I came across this web page that claims all the negative you hear about aspartame is all rumors:
http://www.aspartame.net/Internet_rumors.asp
I did some research to find exactly where this information is coming from and here it is:
General Company Information

Company Name : Ajinomoto Food Ingredients LLC
Headquarters : 8430 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Suite 635, Chicago, IL 60631
Phone : (773)714-1436
Fax : (773)714-1431
Customer Service Tel : (800)456-4666
Customer Service Fax : (641)969-4409
Iowa MSG Plant : Ajinomoto Drive, Eddyville, IA 52553-5005
Compliance : Ajinomoto Food Ingredients LLC conducts business according to the laws of each country.

Today, Ajinomoto Co Inc is one of Japan’s largest manufacturers of food products, including seasonings, edible oils, processed food and beverages and dairy products. The company is also a world leader in amino-acid technologies and develops and manufactures pharmaceuticals, amino-acids and specialty chemicals. Ajinomoto’s operations have long been characterized by a global perspective, and encompass manufacturing and marketing facilities in 20 countries. In the year ending March 2009, turnover was $14.2 billion.

So Ajinomoto makes -  MSG products and Aspartame products. Do you see the deceit? Further research from their website shows how wide spread they are into most every walk of our lives: http://www.ajiusa.com/

Seasoning and sauces
Pharmaceuticals and biotech
Food flavor and ingredients
Poultry and Swine feed
Energy drinks and powders
Dietary supplements
Cosmetic Ingredients
Sweeteners

Can you see how they have spread their chemicals from food to prescriptions, into the animal feed that we eat and into our beverages as well as our cosmetics. That pretty well covers everything doesn’t it?

Ajinomoto – From the Beginning
The only U.S. manufacturer to produce cGMP, pharmaceutical-grade amino acids, Ajinomoto AminoScience LLC has the capacity and experience to fulfill all your amino acid needs – from initial research to manufacturing, blending and pulverization, warehousing, custom labeling and packaging, and analytical and technical support.

Ajinomoto has been a world leader in the production and supply of amino acids since 1908. We were the first company to identify, refine and market amino acids, and we continue to lead the industry in research and development, global sales and distribution.

http://www.ajiaminoscience.com/industries/biopharma.aspx

All 20 amino acids are cGMP manufactured, with ultralow endotoxins and purity levels that exceed USP and EP standards. Here are some products they make listed below. Look at the chemical cocktail, endotoxins, nucleotides to lock the flavour in, Monosodium Glutamate, Monopotassium Glutamate, nucleotides; Disodium 5’ Inosinate (IMP), Disodium 5’ Guanlyate (GMP) and I+G, a 50/50 mixture of IMP and GMP?? Man, what happened to our food??? Do you recognize the ingredients???? I am sticking with nature. It sounds like the chemical cocktail called Lupron they gave me, makes me cringe.

Aninomoto MSG
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
A flavor enhancer that delivers the purest taste of Umami. MSG provides exceptional taste advantages in the formulation of snacks, soups, and gravies. Glutamate, a common amino acid, is naturally found in meat, fish, milk and many vegetables. Glutamate imparts the fullness and impact of taste and complexity of flavor. Ajinomoto® Monosodium Glutamate provides the natural Umami taste to enhance the taste of processed foods. Ajinomoto manufactures Monosodium Glutamate via natural fermentation of sugars to provide the purest Umami taste.
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
Effective, low-sodium flavor enhancers which provide exceptional mouthfeel and a fuller flavor profile.
Monoammonium Glutamate (MAG)
Monopotassium Glutamate (MPG)
Low Sodium Flavor Enhancers
Ajinomoto Monoammonium Glutamate and Monopotassium Glutamate are the result of Ajinomoto’s commitment to product development and applications research, for low sodium formulas. The exceptional performance of these low sodium flavor enhancers provides unsurpassed benefits in your product.

Ajitide Nucleotides
Ajitide ™ is Ajinomoto’s line of nucleotides; Disodium 5’ Inosinate (IMP), Disodium 5’ Guanlyate (GMP)
and I+G, a 50/50 mixture of IMP and GMP. A premium line of nucleotides with the Ajinomoto touch which unlocks the taste characteristics of foods synergy with glutamates and other flavor enhancers nucleotides have. The versatile properties of the Ajitide line of nucleotides- IMP, and I+G provide the following benefits
in a wide range of applications. Ajitide ™ IMP: The most soluble, stable and cost-efficient nucleotide
Ajitide ™ I+G: A combination of the attributes of Ajitide IMP and GMP

PRODUCT APPLICATIONS
Product Applications from Product main Item:
Soups

Gravies

Sauces

Dressings

Prepared Meals

Fish and Seafood.

Activa
Enzyme Systems which provide texture, yield, sliceability and greater portion control in meat, poultry, seafood products and other products. GRAS and USDA approved. Transglutaminase is enzyme which is ubiquitous in nature.It is typically found in various plants and animals. Ajinomoto pioneered a process to produce ACTIVA® in a commercial process and offer the product as an ingredient to food processors.

