The Nation : NutraSweet Ban Rejected

The Food and Drug Administration rejected a petition to ban NutraSweet, dismissing a consumer group’s concerns that the artificial sweetener might cause seizures or eye problems. The Consumer Nutrition Institute had argued that epileptic seizures suffered by more than 80 NutraSweet users provided enough evidence to remove the product pending further tests. It later cited more than 60 people who reported eye damage after consuming products made with the sweetener, known generically as aspartame. But the FDA said the cases showed no consistent association with NutraSweet.