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BROADCASTING STANDARDS COMMISSION UPHOLDS NUTRASWEET COMPLAINT AGAINST CHANNEL 4 DISPATCHES
London, 31 July 1997

NutraSweet AG today welcomed the Broadcasting Standards Commission's decision that NutraSweet was unjustly and unfairly treated by Channel 4 Dispatches in a programme in its series "Behind Closed Doors-" The Commission found that Channel 4 Dispatches failed to give NutraSweet a reasonable opportunity to respond to a series of allegations.

The Commission's adjudication is particularly welcome since NutraSweet AG has a policy of co-operation with the media and regularly responds to all types of media and consumer queries through the NutraSweet Information Centre.

The Centre had provided answers to questions which Dispatches said were to be raised within the programme. However, when the programme appeared on television, it contained a number of entirely new allegations. Had the NutraSweet Information Centre been properly consulted about these allegations, it would willingly have answered them in full, enabling Dispatches to report fairly.

The NutraSweet Information Centre holds readily available data on numerous scientific studies. Aspartame is one of the most thoroughly tested food ingredients and has been approved by 100 regulatory bodies around the world including the European Union's Scientific Committee on Foods and the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Health Organisation.

NutraSweet is the brand name for the sweetening ingredient aspartame. It is used in a wide variety of food and drink products including soft drinks, table-top sweeteners, chewing gum and dairy products. NutraSweet tastes like sugar, is low in calories and, because it contains parts of protein found in common foods like meat, fish and cheese, it is digested naturally by the human body.

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