Koji-Aji
The kokumi seasoning benefits a wide variety of applications. Meat and poultry products acquire a fuller, longer-lasting taste, while seafood enjoys heightened cooked seafood flavor without the fishy smell during storage. Vegetables, especially tomato, exhibit the sweetness and distinct flavor of cooked vegetables, as well as improved mouthfulness. For instance, the seasoning gives ketchup a richer tomato taste and creamier texture, and provides retorted pasta sauce with a well-balanced tomato and meat flavor and improved body. Dry soup mixes and canned items, such as cream-based soups with cheese, have a richer mouthfeel and heightened the flavor impact of cheese. Koji-Aji, produced with a patented manufacturing method, consists of yeast extract rich in nucleotides, fermented wheat gluten and maltodextrin.

Ajinomoto Aspartame
Aspartame is low calorie sweetener which has exceptional sensory, nutritional, and safety characteristics. Ajinomoto Aspartame can provide food and drink manufacturers with substantial cost savings compared with sugar or HFCS.
PRODUCT APPLICATIONS
Beverage, Confection, Pharma, Yogurt, Ice Cream, and table top sweetener.

Are you a little overwhelmed by the chemical cocktail that has become a part of our diet and personal
care?

Now I went into their product information Technical book

http://www.aji-aspartame.com/Products/pdf/Ajinomoto_technical_booklet.pdf
Digested Naturally

Aspartame is a dipeptide composed of two amino acids: Laspartic acid and L-phenylalanine. Phenylalanine is an essential amino acid. These constituents are found in many common foods and are metabolized by the human body in exactly the same way as they would be if they came from meat, cheese, fish, vegetables or fruit. When aspartame is consumed, it breaks down into aspartic acid, phenylalanine and a small amount of methanol, identical to that found naturally in pectin-containing food products. The rest of the diet provides much greater quantities of these components than does aspartame. Aspartic acid ( 40%) Phenylalanine ( 50%) Methanol ( 10%) The confidence that consumers and food and drink manufacturers can have in aspartame is reflected in its high Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI). The ADI represents the safe daily consumption level of an ingredient over a person’s lifetime and is expressed in milligrams per kilogram of body weight. In the United States, the FDA has assigned aspartame an ADI of 50mg/kg. In the European Union, the ADI has been set at 40 mg/kg. The FDA has approved aspartame as a “General Purpose Sweetener” allowing it to be used in virtually any food application. In addition, the FDA has given aspartame “Good Manufacturing Practice” (GMP) status which means that there are no upper limits for the use of aspartame in individual product categories. In the United States, FDA requirements state that products formulated with aspartame must be labelled “Phenylketonurics: Contains Phenylalanine.” Aspartame has a much higher acceptable daily intake than sucralose, acesulfame-K or saccharin. This remains true when potency is taken into account.

Some history on Ajinomoto Food Ingredients LLC from Wikipedia I dug up:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajinomoto#Lysine_price-fixing_conspiracy

Controversy

In early 2001, Ajinomoto was involved in a scandal in majority-Muslim Indonesia when it emerged that a pork-based enzyme had been used in its production of MSG. Lysine price-fixing conspiracy

Ajinomoto was a member of the Lysine price fixing cartel in the mid-1990s. Along with Kyowa Hakko Kogyo, and Sewon America Inc., Ajinomoto settled with the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division in September 1996. Each firm and one executive from each pleaded guilty as part of a plea bargain to aid in further investigation. Their cooperation led to ADM settling charges with the US Government in October 1996 for $100 million, a record antitrust fine at the time. The cartel had been able to raise Lysine prices 70% within their first nine months of cooperation. Lawsuit against supermarket chain Asda

In 2008, Ajinomoto sued British supermarket chain Asda, part of Wal-Mart, for a malicious falsehood action concerning its aspartame product when the chemical was listed as excluded from the chains product line along with other “nasties”. In July 2009, a British court found in favour of Asda. In June 2010, an appeal court reversed the decision, allowing Ajinomoto to pursue a case against Asda to protect aspartame’s reputation. Asda said that it will continue to use the term “no nasties” on its own-label products.
[edit] Trademarks and personnel

AJI-NO-MOTO is registered as a trademark in Indonesia and Thailand.

Ajinomoto’s chairman, Kunio Egashira, died on April 7, 2008.[11] He had been chairman of the company since June 2005.[11] Egashira had previously served as the company’s president from June 1997.[11]
[edit] Subsidiaries

* Ajinomoto USA, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ajinomoto Co., Inc. Includes Ajinomoto AminoScience LLC that provides amino acid products and services to a number of manufacturing and research industries.[12]

* In the UK, it is produced through Britannia Pharmaceuticals Limited, a UK-based subsidiary.[citation needed]

* On January 13, 2006, the company bought the cooking sauce and condiments manufacturer Amoy Food Limited previously owned by French dairy product company Danone.

* Ajinomoto Food Ingredients LLC produces Aspartame.[13]

* Calpis

* OmniChem NaturalSpecialities is specializing in the tannin production[14].

What I see is we have made our pharmaceuticals a part of every walk of life. We bath in it, we wear it, inhale it, eat it, smoke it, slather it on, ingest it or are inoculated with it. Wonder why there are so many illnesses in today’s society? HMMMMMM