I got this letter from a friend whose Hubby works for the FDA. He got it in HIS e-mail. I am sending it to my Dad, who loves his Diet Coke, and has developed a LOT of the symtoms that the author speaks about in her lecture. I begged my Dad to get off the stuff, and thought you might like to read it, too. Maybe you have read it before, but it was news to me!!!!

Subject: READ VERY IMPORTANT!!!! ASPARTAME ('NutraSweet,' 'Equal,' and 'Spoonful.')

WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE and the MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS FOUNDATION: FDA ISSUING FOR COLLUSION WITH MONSANTO

Article written by Nancy Markle (1120197)

I have spent several days lecturing at the WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE on "ASPARTAME marketed as 'NutraSweet,' 'Equal,' and 'Spoonful.' In the keynote address by the EPA, they announced that there was an epidemic of multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus, and they did not understand what toxin was causing this to be rampant across the United States. I explained that I was there to lecture on exactly that subject.

When the temperature of Aspartame exceeds 86 degrees F, the wood alcohol in ASPARTAME converts to formaldehyde and then to formic acid, which in turn causes metabolic acidosis. (Formic acid is the poison found in the sting of fire ants.) The methanol toxicity mimics multiple sclerosis; thus people were being diagnosed with having multiple sclerosis in error.

The multiple sclerosis is not a death sentence, where methanol toxicity is. In the case of systemic lupus, we are finding it has become almost as rampant as multiple sclerosis, especially with Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi drinkers. Also, with methanol toxicity, the victims usually drink three to four 12oz cans of them per day, some even more. In the cases of systemic lupus, which is triggered by ASPARTAME, the victim usually does not know that the aspartame is the culprit. The victim continues its use aggravating the lupus to such a degree, that sometimes it becomes life threatening. When we get people off the aspartame, those with systemic lupus usually become symptomatic.

Unfortunately, we cannot reverse this disease. On the other hand, in the case of those diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, (when in reality, the disease is methanol toxicity), most of the symptoms disappear. We have seen cases where their vision has returned and even their hearing has returned. This also applies to cases of tinnitus.

During a lecture I said "If you are using ASPARTAME (NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc.) and you suffer from fibromyalgia symptoms, spasms, shooting pains, numbness in your legs, cramps, vertigo, dizziness, headaches, tinnitus, joint pain, depression, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, blurred vision, or memory loss-you probably have ASPARTAME DISEASE!"

People were jumping up during the lecture saying, "I've got this, is it reversible?" It is rampant. Some of the speakers at my lecture even were suffering from these symptoms. In one lecture attended by the Ambassador of Uganda, he told us that their sugar industry is adding aspartame! He continued by saying that one of the industry leader's son could no longer walk due in part by product usage!

We have a very serious problem. Even a stranger came up to Dr. Espisto (one of my speakers) and myself and said, 'Could you tell me why so many people seem to be coming down with MS? During a visit to a hospice, a nurse said that six of her friends, who were heavy Diet Coke addicts, had all been diagnosed with MS. This is beyond coincidence.

Here is the problem. There were Congressional Hearings when aspartame was included in 100 different products. Since this initial hearing, there have been two subsequent hearings, but to no avail. Nothing has been done.

The drug and chemical lobbies have very deep pockets. Now there are over 5,000 products containing this chemical, and the PATENT HAS EXPIRED!

At the time of this first hearing, people were going blind. The methanol In the aspartame converts to formaldehyde in the retina of the eye. Formaldehyde is grouped in the same class of drugs as cyanide and arsenic - DEADLY POISONS!!! Unfortunately, it just takes longer to quietly kill, but it is killing people and causing all kinds of neurological problems.

Aspartame changes the brain's chemistry. It is the reason for severe seizures. This drug changes the dopamine level in the brain. Imagine what this drug does to patients suffering from Parkinson's Disease. This drug also causes Birth Defects. There is absolutely no reason to take this product. It is NOT A DIET PRODUCT!!! The Congressional record said, "It makes you crave carbohydrates and will make you FAT." Dr. Roberts stated that when he got patients off aspartame, their average weight loss was 19 pounds per person. The formaldehyde stores in the fat cells, particularly in the hips and thighs.

