Should aspartame be banned? Aspartame is an artificial sweetener that replaces sugar in foods and drinks. In the table of food additives it is known as E951 (European Food Safety Authority, 2013). The use of aspartame has been controversial for over fifty years since its discovery in 1965. Although aspartame has been approved as a safe sugar substitute, many members of the public around the world believe that aspartame should be banned . Aspartame is a low-calorie sweetener discovered by accident in 1965 by doctors. James M. Schlatter while working at G. D. Searle Research Laboratories (Fisher 1989). Aspartame has been branded and sold as “NutraSweet” and contains methanol, aspartic acid, and phenylalanine (NutraSweet 2003). Aspartame was introduced as an artificial sweetener in breakfast cereals in 1974 (Fisher 1989). Following further investigation, research and experiments, aspartame was deemed safe and approved by the Food and Drug Administration committee (Fisher 1989) for use in carbonated drinks and to replace sugar in foods (Food Standards Australia New Zealand 2013). Even after studies have shown that aspartame is safe when following recommended daily intake guidelines, groups and organizations are still fighting to ban this food additive. Websites and social media groups have been created around the world to raise public awareness of the negative effects they believe aspartame has on health. What is aspartame? Aspartame (E 951) is a low-calorie sweetener authorized as a food additive. It is 200 times sweeter than sugar and is used by food and drink manufacturers in a wide range of products including yoghurt, chewing gum, chips, cooking sauces, soft drinks, breakfast cereals, powdered drinks, ... half of the card. .....4. Ekong, M 2008, Aspartame: sweet or bitter, The Internet Journal of Health, vol. 9, no. 1, viewed April 11, 2014, ISPUB, http://ispub.com/IJH/9/1/8045#.5. Fisher, R. 1989. Aspartame, neurotoxicity and seizures: a review, Epilepsy, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 55-64, accessed April 20, 2014, available at: http://med.stanford.edu/nbc/articles/2%20-%20Aspartame,%20Neurotoxicity,%20and%20Seizures%20-%20A% 20Review .pdf6. Nutrasweet.com. 2003. NutraSweet - What is aspartame?, viewed April 20, 2014, http://www.nutrasweet.com/articles/search.asp?Id=35&srch=aspartame 7. Phenylketonuria 2014, viewed April 11, 2014, http: //www .nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001166.htm 8. Smith, R 1981. 'Aspartame approved despite risks', Science, vol. 213, n. 4511, pp. 986—987, accessed April 11, 2014, JSTOR Life Sciences Collection, http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.uws.edu.au/stable/1687044