aspartame is poisonous. in what amount per day? how much is it in natreen or similar staff?

Answer 1

Here’s an MSDS for Aspartame. It lists an LD50 of greater than 5 g per Kg. LD50 is a common metric for describing acute toxicity (poisonous). It is an animal-based metric (so there are ethical implications from its use). Basically it is the amount of a substance that is required to kill 50% of the rats it is fed to.

http://www.aji-aspartame.com/product_info/pdf/us-msds.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartame

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LD50

By saying greater than 5 g, they are in essence saying they did not find the upper limit of its toxicity. There is a limit to the amount of stuff a rat will eat before becoming satiated; often they starve the rats for days in glass cages prior to the tests. Not to worry, though the rats are all euthanized after the test.

However there is a HUGE debate over possible side effects and sub-lethal toxicity at much lower concentration. The Wiki link does a decent job of describing the variety of potential problems, however the scientific literature is far, far more extensive.

Sorry about my pro-animal bias. I would rather have an animal die, than finding out about toxic effects on humans. It is just that I believe the scientific community has an obligation to develop microbiological and chemical test methods than can replace experimentation on higher life forms.