The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a consumer interest group released a report today linking Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Pepsi and Diet Pepsi -- the 1st-, 2nd-, 3rd- and 6th- best-selling sodas in the world, respectively -- to a chemical that has been known to cause cancer in lab rats and mice. The report has raised alarm bells, not for the first time, about the risks soda poses to public health -- even though many experts were quick and unequivocal in their denunciation of its findings.
The CSPI argues that the amount of the chemical present in the sodas presents a risk to public health. For that reason, the group has petitioned the FDA to mandate a label on soda containers warning consumers of the risk of cancer.
The chemical, 4-methylimidazole, or 4-MI, is a byproduct of the chemical process soda companies use to create the artificial dye that gives the sodas their trademark caramel coloring. Studies linking 4-MI to cancer in mice prompted the state of California to list it as a carcinogen in spring of 2009. It's illegal to sell any food or beverage containing an amount of 4-MI that could increase the risk of cancer by more than 1 case per 100,000 people. The CSPI alleges that the levels it found in sodas would increase the risk by as much as 4.8 cases per 100,000 people.
Officials from the FDA and the American Beverage Association (ABA) slammed the idea that the chemical poses a risk to consumers.
"Time and again, and even very recently," the ABA wrote in its statement on the report, "leading public health organizations have reaffirmed that caramel coloring, including the trace amounts of [4-MI] found in it, is safe for use in colas and countless other foods."
A Vanderbilt University biochemist told Time's Bryan Walsh that 4-MI would only increase a person's risk of cancer if he or drank 1000 cans of cola per day.
And this also isn't the first time the CSPI has tried to raise awareness about what it perceives as the risks of 4-MI. It did so in a report and petition last February as well. That release did not, however, include test results for individual brands of soda.
Source: Huffingtonpost.com
Replies
That one is easy...... Drink water.... fresh, clean, energized water...
I rarely drink anything else ;-)
With 9 teaspoons of sugar per can/glass - there's no good reason to drink it! It's too much on your thyroid to drink this much! When I read this 20 years ago, I didn't touch these drinks again!
Here's some suggestions
Water
Water with lemon juice in it
Coconut juice (straight from baby coconuts - your Asian grocer might sell them cheap!) - It's DIVINE!
Fruit juice
Vege juice
Hot cocoa with stevia in it or honey
Ginger/honey/lemon hot drink (great for flues and colds)
Thanks, I did suspect there could be something unwholesome in the soda.
But im not worried because everything that enters my body gets alchemically changed to work with my body. And my body at this stage can handle almost anything that gets into it.
I love soda because of its Fizz, and that its sweet. It is the perfect compliment to wash down other strong flavored foods I eat that have fats, salt, or a heavy starch flavor. Makes my mouth very happy.
I cant stand diet soda because the artificial sweetener has a slight Bitter taste to it - and I usually do not like Bitter tastes at all.
It is a common knowledge that Bitter = Poison. Maybe not all the time, but that is something that most poisons share in common, so the body naturally does not want bitter flavors.
Thank´s Drome for the info , and I must say that i´m not surprised.
Another thing to think about is how the "coctail" of chemicals affect us in vaccines,sodas and candy.
Take care brother
/Peter