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Why Sugar Taxes are Pointless (and Ableist)
Because of sugar taxes in the UK, A.G. Barr, creator of the iconic Scottish pop Irn-Bru has made the unfortunate choice to add artificial sweeteners to their non-diet soda.
Ah, but less sugar is good? For me, and thousands of other people, the choice to add aspartame to Irn-Bru means that the pop is now permanently off limits. In fact, it has always been common in the UK to add aspartame to non-diet soda. Not so much in the US, but the push for sugar tax may lead to it.
But Aspartame is Safe! It Being Dangerous is a Conspiracy Theory!
Aspartame, the most commonly-used artificial sweetener, is “generally recognized as safe” by the FDA. However, there has been a lot of talk about how aspartame causes cancer, Alzheimer’s, and an entire laundry list of…if you believe them aspartame causes everything.
Which, of course, leads to the backlash of anyone who thinks aspartame causes any health problems whatsoever is obviously crazy.
Aspartame is made from two naturally occurring amino acids, aspartic acid and phenylalanine. It also produces methanol when it is broken…