NARRATION

Ever had this kind of experience?

FADE IN
SCENE 1
Person 1 and Person 2 ARE SITTING ON A TABLE. Person 1 is DRINKING C**E ZERO,
TRYING TO BE OBVIOUS WITH THE STUDENT FILM ACTING. <C**e is intentionally bleeped
out>

Person 1: Gee. I wonder. If this stuff has no sugar, how can it be so sweet?
Person 2: I know right? That C**e Zero has no calories too, maybe you cant get
fat.

Person 3 APPEARS IN THE SCENE

Person 3: You know thats actually not true. Current research suggests that Coke
Zero or Pepsi Max can still get you to gain weight because there are other
ingredients in it.

<Coke and Pepsi are intentionally NOT bleeped out>

Person 1: Wa-wait. Who are yo---

Person 1 GETS CUT OFF BY Person 3.

Person 3: Although your first question about the sweetener, that one I can answer.
Person 2: Why is it when you say c**e and p***i theyre not bleeped out?

CUT TO Person 1 STARING, CUT TO PERSON 3, CUT TO PERSON 2, CUT TO WIDE SHOT
WITH ALL THREE

Person 3: ITS ASPARTAME!

Person 4 IN THE BACKGROUND WAVING WITH A SIGN THATS WITH THE WORD
ASPARTAME CROSSED OUT

TRANSITION INTO EXPLANATION via NARRATION. VIDEO WHILE EXPLAINING CONSISTS OF

STOP-MOTION ANIMATION OF PRODUCTS CONTAINING ASPARTAME.
NARRATION

Aspartame is one of the many artificial sweeteners used in many products such as
C**e and P***i.

PAUSE

Can you please stop with the bleeps? You know its just for a comedic effect.
THUMBS UP APPEARS ON THE SCREEN

Thank you.

PLAY

Aspartame was actually discovered accidentally back in the 1965s when Dr. James
Schlatter was testing for anti-ulcer drug and mixed aspartic acid and phenylalanine
and for some reason, decided to dip his finger in the mixture and tasted it.

REENACTMENT IN BLACK AND WHITE WHILE SHOWING THE QUOTE IN VIDEO I licked my
finger and it tasted good. Dr. James Schlatter
SIGN SHOWS IN THE SCREEN: DO NOT LICK YOUR FINGERS WHILE DOING LABORATORY
EXPERIMENTS.
FADE TO HOW ITS MADE VIDEOS OF PRODUCTS CONTAINING ASPARTAME WHILE
NARRATION CONTINUES

After the FDA approved artificial sweeteners, these sugar substitutes had been
added into food products like bacon, canned goods, diet sodas but its not only
used exclusively used in food but also added to toothpaste, mouthwash and
lipsticks. Aspartame had very advantageous effects as a product because it had
the same calorie to gram ratio but had 200 times the sweetness so it sold at 1/10

the price of sugar leading to a huge increase in sales. But there was a slight hiccup
that started in 1969.

CUT TO FIRST SCENE WITH PERSON 4 REPLACING PERSON 3. Person 1 & Person 2
NOTICES
Person 2: What thePerson 1: WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?!
Person 4: Thats right! Aspartame is harmful and it causes Cancer!
Person 1 & 2: GASP.
Note: Literally say GASP.
Person 4: GASP INDEED. Even back in 1969, FDA banned saccharine and
cyclamate, other artificial sweeteners because of a research that large doses of
these products (do the sign) caused bladder tumors in rats!
Person 1 & 2: GASP.
Person 4: Thats ri-Person 1 & 2: GASP.
Person 4: Okay stop!
Person 1 & 2: GASP.

SWITCH TO NARRATION WITH Appropriate clips or pictures of protesting or other related

stuff

Aside from that, two Italian studies had also suggested that high amounts of
Aspartame might increase blood-related cancers like leukemia in rats. The main
suspect of these conclusions is the human bodys process of breaking down of
Aspartame into three different compounds, one of which is Methanol. Methanol will
be further metabolized into Formaldehyde which is a popular carcinogen under
long term exposure.

Person 4: THATS RIGHT!

BUT heres a fun fact. 12 ounces of fruit juice can have five more times more
methanol than a 12 ounce diet soda.

CUT TO SPIT TAKE OF A PERSON DRINKING JUICE or just a random spit take. Then back
to narration.

The human body also produces 1000 times more formaldehyde than you can
consume with the intake of aspartame.

CUT TO Person 4 SURPRISED FACE

Also, formaldehyde is immediately used to form amino acids and never stored in
the body. Formaldehyde is transformed to Formic acid and then excreted through
urinating or even being broken down further.
In response to the researches connecting Aspartame to cancer, the FDA and the
EFSA have called these results into question, citing a lack of some important data
in the published studies and other concerns most likely most of these claims came
from anecdotal evidence.
Aspartame is one of the most heavily studied in not only artificial sweeteners but
also in food additives and yet there is no evidence proving a connection between
Aspartame and cancer.

CUT TO PERSON 4 HOLDING THE NO SIGN. TURNS IT BACKWARDS AND REVEALS AN

ASPARTAME SIGN WITH A HEART ON IT.

These are the statements from the Food Drug Administration and European Food
Safety Authority:
QUOTES ARE DISPLAYED ON THE SCREEN TO READ:
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in 2007:
Considering results from the large number of studies on aspartame's safety,
including five previously conducted negative chronic carcinogenicity studies, a
recently reported large epidemiology study with negative associations between
the use of aspartame and the occurrence of tumors, and negative findings from a
series of three transgenic mouse assays, FDA finds no reason to alter its previous
conclusion that aspartame is safe as a general purpose sweetener in food.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) from a report from 2009:
Overall, the Panel concluded, on the basis of all the evidence currently available
that there is no indication of any genotoxic or carcinogenic potential of aspartame
and that there is no reason to revise the previously established ADI for aspartame
of 40 mg/kg [body weight].

SOURCES:
ACSReactions: Is Aspartame Safe? Retrieved Aug 14, 2015:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92r1oOul0kM
Cancer, Health Risks, and Studies in Aspartame: Retrieved Aug 14, 2015:
http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/othercarcinogens/athome/aspartame
Harvard University's DASH repository: History of Aspartame: Retrieved Aug 14, 2015:

http://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/8846759

DOES ASPARTAME CAUSE CANCER?

MANUSCRIPT

GROUP 3 HUB

Project in Human Anatomy

Members:
Cabatay, Christine Lei
Cervantes, Mark Joshua
Cruspero, Janella
Gregorio, Kervy
Solis, Joshua

Velarde, Ayra Ann