Consumer group claims Coke and Pepsi can cause cancer

AFP Relax

 
A consumer's group in the US says it's found a known animal carcinogen in sodas like Coca-Cola and Pepsi which contain caramel coloring.

According to the lab results of The Center for Science in the Public Interest, sodas like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi contain high levels of 4-methylimidazole (4-MI), a byproduct of the ammonia-sulfite caramel coloring which is used to give sodas their brown hue.

"When most people see ‘caramel coloring' on food labels, they likely interpret that quite literally and assume the ingredient is similar to what you might get by gently melting sugar in a saucepan," said CSPI executive director Michael Jacobson in a statement March 5.

"The reality is quite different. Colorings made with the ammonia or ammonia-sulfite process contain carcinogens and don't belong in the food supply."

For their lab tests, the group collected different samples from Coca-Cola and Pepsi, and measured the levels of 4-MI in each can.

Cans of Pepsi products clocked in at between 145 to 153 micrograms (mcg) of 4-MI, while Coca-Cola products clocked in at between 113 mcg to 146 mcg.

But in California, the 4-MI benchmark is 29 mcg, the CSPI points out, and any foods and beverages that contain levels above that threshold are considered to increase a person's risk of developing cancer over their lifetime.

This is the CSPI's second attempt at getting the US Food and Drug Administration to ban ammonia-sulfite caramel coloring. The group also appealed to the government with the same request last year.

Meanwhile, the American Beverage Association (ABA) struck back Monday, issuing a statement that called the report "outrageous" and nothing more than "scare tactics."

Pointing out that regulatory agencies around the world including the European Food Safety Authority and Health Canada consider caramel coloring safe for use in foods and beverages, the ABA said, "The science simply does not show that 4-MEI in foods or beverages is a threat to human health."

Caramel color is also used in beer, chocolate, cookies, spirits and liquors, custards, potato chips, dessert mixes, donuts, fruit preserves and gravy.

http://ph.news.yahoo.com/consumer-group-claims-coke-pepsi-cause-cancer-170118733.html

Kids get most of their excess sugar from food, not drinks: study

AFP Relax 

News that kids and teens get most of their excess sugar intake from food and not beverages may throw a wrench into a controversial debate about the role soda and juice have on childhood obesity.

In a study released February 29 out of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), researchers pointed out that kids are getting most of their excess sugar intake from processed foods including sugary cereals, granola bars, cookies and candies -- not sugary drinks like soda and juice.

Meanwhile, a slew of recent studies have placed the blame of childhood obesity squarely on the soda pop and juice industries.

For example, one study found that girls who developed a taste for soda by the age of five went on to have unhealthy diets throughout their adolescence, compared to their peers who were never given the sugary drink at that young an age.

Another study from last year claimed to find a "shocking" association between teenage violence and the amount of soda they drank: high school students from Boston who consumed more than five cans of sugary soda weekly were five to 15 percent more likely to engage in acts of violence.

And after doing a bit of number crunching, researchers out of the US also suggested that imposing a soda tax could prevent 100,000 cases of heart disease, 8,000 strokes and prevent 26,000 deaths every year.

The case against sodas and juices has motivated some countries like Hungary and France to impose such a tax, while some schools have implemented bans.

But when a team of US researchers went into schools across the country, they found that banning sugary drinks was ineffective and did little to reduce overall consumption, mainly because the kids were actively finding other ways to access them.

In the CDC study, about 16 percent of children's and adolescents' total caloric intake came from added sugars. The 2010 Dietary Guidelines recommends limiting sugars and solid fats to between 5 and 15 percent of daily caloric intake.

http://ph.news.yahoo.com/kids-most-excess-sugar-food-not-drinks-study-145050242.html

Coke, Pepsi to drop level of 'cancer' chemical

By Kerry Sheridan | AFP

Coca-Cola and Pepsi said Friday they have lowered levels of a chemical in caramel coloring to comply with a California law, but insisted the drinks pose no health risks and recipes will not change.

The move allows the companies to avoid having to label products with a cancer warning due to what the health-conscious west coast state has ruled are high levels of 4-methylimidazole, shown to cause cancer in lab rodents.

Both drinkmakers said their popular and highly secretive soda recipes will not be altered but that caramel suppliers have been asked to reduce 4-MEI levels in California, a change that will eventually spread across the United States.

"We are NOT changing our recipe; or our formula," Coca-Cola Company spokesman Ben Sheidler told AFP in an email.

"What we did do is direct our caramel suppliers to make a manufacturing process modification in order to reduce the level of 4-MEI in our caramel so as to meet the requirement set by the state of California's Proposition 65."

For its part, PepsiCo said its beverages "are and always will be safe for consumption."

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