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Hawaii Senate Hearing on Aspartame

Further news on attempts to ban Aspartame in Hawaii. Hearing in the state Senate scheduled for Monday!

From Stephen Fox:

THIS AFTERNOON, Thursday, I am happy to report that Sen. David Ige, Majority Floor Leader and Chairman Hawaii Senate Health Committee, came to realize the merit in scheduling a hearing for Senate Bill 2506, to ban aspartame in Hawaii. This was against all odds, because Rep. Josh Green, M.D., Chairman of the House Health Committee, “deferred” hearing the bill, thus killing the House Bill, carried by Rep. Mele Carroll.

Stephen Fox
Managing Editor, Santa Fe Sun News
stephen@santafefineart.com
______________________________________________
These are the 5 members of the Hawaii Senate Health Committee with their contact information. It is vital that physicians and victims of aspartame poisoning contact these five Senators as soon as possible by email and by telephone, as well as sending their official testimonial letters to:

Testimony@capitol.hawaii.gov
It must say this at the top of the Email, in the subject: SB2506 Ban Aspartame, hearing in Senate Health, Room 16; 1:15 PM, 2/25

For those coming to testify in person, email to:
HTHInPerson@capitol.hawaii.gov

____________________

David Y. Ige

————————
16th Senatorial District
Hawaii State Capitol, Room 215
415 South Beretania Street
Honolulu, HI 96813
phone 808-586-6230; fax 808-586-6231
sendige@Capitol.hawaii.gov

________________________

Carol Fukunaga

———————-
11th Senatorial District
Hawaii State Capitol, Room 216
415 South Beretania Street
Honolulu, HI 96813
phone 808-586-6890; fax 808-586-6899
e-mail: senfukunaga@Capitol.hawaii.gov

__________________________

Rosalyn H. Baker

————————-
5th Senatorial District
Hawaii State Capitol, Room 210
415 South Beretania Street
Honolulu, HI 96813
phone 808-586-6070; fax 808-586-6071
>From Maui, toll free 984-2400 + 66070
e-mail senbaker@Capitol.hawaii.gov

________________________________

Ron Menor

——————
17th Senatorial District
Hawaii State Capitol, Room 208
415 South Beretania Street
Honolulu, HI 96813
phone 808-586-6740; fax 808-586-6829
e-mail senmenor@Capitol.hawaii.gov

________________________________

Paul Whalen

—————–
3rd Senatorial District
Hawaii State Capitol, Room 223
415 South Beretania Street
Honolulu, HI 96813
phone 808-586-9385; fax 808-586-9391
From the Big Island,
toll free 974-4000 + 69385
e-mail senwhalen@Capitol.hawaii.gov

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Our Daily Bread

Misshawthorn at Mustardplaster posted a few days ago about this film.  Indeed as she says, if you still have any romantic notions about where our food comes from, they will be gone after watching this film.  It’s rare, and not at all pretty, to get a glimpse inside the inner workings of factory farms in this way.  Mostly cameras, journalists and film makers are not welcome.

If you have a strong stomach and are interested in the truth about your food, this is a film not to be missed.

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Hawaii Aspartame Bill Update

House Bill 2680 and Senate Bill 2506 are now being considered by the Hawaiian legislature. Both these bills must clear their respective health committees, and your help is needed!

The New Mexican attempts to ban aspartame failed because the bills died in committee.

Regardless of who you are, or where you live, consider sending the Hawaiian congresspeople an email, calling them or doing both. I’ll make some suggestions here on how to write an email and what to say. The most important thing is this has to be done quickly! I’m already several days late in making this post, decisions on these bills could be made at any minute, and almost certainly by the end of the week. Your email can be as long as you want, but a couple of sentences is enough if that’s all you want to say.

For everyone reading this who lives outside of Hawaii, let’s let the Hawaiian legislature know people all around the world are watching them!

Instead of saying ‘Hi’, ‘Dear’ or whatever, you should precede the name of the congressperson with ‘To The Honorable …’, possibly including their title and position, followed by a comma or colon. For example, ‘To The Honorable Senator David Y. Ige Chairman of Senate Health Committee:’ or shortened to ‘To The Honorable David Y. Ige:’.

Within the first few sentences of your email you should state your position clearly. For example, ‘I am writing to urge your support of Senate Bill 2506’ or ‘I ask you to please put your support behind recent measures to ban the food additive aspartame in the state of Hawaii’.

