got a severe migraine and stomach cramps. This milk is stored in the supermarket at ambient and has a long shelf life. I am surprised that simply coconut milk and water can last that long without going rancid. Coconut milk in solid form from a different manufacturer is fine which seems to me to exclude an allergy to coconut.

I shall try to employ rule no1 , RM....excellent !!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Totally agree with you both.

Most insidious of all is the squash which brands itself "no added sugar" (i.e. ripped to the gills with aspartame).

[Bryn]

I too avoid Aspartame like the plague it is. If I make the mistake of imbibing some I soon know. I get a characteristic stomach ache.

[french frank]

The only squashes I will buy for my wee ones is Tesco's/Co-op/Sainsbury's Hi Juice and Robinson's Barley Water. Everything less I see seems to be full of the A word.

These are good, e.g. Ingredients: Water, organic sugar, organic whole lemons, citric acid.

[amateur51]

These are good, e.g. Ingredients: Water, organic sugar, organic whole lemons, citric acid.

Except that the presence of sugar and citric acid is quite a potent environment for encouraging dental caries (aka tooth rot)

[teamsaint]

These are good, e.g. Ingredients: Water, organic sugar, organic whole lemons, citric acid.

they don't seem to always be available, but i agree they are good.

[Tapiola]

Aspartame can send kids doo-lally; an otherwise comparatively well behaved child will start climbing the walls like some deranged crack fiend after one of these drinks. The rush from pure sugar is meek in comparison. In my view it is borderline criminal that manufacturers can produce and market this crap for and to children. My heart sinks when I turn up at a kids' birthday party and I see them all being offered "Fruit Shoots".

[teamsaint]

Except that the presence of sugar and citric acid is quite a potent environment for encouraging dental caries (aka tooth rot)

and the handy sugar free gum that we are encouraged to use in the absence of toothbrush and paste, is chock full of..............ASPARTAME !!
Bingo. Gotcha !