Aspartame is especially deadly for diabetics. All physicians know what wood alcohol will do to a diabetic. We find that physicians believe that they have patients with retinopathy, when in fact, it is caused by the aspartame. The aspartame keeps the blood sugar level out of control, causing many patients to go into a coma. Unfortunately, many have died. People were telling us at the Conference of the American College of Physicians, that they had relatives that switched from saccharin to an aspartame product and how that relative had eventually gone into a coma.

Their physicians could not get the blood sugar levels under control. Thus, the patients suffered acute memory loss and eventually coma and death.

Memory loss is due to the fact that aspartic acid and phenylalanine are neurotoxic without the other amino acids found in protein. Thus it goes past the blood brain barrier and deteriorates the neurons of the brain.

Dr. Russell Blaylock, neurosurgeon, said, "The ingredients stimulate the neurons of the brain to death, causing brain damage of varying degrees. Dr. Blaylock has written a book entitled EXCITOTOXINS: THE TASTE THAT KILLS (Health Press 1-800-643-2665). Dr. H.J. Roberts, diabetic specialist and world expert on aspartame poisoning, has also written a book entitled DEFENSE AGAINST ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE (1-800-814-9800).

Dr. Roberts tells how aspartame poisoning is escalating Alzheimer's Disease, and indeed it is. As the hospice nurse told me, women are being admitted at 30 years of age with Alzheimer's Disease. Dr. Blaylock and Dr. Roberts will be writing a position paper with some case histories and will post it on the Internet. According to the Conference of the American College of Physicians, "We are talking about a plague of neurological diseases caused by this deadly poison."

Dr. Roberts realized what was happening when aspartame was first marketed. He said, "his diabetic patients presented memory loss, confusion, and severe vision loss." At the Conference of the American College of Physicians, doctors admitted that they did not know. They had wondered why seizures were rampant (the phenylalanine in aspartame breaks down the seizure threshold and depletes serotonin, which causes manic depression, panic attacks, rage and violence).

Just before the Conference, I received a FAX from Norway, asking for a possible antidote for this poison because they are experiencing so many problems in their country. This "poison" is now available in 90 PLUS countries worldwide. Fortunately, we had speakers and ambassadors at the Conference from different nations who have pledged their help. We ask that you help too. Print this article out and warn everyone you know. Take anything that contains aspartame back to the store. Take the "NO ASPARTAME TEST" and send us your case history.

I assure you that MONSANTO, the creator of aspartame, knows how deadly it is. They fund the American Diabetes Association, American Dietetic Association, Congress, and the Conference of the American College of Physicians. The New York Times, on November 15, 1996, ran an article on How the American Dietetic Association takes money from the food industry to endorse their products.

Therefore, they cannot criticize any additives or tell about their link to MONSANTO. How bad is this? We told a mother who had a child on NutraSweet to get off the product. The child was having grand mal seizures every day. The mother called her physician, who called the ADA, who told the doctor not to take the child off the NutraSweet. We are still trying to convince the mother that the aspartame is causing the seizures. Every time we get someone off of aspartame, the seizures stop. If the baby dies, you know whose fault it is, and what we are up against. There are 92 documented symptoms of aspartame, from coma to death. The majority of them are all neurological, because the aspartame destroys the nervous system.

Aspartame Disease is partially the cause to what is behind some of the mystery of the Desert Storm health problems (Gulf War Syndrome). The burning tongue and other problems discussed in over 60 cases can be directly related to the consumption of an aspartame product. Several thousand pallets of diet drinks were shipped to the Desert Storm troops. (Remember heat can liberate the methanol from the aspartame at 86 degrees F.) Diet drinks sat in the 120-degree F. Arabian sun for weeks at a time on pallets. The service vice men and women drank them all day long. All of their symptoms are identical to aspartame poisoning. Dr. Roberts says "consuming aspartame at the time of conception can cause birth defects." The phenylalanine concentrates in the placenta, causing mental retardation, according to Dr. Louis Elsas, Pediatrician Professor-Genetics, at Emory University in his testimony before Congress.

In the original lab tests, animals developed brain tumors (phenylalanine breaks down into DXP, a brain tumor agent). When Dr. Espisto was lecturing on aspartame, one physician in the audience, a neurosurgeon, said, "when they remove brain tumors, they have found high levels of Aspartame in them."

