I was interested in the statement in the 15 October issue of Lactnet on
artificial sweeteners.  In the 8+ years I have worked in the area of
nutrition for children I have not seen any evidence of "horrible side
effects" from artificial sweeteners.  I would be very interested in
documentation of the sources of this information.  Please respond to this
as there are many of us on the list who work with children and infants in
the nutrition field.

Also am interested in the link between phosphorus and calcium in relation
to soda intake.  It is my understanding that there is a optimal ratio of
Phosphorus:Calcium and that it is important for the body to stay within
this range.  However with both calcium sources and phosphorus sources in
our diets I wonder just how we are supposed to keep this all straight.
There are many sources in the diet for phosphorus, including milk and milk
products (our main source of calcium) and all meats, eggs, and legumes.
So...should we not drink milk or recommend that because it also has
phosphorus???  There is 61 mg of phosphorus in a sample diet soda, the
source I used said that 2 gram or less of phosphorus daily does not appear
to affect calcium metabolism, provided calcium intake is adequate.  That
is 32, 12 oz servings of soda in a 24 hour period.  Not impossible but
improbable...imagine all that time in the bathroom! Once again it appears
that moderation is the key!