VIDEO: Selling Toxic Substances To Kids

Redacted Tonight’s Abby Feldman dives into the murky waters of diet beverages and artificial sweeteners. Non profit watchdog group Center for Science in the Public Interest is asking pop singer Taylor Swift to ditch her endorsement of Diet Coke, which is sweetened with aspartame and other chemicals, considering her young fan base. Aspartame has been linked to cancer and disease, though the FDA continues to allow its use in over 6,000 products. The FDA also allows the use of saccharin, which has been proven to cause cancer in rats, and some new sweeteners have been deemed “generally accepted as safe,” and do not need to be thoroughly tested or listed as an ingredient.Now artificial sweeteners also appear to cause diabetes and obesity by altering our body’s natural ability to detect satiety and regulate blood sugar- leading to overeating and glucose intolerance. Sugar costs many times what artificial sweeteners cost, so selling people the idea of “diet” or “sugar-free” means big savings for food companies and big problems for consumers.