Those Dirty Rats

Hear about that scare story in the NY Times about the dangers of Aspertame sweetner? The study has come under scrutiny because some of the results are implausible. Here is the conclusion of the analysis by Duane Freese:

Here's what's even stranger: the rats with the highest survival rates at 104 and 120 weeks, at 55% and about 29% respectively, were the rats that ate the most aspartame – the equivalent of 1,750 cans of diet soda a day. And the longest living rat of all consumed the equivalent of 175 cans a day. In short, the control rats died first; the heavy aspartame consumers lived longest.

Looks like if you want to increase your odds of living a long life, be prepared to burp.