<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Thank you everyone for your responses.  They were all quite varied!

Based on the responses I received, it appears that there is no gluten in
aspartame.  However, several individuals referred to aspartame as "poison"
saying it causes brain damage, ruins the heart, etc.

Some one else said that the "read something somewhere that aspartame has a
chemical composition similar to m.s.g. "

another rationale for giving up aspartame is that "...any carbonated or
caffeine beverage is robbing your system of more calcium. if malabsorbtion
is a problem already, your sodas are only adding to the damage."

one other one was that there is maltodextrin that accompanies aspartame, but
I thought maltodextrin was GF.

An alternative was suggested-Something called Stevia. It is a natural
sweetener that is used in diet sodas in some countries like Japan, but
Monsanto has blocked it from being legal in the US.

Thank you everyone for your responses.  none of this is meant to reflect my
thoughts on the effects of aspartame, but it is all good information to have
in order to evaluate your diet.

Dori in NJ