NEW AND IMPROVED ASPARTAME: NEOTAME

[Sara Klein Ridgley, PhD]

Get ready for a wild and wacky ride...
U.S. FDA approves new, superstrong sweetener

Friday July 5, 4:54 PM EDT

WASHINGTON, July 5 (Reuters) - U.S. health officials said Friday they
approved a new sweetener, neotame, that is about 7,000 to 13,000 times
sweeter than sugar.

The Food and Drug Administration said neotame, a water soluble, white
crystalline powder, can be used as a tabletop sweetener as well as in
cooking and food processing.

The agency approved neotame for use in a variety of food products
including baked goods, soft drinks, chewing gum, jams and jellies and
processed fruits and fruit juices.

Neotame is made by privately held NutraSweet Company of Mount Prospect,
Illinois, the firm that makes the artificial sweetener NutraSweet, or
aspartame. Neotame is about 20 to 30 times sweeter than aspartame,
depending upon its application, FDA spokeswoman Carrie Ainsworth-Wright
said.



The FDA said it reviewed data on neotame from more than 113 animal and
human studies that were designed to look for cancer-causing,
reproductive or neurological effects.

"From its evaluation of the neotame database, the FDA was able to
conclude that neotame is safe for human consumption," the agency said in
a statement.

Monsanto Co. (MON) owned NutraSweet until 2000, when the sweetener
business was sold to a private equity firm. Monsanto is a unit of
Pharmacia Corp. (PHA) (PHA)

©2002 Reuters Limited.