The Safety of Aspartame

To the Editor.— The American Medical Association Council on Scientific Affairs recently reviewed aspartame safety issues.¹ Aspartame is a new dipeptide sweetener, and US consumption of aspartame within three years of its widespread introduction into the food supply has increased to levels that, after normalization for sweetener potency, are approximately 10% of overall sugar intake.² It is reasonable to expect that the consumption of aspartame may approach 25% of overall sugar consumption by the 1990s. Given the widespread use of this elective food additive and given that its two constituent amino acids, aspartic acid and phenylalanine, are neurotoxic, it is indeed prudent to consider safety issues in regard to the potential effects of this sweetener. Since neurotoxicity is a function of the blood level achieved following consumption of the sweetener and since blood aspartate levels do not rise after aspartame intake, it appears unlikely that there will be