Editing Aspartame (section)

===NutraSweet Company===

In 1985, [[Monsanto]] bought G.D.{{nbsp}}Searle,<ref>{{cite news |title=Monsanto to Acquire G.D. Searle |date=18 July 1985 | vauthors = Greenhouse S |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/07/19/business/monsanto-to-acquire-g-d-searle.html |newspaper=The New York Times |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171126033525/http://www.nytimes.com/1985/07/19/business/monsanto-to-acquire-g-d-searle.html |archive-date=26 November 2017 }}</ref> and the aspartame business became a separate Monsanto subsidiary, [[NutraSweet]]. In March 2000, Monsanto sold it to [[J.W. Childs Associates]] Equity Partners II L.P.<ref name="http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EUY/is_22_6/ai_62920821">[http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EUY/is_22_6/ai_62920821 J.W. Childs Equity Partners II, L.P] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070514184641/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EUY/is_22_6/ai_62920821 |date=14 May 2007 }}, ''Food & Drink Weekly'', 5 June 2000</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=JW Childs Acquires Monsanto's NutraSweet Sweetener Business | website=Chemical Online | date=28 March 2000 | url=https://www.chemicalonline.com/doc/jw-childs-acquires-monsantos-nutrasweet-sweet-0001 | access-date=1 July 2023 | archive-date=21 January 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121022446/https://www.chemicalonline.com/doc/jw-childs-acquires-monsantos-nutrasweet-sweet-0001 | url-status=live }}</ref> European use patents on aspartame expired beginning in 1987, with the US patent following suit in 1992.<ref>{{Cite news |date=19 November 1989 |title=Nutrasweet's Bitter Fight |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/19/business/nutrasweet-s-bitter-fight.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170210231151/http://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/19/business/nutrasweet-s-bitter-fight.html |archive-date=10 February 2017 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |vauthors=Shapiro E}}</ref>