Stevia, a sweet herb, NOT AN ADDITIVE, which helps in the metabolism of sugar, which would be ideal for diabetics, has now been approved as a dietary supplement by the F.D.A. For years, the F.D.A. has outlawed this sweet food because of their loyalty to MONSANTO.

If it says "SUGAR FREE" on the label-DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!!!!!!

Senator Howard Hetzenbaum wrote a bill that would have warned all infants, pregnant mothers and children of the dangers of aspartame. The bill would have also instituted independent studies on the problems existing in the population (seizures, changes in brain chemistry, changes in neurological and behavioral symptoms). It was killed by the powerful drug and chemical lobbies, letting loose the hounds of disease and death on an unsuspecting public. Since the Conference of the American College of Physicians, we hope to have the help of some world leaders.

Again, please help us too. There are a lot of people out there who must be warned, *please* let them know this information. You might want to print it out and hand it out or fax it to people who are not online. Young people drink a lot of diet coke.

Sherry Montgomery Proctor

-- Leann Banta (thelionandlamb@hotmail.com), January 16, 2001

Answers

I can contest to some of this .It gives me migranes and makes me very cranky .I will not touch anything with artifical sweetners.

-- Patty (fodfarms@slic.com), January 16, 2001.

I learned years ago that Nutrasweet was the main reason kids were getting ADD and ADHD. I spent years in the store looking at labels on the food, and going bonkers trying to find things that had non of it in them. It's in everything. Artificial everything. Remember the commercial when it first came out how it was made from bannanas and milk? It's not. And none of this suprises me. Our bodies were not made to break down chemicals.

-- Cindy in Ky (solidrockranch@msn.com), January 16, 2001.

I have not been able to use Nutri sweet.Gives me allergy-like symptoms.After I had read the above a little while back,I finally convinced Nick to give it up.He's diabetic so that was a hard sell.He is using stevia now.

So I too concur.

-- sharon wt (wildflower@ekyol.com), January 16, 2001.

I've been avoiding aspartame forever...I knew it was a loser. Been a stevie person every since!

Get more in-depth info at

http://www.nancymarkle.com/betty/betty.html

-- Jason (AJAMA5@netscape.net), January 16, 2001.

I've been avoiding aspartame forever...I knew it was a loser. Been a stevia person every since!

Get more in-depth info at

http://www.nancymarkle.com/betty/betty.html

-- Jason (AJAMA5@netscape.net), January 16, 2001.

As of now,I'm off it! Husband has had some of the symptoms-leg and joint pain, etc. Drinks 4 or 5 cups of coffee daily with the stuff in it. Now I have to convince him to give it up! Jan

-- Jan in Colorado (Janice12@aol.com), January 16, 2001.

What is stevia?

-- DW (djwallace@ctos.com), January 16, 2001.

DW asked my question! I have never heard of it.

-- Shau Marie (shau@centurytel.net), January 17, 2001.

On a related note, I've heard that the FDA is quietly relaxing the rules on labeling of products that contain Saccarine.

It turns out that the toxicity tests were way out of whack, the equivilant dose would have been of a human drinking a hundred cans or more of diet soft drinks a day. The same dosage of straight sugar would have killed the test animals.

-- Dave (Ak) (daveh@ecosse.net), January 17, 2001.

I have not used NutraSweet since when it first came out because I noticed right away that it gave me headaches. Now, if we could just convince people to stop pumping chemicals in their bodies by using over the counter medications. Cold and flu medicines do nothing to cure them. They just suppress the symptoms which is not good for your body. A runny nose is your body's way of getting rid of the virus. If you dry up your nose with meds, then you are preventing your body from getting rid of the virus. Just get out the box of tissues and live with it. Your body will be a whole lot better off for it.

-- Colleen (pyramidgreatdanes@erols.com), January 17, 2001.

Stevia is an herb that is many times sweeter than sugar. We carried a few plants of it at the nusery where I work and it sold out in just a couple of days. I had meant to take cuttings but it all went before I got the chance. It is supposed to be available at well- stocked health food stores. I've also seen the seeds or plants available in several seed catalogs, including Park Seed. We tried a pinch of stevia leaf at the nursery and did find it to be very sweet, but I think I read somewhere that it does not stand up to cooking, so would need to be used fresh. Anyone else know more? I'm another one who gets migraines from aspartame.