After this you should write something personal. You might include some of the following:

  • You or someone you know has been poisoned by aspartame.
  • The US Food and Drug Administration approval of the additive was a failure, and illegal.
  • Cover ups or apparent cover ups of scientific studies which show aspartame has killed laboratory rats and causes cancer.
  • Among other chemicals aspartame is metabolised to methyl alcohol and formaldehyde, a known neurotoxin and carcinogen. These have no place in our food supply regardless of level of concentration.
  • People are being misled by advertising campaigns that suggest there are health benefits to aspartame, when if fact these do not exist. In particular there is no truth to the idea that it helps you lose weight.
  • The list of known or suspected health problems is very long and complicated, and rather than waiting for these health problems to be painstakingly proved one at a time, it should be the responsibility of the aspartame manufactures to prove their product is safe, something they have not done. In the meantime, it should not remain on the market.

Feel free to add to this list with your own research, it’s easy to find a lot of information on the Internet on this subject. There are several posts on this blog to read through.

Finally be sure to include something about yourself and where you live.

Make sure to be polite in your email! Never make any personal attacks against a person or company. Also be sure to emphasise health concerns for Hawaiians, after all this is a measure intended to protect their health.

Thanks for caring about this, and remember please be prompt!

—————–

SENATE:

David Y. Ige Chairman of Senate Health Committee
16th Senatorial District
Hawaii State Capitol, Room 215
415 South Beretania Street
Honolulu, HI 96813
phone 808-586-6230; fax 808-586-6231
E-mail sendige@Capitol.hawaii.gov

Carol Fukunaga, Senator, Vice Chair
11th Senatorial District
Hawaii State Capitol, Room 216
415 South Beretania Street
Honolulu, HI 96813
phone 808-586-6890; fax 808-586-6899
e-mail: senfukunaga@Capitol.hawaii.gov

HOUSE HEALTH COMMITTEE:

Josh Green, M.D., Chair
6th Representative District
Hawaii State Capitol, Room 327
415 South Beretania Street
Honolulu, HI 96813
phone 808-586-9605; fax 808-586-9608
From the Big Island, toll free 974-4000 + 69605
E-mail repgreen@Capitol.hawaii.gov

John Mizuno, Vice Chair
30th Representative District
Hawaii State Capitol, Room 436
415 South Beretania Street
Honolulu, HI 96813
phone 808-586-6050; fax 808-586-6051
E-mail repmizuno@Capitol.hawaii.gov

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Hawaii Proposes Aspartame Ban

Following a 2006/2007 attempt in New Mexico, a bill to ban aspartame is being proposed in Hawaii.

Regular readers of this blog know that while aspartame sweetener itself does not contain any GM material, it is made with the assistance of genetically modified microorganisms and the expired patent was formally owned by Monsanto.

Aspartame is metabolized by the body into products known to be carcinogenic and neurotoxins; it has no discernable health benefits, and is known to make you crave carbohydrates possibly leading to weight gain; it is known to destabilize diabetes and other medical conditions.

Aspartame is very important economically because it is sold at the same or higher price than sugar, but manufacturing and distribution costs are a tiny fraction compared to sugar. Advertising campaigns are amazingly similar to tobacco, with names like zero, diet, light and sugar-free, often displaying athletes or other healthy or attractive people, suggesting health benefits without making any direct health claims.

The failed attempt in New Mexico came in the wake of massive corporate lobbying from all directions, from soft drink giants to food and chemical giants.

A number of prominent health professionals in New Mexico made compelling public statements supporting the proposal, like HJ Roberts, Internist; Russell Blaylock, Neurosurgeon; and Ralph Walton, Psychiatry. Details can be found by entering these names into an Internet search engine such as Google or Yahoo.

The battle in Hawaii looks set to be a fierce one, and unfortunately the local press seems to be ignoring it. Most of the attention has been from New Mexico’s press. The stakes are high for all of us, and after all the issue is not making aspartame products unavailable, because they could still be imported informally from other states or prescribed by doctors. What’s at stake is the freedom of choice, because passage of this bill would mean alternatives to aspartame would be more readily available to Hawaiians.

This is a battle we should all be watching and supporting. If you have contact with friends, media or health professionals in Hawaii, please ask them to help. Success or failure in Hawaii could could have ramifications felt all over the world. Even if the bill in Hawaii doesn’t pass, benefits can be had if world attention is drawn to the debate, so be sure to spread the word.