Introduction Food is considered one of the basic needs that a human being can not do without. The foods that are eaten all over the world are known to be made up of different chemicals, some of which are harmful and others are not. According to Birch (1999), it is these chemicals which occur naturally in the food substances and also artificially as additives, that give the food its color, flavor and also the texture among others. Some of these chemicals have been found to pose a major health risk to those consuming foods with the chemicals. As a result, every country has a department to look into the safety measures of the food being consumed by its citizens. This paper will explore the different areas of food additives and specifically the artificial sweeteners. The sources, pathways, receptors and control of artificial sweeteners in the human food chain and human disease manifestation shall be tackled in details. Aspartame. Sources of Aspartame This is a name used to refer to the many artificial sweeteners that have been in existence since 1965. Aspartame is therefore classified as a synthetic chemical. These artificial sweeteners are referred to using different names for example: NutraSweet and Spoonful, among other common names. Aspartame was discovered by James Schlatter and this happened accidentally as he was in the process of doing tests on an anti-ulcer drug. In the year 1983, aspartame was accepted as an artificial sweetener in carbonated drinks. Although most food additives have side effects on their consumers, aspartame has been proved to cause over 75% of the adverse reactions to its consumers. The reactions are sometimes very serious and they include: severe headaches, nausea, and dizziness. Aspartame has also been known to cause numbness, increase in weight, appearance of rashes in different parts of the body and mental disturbances such as depression, insomnia and memory loss (Bolton, 1994). Some patients have also reported cases of muscle spasms, problems in hearing, palpitations in the heart, interference with one’s speech, loss of taste and pain in the joints. Aspartame has also been found to aggravate the conditions of people suffering from brain tumors, mental illnesses, diabetes and chronic fatigue syndrome. People suffering from epilepsy, lymphoma and birth defects have also been affected by consumption of aspartame. Toxicodynamics, pathways and receptors of aspartame Aspartic acid, methanol and phenylalanine are the three chemicals that make up the artificial sweeteners or aspartame. An in depth analysis of the three chemicals reveals that the three chemicals are harmful when consumed by human beings (Diabetes and Nutrition Study Group (DNSG) of the European Association for the study of diabetes, 2000). Ingestion of aspartic acid into the body of a person is known to cause serious neurological diseases. This happens because the function of aspartate is that of neurotransmitter in the brain. This is done through making easy the passing on of information from one neuron to another. The presence of excess aspartate in the brain destroys some of the neurons as a result of allowing a lot of calcium to enter the cells. Since the entry of calcium into the cells is not properly regulated, the