-- melina b. (goatgalmjb1@hotmail.com), January 17, 2001.

Oh man...I like my Equal...am also very interested in this stevia and will be looking for it..I have never heard of it. Unbelievable the things I learn in here.

-- Lynn (mscratch@semo.net), January 17, 2001.

I got some Streeva from our local co-op, and the package says that you can use it in cooking. I use it in hot tea, and haven't really noticed any side effects, other than perhaps a slight laxative effect. It is OK...sweet, but a different kind of sweet than sugar. It is worth a try.

-- Leann Banta (thelionandlamb@hotmail.com), January 17, 2001.

Wooo, is Sweet n low bad too? I have been using those little pink packages for a long time. It said that it has sacharine I know is bad for you, but what in the world is Nutritive Dextrose? That is the first thing on the ingredients list. Never looked before. Honey is sounding lots better to me now!!!!!!

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), January 17, 2001.

Re Stevia: I believe Territorial Seed Company (www.territorial- seed.com) has plants, but I can't verify it because the site's not available just now.

I tried the dried, powdered leaf at the health food co-op, and it was VERY sweet, but pretty herbal tasting, too. They also had an extract in powder and liquid form. I tried the powder. Incredibly sweet and no aftertaste. And it DOES hold up to heat, unlike aspartame. You can get pure stevia extract powder, or you can get stevia cut with dextrose or something of that ilk. They cut it to make it easier to handle. The recommended conversion is something like one-third teaspoon of powder is equal to one cup of sugar, so measuring out just enough for a cup of coffee is kind of a challenge.

We studied about how aspartame converts to methanol in my organic chemistry and I've been preaching against the stuff ever since. So far, my diabetic MIL has been resistant, but I think maybe I'll just copy the above article and send it to her. Hope it works!

-- Laura Jensen (lauraj@seedlaw.com), January 17, 2001.

I believe aspartame's neurtoxicity has been known for a while. I wonder if it destroys the myelin sheath of neurons, which would possibly explain its role in multiple sclerosis. I stay away from the stuff. It's poison.

-- Amy (acook@in4web.com), January 17, 2001.

Sorry to disappoint you, but this email is an internet hoax that has been floating around since at least 1995. There is no such person as Nancy Markle, and the conference listed here doesn't exist either. While there is some evidence that aspartame causes headaches in some people, there is absolutely no clinical evidence that it causes MS, Lupus, or any of the other conditions mentioned in this article.

For more info check the archives at www.urbanlegends.miningco.com

Sherri in IN

-- Sherri C (CeltiaSkye@aol.com), January 17, 2001.

I don't know about the nutritive part, probably some part of labelling regulations. However, dextrose is sugar. Period. Probably there is a small amount in the Sweet 'n' Low to make it more palatable. I think saccharin is quite bitter. I don't believe saccharin or cyclamates are very good for anyone, but aspartame is probably worse.

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), January 17, 2001.

Hoax or not, I think that honey is sounding great. Molasses anyone? I think I will give up those little pink packets for good. I hope that I don't have withdrawals?!!!!! HaHa!

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), January 17, 2001.

Sherri I looked in urban legends but nothing on aspartame.

-- Kenneth in N.C. (wizardsplace13@hotmail.com), January 17, 2001.

found this after a lenghty web search.

http://www.HolisticMed.com/aspartame/

at this site there are 5 pages of testimonials to the adverse affect of aspartame.

-- Kenneth in N.C. (wizardsplace13@hotmail.com), January 17, 2001.

I couldn't find any reference to aspartame or NutraSweet at the URL Sherri cited either. So I checked Snopes, which IMO is the best for checking out urban legends. They list this as a "false", but then hedge their bets with a disclaimer at the bottom. Mostly what they are debunking is that this article was written by anyone credible. If you want to read it for yourself, go to: http://www.snopes.com/info/search and put in either aspartame or NutraSweet.

