NutraSweet is the company that makes and sells aspartame, an artificial sugar substitute. NutraSweet® is also the brand name for the sweetener aspartame, which was approved by the FDA for consumption in 1981. Aspartame is the name for the artificial, non-carbohydrate sweetener, Aspartyl-phenylalanine-1-methyl ester; i. ... It has been suggested that Sweetener be merged into this article or section. ... 1981 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Originally, the patent for aspartame was owned by G.D. Searle & Company. In 1985, G.D. Searle & Company was purchased by Monsanto. In this merger, Searle's aspartame business became a separate Monsanto subsidiary, the NutraSweet Company. The U.S. patent on aspartame expired in 1992, and the aspartame market is now hotly contested between the NutraSweet Company and other manufacturers, chiefly the Holland Sweetener Company. G.D. Searle & Company was a company focusing on life sciences, specifically pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and animal health. ... 1985 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to a person for a fixed period of time in exchange for the regulated, public disclosure of certain details of a device, method, process or substance (known as an invention) which is new, inventive and useful. ... 1992 is a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In September of 2004, a RICO lawsuit was filed against the NutraSweet Corporation and the American Diabetes Association for manufacturing and promoting the use of aspartame. RICO or the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act is a United States law which provides for extended penalties for criminal acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. ... The American Diabetes Association, or the ADA, is an American health organization providing diabetes research, information and advocacy. ...

http://www.nutrasweet.com/