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 ALERT:
HELP BAN ASPARTAME
IN NEW MEXICO
NEW
MEXICO'S LEGISLATIVE SESSION ENDS ON FEBRUARY 16 - ACT NOW!
Thanks
for your calls!
Due to them, the bill moved forward
- although it is now tabled in the Senate Public
Affairs Committee.
Keep calling the Governor as well as the Senate
Public Affairs Committee.
Contact
Governor Richardson
UPDATE
2/10/06: Scores
of corporate lobbyists from Pepsico, Coca Cola, the Calorie Control
Council (an industry front group), the New Mexico Soft Drink Association,
and Ajinomoto (the manufacturer of Aspartame) have invaded New Mexico's
capital to flex their muscle. They have pulled out all the stops,
even pressuring one of the bill's original sponsors, Senator Mary
Jane Garcia (D-Las Cruces), to withdraw support for the bill.
Despite
this, consumer health advocates were able to convince the Senate
Committee's Committee to find the bill germane. Unfortunately, they
referred the bill to the Public Affairs Committee, which voted on
Friday, February 3 to table the bill, effectively killing it this
session.
The
following Senators voted to table the bill:
- SENATOR JAMES TAYLOR
- SENATOR MARY KAY PAPEN
- SENATOR MARY JANE GARCIA
- SENATOR STEVE NEVILLE
- SENATOR STUART INGLE
- SENATOR KOMADINA
To
date, Governor Richardson has not issued an executive message on
this bill, despite petitions from many legislators and hundreds
of concerned citizens.
UPDATE
2/1/06: Senate
bill 250 has been pulled and reintoduced by its sponser, Democratic
Senator Gerald Ortiz y Pino, with an appropriation for enforcement
as Senate Bill 654.
ALERT
TEXT: Aspartame,
also known as NutraSweet, is currently in 6000 food products and
in over 500 pharmaceutical preparations, despite clear proof of
its toxicity. In fact, in November, a study
published in "Environmental Health Perspectives,"
a peer-reviewed journal affiliated with the National Institutes
of Health, clearly demonstrated that rats consuming Aspartame had
a higher incidence of tumors, Leukemia, Lymphoma, and other cancers.
In
light of this evidence, health activists have introduced legislation
that would ban Aspartame in the state of New Mexico. Introduced
in the state Senate by Albuquerque Democratic Senator Gerald Ortiz
y Pino as Senate Bill 250, and in the state House by Gallup Navajo
Democratic Representative Irvin Harrison as House Bill 202, the
measure draws upon statutes that allow the state to regulate poisonous
and deleterious food additives in the interest of public health.
A successful bill of this type could set a powerful precedent for
the whole country.
The
political climate in New Mexico is ripe for this kind of legislation,
especially in light of Governor Bill Richardson's newly unveiled
Healthy Kids initiatives - including a pledge to kick junk food
out of middle and high schools - and his expressed interest in asserting
the rights of states to protect public health.
However,
the processed food industry is trying to kill this legislation.
Governor Bill Richardson and the New Mexico Legislature must know
that there is strong public support for this legislation.
Take
Action: Ask
Governor Richardson to Give an Executive Message on the Aspartame
Ban Bill.
Individual Faxes are less easily ignored.
Use the Sample Letter Text. Please be Polite!
If
you live outside New Mexico, please also ask your Governor and Legislators
to support an Aspartame Ban in your state.
Sample
Letter Text
Dear
Governor William B. Richardson:
I want
to applaud your ambitious Healthy Kids initiatives. In the spirit
of these long overdue public health measures, I ask you to please
give an Executive Message to Senate Bill 654 so that it may be fully
considered by the Legislature. There is not one good reason to delay
this medically and legally well-founded effort to free New Mexico
of a proven neurotoxic carcinogen, especially in light of the new
study published in "Environmental Health Perspectives"
that clearly demonstrated that rats consuming Aspartame had a higher
incidence of tumors, Leukemia, Lymphoma, and other cancers.
(See the Study: http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2005/8711/abstract.html)
The
Chair and Vice Chair of the Judiciary Committee have signed onto
this bill, indicating that this bill is legally sound, despite the
usual industry cries from Ajinomoto and other purveyors of toxic
chemicals that such matters are preempted by the Commerce Clause
and the Supremacy Clause.
We
have the 10th Amendment, very clear New Mexico statutes prohibiting
poisonous food additives and harmful adulterants, the Delaney Amendment
(1958) to the law that created the FDA, numerous Federal statutes
preventing adulterants added to food, numerous Supreme Court decisions,
and hundreds of physicians' clinical reports to back up the Aspartame
Bill.
The
health of millions, not just in New Mexico, but throughout the nation,
depends on your leadership. Together, we can make 2006 a precedent
setting year for public health.
For
the rest of the story, go to http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/38198.html
Thank
you for your consideration,
Contact
the author of the Aspartame Ban Bills:
Stephen
Fox
217 W. Water NM 87501 505 983-2002
The
OCA also needs your financial support to continue working on these
important issues. Please donate today!
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