additive aspartame. here with me now is a cancer specialist at winthrop university hospital and author martha pease welcome, ladies. aspartame, is this a huge deal that they are taking this away? i think of aspartame maybe it s because of all of the noise i think of it as this evil thing put in soda. is it? it s been around since 1965 when the chemist first discovered it by licking his finger after finding a treatment and his finger was sweet. ulcer treatment and sweetener? i don t think that drug ever actually got into the general use. the important thing to say is it s been around for over 50