niftygifter
16-05-2008, 07:11 PM
Link:http://www.prlog.org/10070694-uk-supermarket-chain-bans-aspartame-from-own-label-products-japanese-manufacturer-ajinomoto-sues.html
Quote:
"Yet, right from the beginning, there has been plenty of evidence that aspartame has the capacity to cause harm. And there is, as I've highlighted before, evidence of considerable bias in this area: while industry-funded research invariably finds in favor of aspartame, independently-funded work almost always comes to the opposite conclusion. These things, and the fact that anecdotal reports of aspartame toxicity are easy to find, means that aspartame continues to be viewed with suspicion by many.
It seems that at long, long last, this skepticism in the general public has filtered through to food retailers. Generally speaking, supermarket chains give customers what they want. There has been growing awareness quite recently here in the U.K. that a lot of food has a lot of junk in it. As a result, many supermarkets have gone about formulating foods that are devoid of commonly-recognized baddies such as saturated fat (sigh), salt, added sugar, and artificial additives. However, I was interested to read that here in the U.K., the Wal-Mart-owned supermarket chain Asda has explicitly named aspartame is a list of "nasties," and it has set about removing from it's "Good for You" range of foods.;)
Such a move was not going to go unnoticed by aspartame's manufacturers, of course. It turns out the Ajinomoto, the Japanese company that makes aspartame, has served a writ in London against Asda, and is suing on the basis that Asda has suggested that aspartame is unhealthy and is something that consumers concerned for their health should avoid.:eek:
An Ajinomoto spokesperson is quoted as saying: "This is a UK initiative and a relatively cynical one," adding: "It doesn't reflect concerns at a consumer level—it is just bandwagoning." However, an Asda spokesperson maintains that: "We have removed some of the ingredients our customers tell us they don't want in their food. That includes aspartame."
So, what we have here is an example of where what seems to be well-guided consumer pressure has led to a major supermarket chain to take action over a very dubious food ingredient indeed. This, I think, is an example of people power, and I am, personally, hugely enthusiastic about this turn of events.YEAH ME TOO:D
Now that a writ has been served, my hope is that Asda does not capitulate and "do a deal" with Ajinomoto. Ajinomoto's lawyers are notorious aggressive. (I've had personal experience of this myself as I've had exchanges with over what I believe to be factually correct and utterly defensible comments in the Observer magazine some years ago). However, now that a writ has been served, my suspicion is any attempts for a deal to be done have failed. So, it looks as though we're heading for a full-blown battle."
Nifty:cool:
Quote:
"Yet, right from the beginning, there has been plenty of evidence that aspartame has the capacity to cause harm. And there is, as I've highlighted before, evidence of considerable bias in this area: while industry-funded research invariably finds in favor of aspartame, independently-funded work almost always comes to the opposite conclusion. These things, and the fact that anecdotal reports of aspartame toxicity are easy to find, means that aspartame continues to be viewed with suspicion by many.
It seems that at long, long last, this skepticism in the general public has filtered through to food retailers. Generally speaking, supermarket chains give customers what they want. There has been growing awareness quite recently here in the U.K. that a lot of food has a lot of junk in it. As a result, many supermarkets have gone about formulating foods that are devoid of commonly-recognized baddies such as saturated fat (sigh), salt, added sugar, and artificial additives. However, I was interested to read that here in the U.K., the Wal-Mart-owned supermarket chain Asda has explicitly named aspartame is a list of "nasties," and it has set about removing from it's "Good for You" range of foods.;)
Such a move was not going to go unnoticed by aspartame's manufacturers, of course. It turns out the Ajinomoto, the Japanese company that makes aspartame, has served a writ in London against Asda, and is suing on the basis that Asda has suggested that aspartame is unhealthy and is something that consumers concerned for their health should avoid.:eek:
An Ajinomoto spokesperson is quoted as saying: "This is a UK initiative and a relatively cynical one," adding: "It doesn't reflect concerns at a consumer level—it is just bandwagoning." However, an Asda spokesperson maintains that: "We have removed some of the ingredients our customers tell us they don't want in their food. That includes aspartame."
So, what we have here is an example of where what seems to be well-guided consumer pressure has led to a major supermarket chain to take action over a very dubious food ingredient indeed. This, I think, is an example of people power, and I am, personally, hugely enthusiastic about this turn of events.YEAH ME TOO:D
Now that a writ has been served, my hope is that Asda does not capitulate and "do a deal" with Ajinomoto. Ajinomoto's lawyers are notorious aggressive. (I've had personal experience of this myself as I've had exchanges with over what I believe to be factually correct and utterly defensible comments in the Observer magazine some years ago). However, now that a writ has been served, my suspicion is any attempts for a deal to be done have failed. So, it looks as though we're heading for a full-blown battle."
Nifty:cool: