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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 11th, 2023

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  • That’s true, as far as it goes, but the amount of phenylalanine created is incredibly minute and is matched by other, “natural” foods. In the vast majority of people, the body quickly metabolizes excess phenylalanine. The only genuinely well-documented danger is for people with phenylketonuria, because they have a genetic variation that breaks that ability to metabolize.

    Last I checked, which was admittedly years ago, the studies that showed direct harms were flawed, not statistically significant, or have not been repeatable. The early studies that led to its ban in the EU used absolutely massive doses of aspartame, well beyond what you could possibly ingest in a day.

    I’m not saying it’s safe for sure but it’s safer than obesity or massive doses of sugar on a regular basis.


  • In dietary terms, literally nothing is wrong with it. There are economic concerns because the business model is to patent (copyright?) the GMO stuff and force growers to buy seed every year, instead of saving seed from each harvest. There’s also some concern that really successful GMO crops, such as Roundup-ready corn, will dominate planting and become a monocrop which could lead to massive crop loss if a blight or other disease evolves to target that particular strain.

    The other things in the picture vary between probably-but-maybe-not-harmless (aspartame), definitely harmless (MSG), to actually helpful (fluoride and Prozac).

    Bottom line: the meme, when interpreted correctly, implies that pop songs are generally good but somewhat artificially manipulated.