AFAIK aspartame was not developed by Monsanto; it was developed in 1965 by a chemist working for G.D. Searle & Company. It wasn't until 20 years later that Monsanto bought G.D. Searle and thus the rights to aspartame. So what Monsanto's alleged conduct with regards to genetic engineering has to do with the science behind the safety of a sweetener that they didn't develop I'm not quite sure. Did it become more dangerous after Monsanto bought the rights to it?