Business Notes Regulation

It was a delicious week for Monsanto's NutraSweet unit, makers of the popular brand of low-calorie aspartame, a sugar substitute. In back-to-back decisions, the Food and Drug Administration waved aside petitions challenging the artificial sweetener's safety and approved its use in a broad range of juice drinks, frozen desserts, canned and instant teas and breath mints. NutraSweet can currently be found in more than 130 different products, from Jell-O to diet Coke, but the lucrative new markets represent a major expansion of FDA approval.

Consumer-advocate groups had contended that aspartame was linked to many adverse reactions, including dizziness, depression and seizures. But the FDA said that aspartame had been found safe for the vast majority of people, except for a small number who appear to be especially sensitive to it. Aspartame's critics promised to take their case to court.