Article on Aspartame

Written by Adam Bronfin

Here is a great article about the effects of a specific drug, Aspartame, in foods we eat everyday. Its great for our topic because the chemistry is a key focus in the article. Specifically the releasing of methanol in canned food is analyzed. "At room temperature, it only takes one month for 10 percent of the methanol to be released. After about six months, virtually all of the methanol is liberated." The article also keeps the ideas relevent to normal life because it gives advice on how to keep the methanol in your body from turning into the more dangerous Formaldeyde, a cause of chronic diseases like multiple sclerosis and Alzheimers. Whats interesting about this, is that methyl alcohol reacts differently with animals metabolisms than with humans, so lab studies are difficult to do. Furthermore, the article gives the practical uses of Aspartame, its uses as a sweetener and just how prominent it is in our food, especially processed food.