"Phenylketonuria , PKU, is an inherited disease characterized by the body's inability to properly metabolize phenylalanine. Normally the enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase breaks down phenylalanine. In about one in 16,000 infants, this enzyme is missing. The chief symptom of the disorder is mental retardation. Other neurological symptoms include seizures and psychotic episodes. A child with PKU is likely to have lighter hair and lighter skin than other family members."

This disorder runs in families. My best friend's family has a member who has it. She can't have NutraSweet at all, and even though my friend doesn't have the disorder herself (according to testing), she doesn't tolerate NutraSweet at all. I believe it's likely that far more are sensitive than is officially recognized yet. I used to use it. I decided to err on the side of safety and not use it!

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), January 17, 2001.

Aspartame gives me blinding, white light headaches. I woman I know had 2 children, both of whom had seizures. Doctor told her to throw away everything that had artificial sweeteners in it, particularly aspartame, and kid wouldn't have seizures. She did. No seizures. They stopped immediately. I don't need any more proof.

-- (animalfarm@address.com), January 18, 2001.

I worked for a respected doctor for over 17 years when we lived outside of Cleveland, OH, and he was wondering 10 years ago why suddenly there are so many cases of brain cancer? Brain cancer USED to be extremely rare, now people are dying from it left and right, three people he knew personally as friends!

My computer geek brother warned me about aspartame 20 years ago, or whenever it hit the market, stay away from it, it's poison in a blue packet, and ought to be labeled as such!

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), January 18, 2001.

I tried nutra sweet when it first came out..It gave me the same symptoms as having a bladder infection.. I've tried it a few times sence and had the same problem...Doris

-- Doris Richards (dorisquilts@webtv.net), January 18, 2001.

Never have used the stuff. Got my brother and hubby to give it up because I had heard of the brain tumor problem also. They were drinking lots of diet drinks so they wouldn't gain weight. I'd rather have a chubby hubby than a dead one. Scary stuff.

-- Annie (mistletoe@earthlink.net), January 18, 2001.

Ouch. I've been consuming diet pepsi since about 1989. I've probably got enough aspartame in me to kill most people. Rarely have headaches. The other symptoms haven't experienced them either. Only one that may fit profile is out of control diabetes. Hmmm may do an experiment and see over a period of say 14 days if it makes a difference. But how could it be a fair test. If you replace soda with water you should see a difference ...right?

-- Kenneth in N.C. (wizardsplace13@hotmail.com), January 18, 2001.

Kenneth, that may depend on the soda. If its a cola, or has caffeine in it, you may suffer caffeine withdrawal giving up the soda. In that case, you would have to get your caffeine elsewhere in order to do the "test" effectively.

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), January 18, 2001.

JOY

I have been drinking Diet Caffeine Free Pepsi, Diet Mtn. Dew, Diet Sundrop, Diet Cheerwine and ALDI's diet cola. My family doctor said "diet" drinks were ok and shouldn't affect my sugar.

Guess Orange Juice (unsweetend), Water, Skim Milk and Cool-aid will become the drinks of the day. :o)

-- Kenneth in N.C. (wizardsplace13@hotmail.com), January 19, 2001.

Sorry, I've been away from my computer for a couple of days and didn't realize that folks were having problems with the URL I posted. This should take you directly to the story about Nutrasweet.

http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/science/urbanlegends/library/blasp.ht m

I have been drinking Diet Mt. Dew ever since it was invented (I lived in an area that was a test market for the product before it was released to the general public). So far I have suffered no ill effects. But IMO most folks drink too much soda of any type, and we all would be better off if we stuck to more natural products.

As for the whole Monsanto/FDA conspiracy theory, I believe that the patent on NutraSweet expired a few years ago. That's why you can now find aspartame in brand names other that NutraSweet. If Monsanto and the FDA were really in cahoots, Monsanto would have the FDA ban aspartame in order to eliminate the competition, then they would come out with a "new" sweetener that would have patent protection. Just my theory. Sherri in IN

-- Sherri C (CeltiaSkye@aol.com), January 19, 2001.

