Dr. Chiyome Leinaala Fukino, Director of Hawaii Department of Health, in her ostensibly expert testimony posted at the Hawaii Legislature website under Testimony opposing HB 2680 to ban aspartame/methanol/formaldehyde/diketopiperazine referred to a study used to oppose the bill which was paid for by the world’s largest manufacturer of aspartame and of another neurotoxic additive (Monosodium Glutamate); that company is Ajinomoto, the manufacturer of aspartame/methanol/formaldehyde/diketopiperazine funded it, and it used industry studies to say aspartame is safe.  (Strangely enough, even after repeated phone calls, almost none of the medical experts supporting the ban who submitted testimony have yet seen their testimony posted on the legislature website, and please do take a look at the Forbes magazine puff piece on Ajinomoto’s Chief Scientific Officer, a Japanese Veterinarian, who thinks MSG is not neurotoxic but actually good enough medicine to give to starving children in Ghana: this is a Googleable article: The MSG Cure).

Is there a reason that she, a physician, Director, Department of Health didn't check this out? Maybe you the reader should call her and ask her that question….  The medical experts in the US don’t think it so amusing that Ajinomoto tried to get away with this phony paper.

The Aspartame Review in Toxicology Magazine is totally junk science funded by an aspartame manufacturer, Ajinomoto.  As Mike Adams wrote in News Target, "This conclusion was reached by a panel of industry friendly "experts" hired by Ajinomoto, who did no new research but, instead, selectively reviewed previous studies on the safety of aspartame, many of which were funded by aspartame manufacturers in the first place!      

Further he said, "The panel of experts was called together by the Burdock Group, a consulting firm that earns its money from food and grocery manufacturers like Ajinomoto.  The Ajinomoto Company was reportedly not allowed to actually choose which panel members would be part of the aspartame safety review, but industry critics like Michael Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), responded by saying, "They say Ajinomoto paid for the study

but researchers didn't know who paid.  Well, they knew it was industry, and some ofthese people are longstanding industry consultants.” As an example:  Take Ronald Walker (Critical Reviews in Toxicology).

Ronald Walker: 1. Spent seven (7) years as the ILSI's Chairman of their Scientific Committee on Toxicology/Food Safety in Europe. Monsanto, Ajinomoto, Coca Cola, Pepsi Cola, Holland Sweetener Company, etc fund ILSI.      

2. Direct financial conflicts of interest:      

a. Consultant for DSM Nutritional Products: Sells "Twinsweet" from Holland Sweetener Company, a mixture of aspartame/methanol/formaldehyde/diketopiperazine and acesulfame-k. Web site contains aspartame advocacy articles written by Holland Sweetener Company.  (Incidentally Holland Sweetener Company no longer makes aspartame.  It wasn't profitable anymore, and their pubic announcement to get out of the business came as a big surprise, only 3 days after I emailed Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands with detailed articles on this, all translated into perfect Dutch.  Millions are being warned off aspartame.       

b. Cantox Health Sciences. A corporate regulatory advocacy company. Helped write Monsanto's Roundup backgrounder (co-authored by president of Cantox) and has numerous corporate clients. Dr. Ian Munro, President of Cantox co-authored by review (along with NutraSweet employees) of aspartame calling aspartame toxicity a "non-issue."      

3. Wrote a glowing review of Ajinomoto product, monosodium glutamate (MSG) for a symposium funded by Ajinomoto trade group, International Glutamate Technical Committee (IGTC). IGTC hid aspartame/methanol/formaldehyde/diketopiperazine in drink mixes given to the "control" group in MSG experiments from 1978 through 1993. Dr. Walker did of course, not mention this in the review. Any inclusion of Dr. Walker in any discussion or vote related to aspartame is an insult to scientific integrity.  

ILSI Information: 

On January 9, 2003, The Guardian reported that they obtained a confidential report relating to the food industry experts "infiltrating" the World Health Organization (WHO) Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) committees (Guardian 2003). The report found that:      - Food companies attempted to place scientists favorable to their views on WHO and Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) committees.      - They financially supported non-governmental organizations, which were invited to formal discussions on key issues with the United Nations (UN) agencies.      - They financed research and policy groups that supported their views.       - They financed individuals who would promote "anti-regulation ideology" to the public, for instance in newspaper articles.       "One industry-led organization, International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI), has positioned its experts and expertise across the who spectrum of food and tobacco policies: at conferences, on FAO/WHO food policy committees and within WHO, and with monographs, journals and technical briefs." (Guardian 2003) International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) is an industry group founded in 1978 by Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, Heinz Foundation, General Foods, Kraft Foods (owned by Philip Morris), and Proctor & Gamble.

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