It seems the dairy industry is at it again, looking to thwart the health interests of its consumers to generate higher profits.
 
The newest in their long trend of withholding information to consumers revolves around their use of artificial sweeteners, aspartame in particular. The dairy industry has recently petitioned the FDA to have the current requirement that milk and other dairy products be labeled as “artificially sweetened” be removed when containing such ingredients as aspartame, so that the label says nothing of the sort.
 
 

The petition, which was filed in 2009 was acknowledged by the FDA last week, which then asked for consumer responses. As you all can imagine, the responses were not positive. A counter-petition has been started by SumOfUs (petition can be found here), and already has over 93,000 signatures. 

As said by SumOfUs campaign manager, Kaytee Riek, in a press release “Hyper-sweet additives like aspartame rewire children’s brains so that they always want sugary foods, turning the kids into tiny consumption machines. This constant craving fattens up the food companies’ bottom lines as it fattens up their customers, leading to our current obesity epidemic. ... [The] industry has moved into formerly healthy foods, pumping them up with sugar, salt, and fat until they, too become part of the problem.”
 
As most educated vegans know, dairy has can cause a host of health risks, even without added ingredients. Aspartame has been linked with brain tumors. Here is a link from Dr. Mercola’s article, which I recommend you read in full.

The move on the part of the dairy industry, to block consumer knowledge of their additives, only goes to show the lengths they are willing to go to make a quick buck, at the expense of their own consumer's health. 
 
I encourage you all to become more aware of this petition, and to sign the counter-petition in the link above. It is important to spread awareness to those who may not know, be they vegan or not. It is especially a problem as a number of children are allergic to aspartame, and their parents may not know about this petition, or it's effects, until their children are already sick. 

Another good option is to write (with regular letters, as they are taken more seriously than email) the FDA, and let them know your thoughts on the dairy industry's current actions.
 
Although as vegans, we do not consume dairy, I for one am against all of this deceitful, fraudulent non-labeling of the truth of how dairy is masqueraded as healthy, and how children are encouraged to consume it, regardless of the unhealthy consequences! 
 
 
 
Please send the above petition to your friends, and be sure to sign it yourself!