The Cancer misconceptions (SN 10/9) article is completely misleading. First, “... artificial sweeteners are so widely used by Americans, it would be immediately obvious if they caused cancer.” Really? This is your grounds for proving the safety of a product? How many millions of people used Vioxx, used thalidomide, painted their houses with lead paint and insulated their homes with asbestos? All of those turned out to be extremely unsafe, and in the case of asbestos, people actually developed cancer. One may argue those events are too old to be relevant, but Vioxx was recalled in 2004 and toys with lead paint are surfacing daily.

On another front, although artificial sweeteners may not have any current scientific link to cancer, there are more issues at hand. According to The Journal of Life Sciences, “... aspartame consumption may constitute a hazard because of its contribution to the formation of formaldehyde …” Sure, tell people Sweet ‘N Low does not cause cancer, but high concentrations of formaldehyde, used in preserving dead bodies, can develop in your body. But who cares, really — you will not get cancer from it. Finally, it is not an issue of using one packet of Equal in your coffee once it a while. It is the continual, constant exposure to unhealthy and unsafe products that ultimately takes its toll. You may never notice the change in a forest if you take out just one tree. But the continual removal of one tree at a time leaves the forest decimated. The continual exposure to unhealthy products ultimately decimates our bodies. Go ahead, use the artificial sweeteners and breathe that polluted air. I will stick to what is safe and natural.