ElisaB- I'll take my chances. If you can PROVE to me that Stevia is totally safe any more than that aspartame is evil, I'm more than willing to listen. I get so tired of hearing how everything is going to kill me, frankly, it loses all meaning. If you pump a lab rat as full of Stevia as they did to "prove" saccharine is bad, I'd imagine you could produce some ill effects with that too.

I've cut the vast majority of transfats out of my diet by giving up margarine, crackers, Crisco and other "vegetable shortening" and the like. There are those who refuse to touch anything with any hydrogenated oils listed at all, even 16th or lower on teh list of ingredients... I've been told I'm being poisoned by my lc Doritos, where it's listed after onion powder in the ingredients...

So pardon my devil-may-care attitude, but I honestly feel I've made enough healthy choices by low-carbing and quitting smoking to cancel out the infinitessimal risk of an occasional serving of aspartame.

But you're right, we're all free to choose.