Ain't That How All Those Hillbillies Went Blind?

There's some good news for Aspartame users. However cancer worries are not its biggest problem. Aspartame when ingested or heated is unstable and one of the breakdown products is methanol, a well known neurotoxin. It doesn'’t have to be ingested either, when exposed to temperatures above 86°F Aspartame will release methanol spontaneously. Methanol when consumed is a dangerous poison. There are even those who believe cargo loads of Diet Coke sitting in the sun during Desert Storm is responsible for Gulf War Syndrome.

Once produced as a byproduct of distillation, today methanol is produced by mixing hydrogen and carbon monoxide in the presence of a catalyst. Methanol is fairly volatile with a boiling point of 64°F; it is a potential inhalation danger in sufficiently high concentrations. Fortunately exposure to pure methanol is very rare. It is commonly mixed into paint thinners or automotive fluids. Mixing with other chemicals significantly raises the boiling point so that it may be handled safely. Pure methanol is not an every day consumer item. That'’s all going to change soon.