FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: JIM TURNER
jim@swankin-turner.com
April 3, 2006 
202-255-8040

CITIZENS FOR HEALTH CALLS ON FDA TO
REVOKE ITS APPROVAL OF SUCRALOSE
Asks the FDA For A Public Hearing

MINNEAPOLIS—Citizens for Health, the national grassroots advocacy organization committed to protecting and expanding natural health choices, today submitted a Citizen Petition to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) calling on the agency to revoke its approval of sucralose, better known as the artificial additive, Splenda. Sucralose is a highly processed chemical sweetener manufactured with chlorine in a factory in McIntosh, Alabama, in a process that releases such toxins into the environment as cyclohexane.

“There were potential public health concerns regarding sucralose that were dismissed by the FDA when they first approved this synthetic additive,” said Jim Turner, Esq. chairman of the board of Citizens for Health. “People should also know, however, that there has not been a single human clinical study on the finished product, Splenda.”

Meanwhile, health concerns and adverse event self-reports are mounting as consumers are currently turning to Web sites and chat rooms to document their experiences with Splenda. Consumers have begun to allege that they have suffered health side effects from use of the artificial sweetener. These grievances about health effects range from skin rashes, to headaches, to severe gastrointestinal problems.

“The sheer number of complaints on the Internet warrants an investigation,” said Turner. “Most of the testing on the safety of sucralose was conducted by the manufacturer, McNeil Nutritionals. If the manufacturer is as sure about the safety of the product as is claimed, it too will join us in the call for an independent investigation into what, if any, side effects can accompany the use of the product.”

Splenda also includes dextrose and maltodextrin. Since pregnant women who have a genetic trait for galactosemia are at risk for having a baby with galactosemia, there should be a warning—similar to the PKU warning required for aspartame—that Splenda contains a galactose monosaccharide.

“It is important to bring these concerns to the attention of the FDA,” added Turner. “The FDA has a responsibility to protect public health. If consumers are indeed experiencing side effects from the use of Splenda, the FDA should call a Public Hearing so that consumers can be heard, which is one of the reasons we are filing the Citizen Petition.”

About Citizens for Health
Citizens for Health (www.citizens.org) is an international non-profit consumer advocacy group working to broaden healthcare options, create an integrative health system based on wellness, and advance the freedom to make health choices. The group promotes the fundamental policies needed to improve health choices and information in the U.S. and internationally. The group works with grassroots and education organizations and partners in the not-for-profit sector to ensure consumer access to dietary supplements, safe foods, a healthy environment and a wide range of healing therapies. Citizens for Health fosters active citizen leadership and organizes natural health consumers to create political and legislative solutions that support those rights.

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