Sunday, January 16, 2011

So Angry

I have been taking Flintstones Plus Iron vitamins for the last 27 years.  As my iron levels run low, even on a supplement, and most vitamins containing iron make me really sick to my stomach, I've found it's pretty much the only one I can take without becoming ill.  Of course, I couldn't take their Complete vitamin, because Flintstones Complete used Aspartame as a sweetener, and seeing as aspartame is a vile toxin to which I am highly sensitive, to the point of nearly instant migraines upon exposure, violent vomiting, and then diarrhea, I avoid the stuff like the plague.  
Sadly, today when I realized I was out of vitamins we ran to the store, I grabbed my trusty dark pink box of Flintstones, bought them, went home, and quickly popped one in my mouth. As I was breaking down the box while chewing I thought, "man, that tastes wrong."  And I was right. It was wrong.
It was still my once trusty Flintstones Plus Iron, but alas, they've ADDED ASPARTAME.
That's right, in 2011, fully aware of the toxicity of Aspartame, and having ready access to information showing that the information used to get it through FDA regulation some 30 years ago was fraudulent, Bayer chose to add Aspartame to a product.  Not just any product, but one that customers purchased specifically because it did not contain Aspartame. Maybe the three or four people I've had conversations about it's lack of Aspartame being a reason for buying it (in the past) and I are the only ones, but I figure, if I've actually had this conversation with strangers in the store, then there were probably other people out there with the same motivations.
So angry.
So Bayer, I just want you to know that I've lost my trust in you.  You basically just tried to poison me with a chemical I absolutely can't have, and one which could prove seriously damaging those living with Phenylketonuria.   Sure, you printed a warning on the product's back, but the fact is, after years of buying the same product in the same packaging, people quit reading the ingredient list.  Most companies would have had the good graces to at least change the packaging's color.
As I said, I've lost my trust in you.  And it goes farther than just your Flintstones Vitamins.  I don't trust your asprin, becuase you've shown that you change your formulation without properly warning your consumers. I don't trust anything you make and sell. 
I'm angry. 
I'm also looking for safe and healthy alternatives, because you, Bayer, no longer make my "safe and healthy" shortlist.

1 comment:

Intercept said...

Here is a link to a pdf of the most recent aspartame cancer study:
http://www.janethull.com/newsletter/0206/bella_italia_the_soffritti_aspartame_study.php
And here is an abstract:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17805418
(By the way, Soffritti conducted three long-term studies in recent years and all three studies showed a causal relationship between aspartame and cancer).
Many studies with dubious funding sources (Anjinamoto, Searle, Merisont, etc.) will attest to the safety of aspartame. Non-industry funded studies are found in this link:
http://sweetremedyfilm.blogspot.com/p/dr-ralph-waltons-compiled-list-of-non.html