Don't know about the "urban legend" stuff but did read about the tumors and headaches in a Mayo clinic newsletter years ago. It stated that aprox 10% of the test group had neg reactions which included the brain tumors and headaches. They recommended that pregnant women, children under eight yrs of age, and anyone with a history of haedaches not use the product. Wish I could remember more but I'm sure if anyone wants more info they could find the article by digging through the Mayo clinic newsletter arcives. I haven't used it or allowed my family to use it since reading the article.

By the way, we were in that small pecentage that got headaches. Thats why we were given the article to read.

-- Nancy Bakke-McGonigle Mn. Sunset (dmcgonig@smig.net), January 19, 2001.

I haven't read all this, so someone might have mentioned it. Diet drinks have lots of sodium in them. And just because the effects haven't shown up yet, doean't mean they won't Natural sweetners are best and limited takes some discipline. When you start doing natural foods, you eventually fall into what's best for you. At least that's been my case. Everything evens out in the long run.

-- Cindy (SE IN.) (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), January 21, 2001.

Ken, Mt Dew has caffine in it. You should try drinking green tea. It has some great health qualities and should take care of any caffine cravings you may have.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), January 21, 2001.

Hi Dee, Guess I should have said Diet Caffeine Free Mtn. Dew. WEll the last 5 days have been interesting. I swapped over to Orange Juice (unsweetened) some regular soda mixed 1/2 soda 1/2 water blended with 6 cubes ice. My sugar seems to be taking off like a rocket. Haven't had any positive effects to say conclusively that aspartame is bad for me.

-- Kenneth in N.C. (wizardsplace13@hotmail.com), January 23, 2001.

I know this is coming in late, but I finally found the following again in my saved files. It's a post to a different list, made by a close friend of mine (and used with her permission), that has additional information regarding health risks of using aspartame. She wants me to mention that these are her personal experiences and that she is not a health care professional.

"While I can't comment on the effect aspartame has on MS, diabetics, etc., as a member of a family that has been affected by phenylketonuria, I try to avoid it.

Phenylalanine is an essential amino acid (essential because it cannot be manufactured by the body) that is in aspartame. Phenylalanine has a special role in the production of dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine, three chemical messengers that aid in transmitting signals through the nervous system. There is a certain portion of the population that have genetic deficiencies that affect the ability to produce the enzyme necessary for processing phenylalanine. When two carriers (parents) get together, it's the old genetic crap shoot as to whether their children will end up being normal, carriers, or phenylketonurics [PKU's]. At toxic levels, phenylalanine produces brain/neurological damage. For more specifics, visit http://205.178.182.34/about/intro.htm

My oldest sister was born prior to the "discovery" of the condition and is severely retarded. My family was one of the study families upon which Dr. Harry Waisman (of the UW Madison Waisman Center) built his research. While I am under the impression that there is more reliable genetic testing for it now, in the early days it was a metabolic test. We were given loading doses of phenylalanine, and then blood levels were tested at intervals--and guess what? It tasted really good, so sweet. I remember at the time the nurses talked about using it as a sweetener. My sisters who are carriers get headaches and feel out of sorts when they eat anything with aspartame. I was the only child in the original research under puberty. Because of my age it was suggested that I repeat the testing after reaching adulthood and prior to childbearing.

Most babies are tested at birth for phenylketonuria--only problem is that the newborn hasn't received any proteins to process themselves yet, so the usefulness of the test is suspect (although the testing may have improved since the days I was paying close attention). The treatment for it is dietary. Depending on the level of deficiency, the diet can be fairly broad or very limiting (a bit like diabetics) and changes through out your life as your metabolism changes. PKU's seem to have a high incidence of other allergies, particularly food related. I remember from my genetic counseling that researchers speculate that this may have been one of the conditions for mysterious infant deaths and "failure to thrive" conditions documented in early medical documents. One of my grandmothers had two infants die within a few months--the "sickly babies". My sister may have survived because my mother paid a great deal of attention to her care and would eliminate foods that made my sister fussy or sick.

My thoughts are that while the human race was provided with the genetic information to process refined nutrients like phenylalanine/aspartame, it wasn't intended to be taken in the loading doses that products like NutraSweet give it in. PKU is very prevelant amoung those of European hertitage--but I don't know the most recent guesstimate. I'd recommend avoiding it just on general logic, or use it in moderation--which is probably a good rule for any refined substance."

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), January 31, 2001.