There is a startling Consumer Report announcement this week that the respected organization has found a suspected cancer-causing chemical, 4-methylimidazole, or 4-MEI, in soft drinks. The presence of a human carcinogen will alarm many parents given the consumption of such drinks by children. The largest brand slammed in the report is Pepsi. It certainly makes the company’s “Live For Now” slogan a bit more menacing.
The chemical is used to add the brown color to soda and is found in other drinks like Coke. However, Coke has what is described as a “negligible cancer level” in any single can while Pepsi was much higher. Malta Goya, which is a Hispanic soft drink, is also particularly high in the chemical. California has recently required warned levels on the presence of 4-mei.
The possible market hit for Pepsi is huge. Many views Pepsi and Coke to be interchangeable and consumers may decide that Pepsi is “not 4-mei.”
We rarely let our kids drink soft drinks and, though I was once a huge consumer, I have been cutting back on my own consumption.
Pepsi responded to the study quickly by saying that the average amount of diet soda consumed by people is just 100 milliliters and thus the chemical is not a risk. That is not a particularly compelling spin since many people drink sodas in high quantities and one hundred milliliters is less than a third of a can of soda. A full can actually exceeds the California limit. As for Goya Foods, it is simply not responding which is equally chilling.
This could make for some legal challenges as a product defect, particularly when some companies have continued to use the chemical to a greater degree than others. With its main rival using less of the chemical, it is hard to argue that the reduction of the chemical would deprive Pepsi products of some essential component or ingredient. With the issuance of warnings in a major market like California, these companies are playing a dangerous game with a potential carcinogen in my view. The story also is likely to reaffirm the suspicion of many consumers that the federal government is not proactive in confronting major corporations on such risks.
Notably, this is not the first such danger associated with soft drinks. There is a growing movement to educate and discourage the consumption of the products. This is not just a movement linked to obesity but also diet sodas and the use of artificial sweeteners. This guy below may soon be viewed is a less than wholesome light if these studies continue to question the safety of that cultural American touchstone: the soda.
I promise I won’t give my lab rat any more soda.
A study can be conducted to show that anything and everything causes Cancer. Another study will soon show that the first study was bunk. A third study will show that the substance causes impotence. A fourth study will show that it causes neither Cancer not impotence, but that it makes people’s brains shrivel. Ad inifnitum.
To be fair, these studies do not take into account the decision making process of the individuals — they involve rats or they just map wherever the human brain lights up in response to a given stimuli — but with children, their brains are still developing and they will not be able to fully appreciate the risk and consequences — especially on a long term basis — until mid 20s, but only if their brain develops normally otherwise such capabilities will be delayed.
Furthermore such rational decision making requires an adequate base of factual knowledge and life experiences.
LDL,
I am a root beer drinker…. Used to be Dr Pepper…. But they changed the flavor around it’s just not the same…. Or iced tea unsweetened….. With lime…..
I think those officers especially the zipper gripper …. Should be deflated…. Where it hurts the most…. Guess this gives a new meaning to groing pains…..
add salt to the list
No citations, just google it — it’s everywhere. Be sure to search Krispy Kreme
…but the combination of sugar, fat, simple carbohydrates has been shown to have the same effect of the brain, but in a greater degree, than cocaine. -Oro Lee
Just what the doctor ordered! I’m off in search of the magic brew. (:
Oh, don’t trample my rights to freely drink whatever I choose . . .
Addicts have no free choice once addicted — their drug of choice changes the physical structure of the brain causing impaired judgment. I’m not willing to accept that sugar, even HFCS, is all that addictive, but the combination of sugar, fat, simple carbohydrates has been shown to have the same effect of the brain, but in a greater degree, than cocaine.
Two deathly and one polite reasons to avoid sodas —
Sugar and aspartame
And carbonated beverages can cause flatulence
They named Coca Cola after Cocaine for a reason. And Pepsi was named after Pepsido for a reason. The coloring is to foil customs. Just drink water. Only eat home grown green beans. That way your artFays will not be toxic to the astardBays who live nearby. The story was written by my dogpac’s medical advisor who lives here in FL named Steven Malarky.
OUCH…. -LaserDLiquidator
I’ll say “ouch”…
Eat, drink Coke, and be merry… for, tomorrow, you, too, may need the following:
“Know Your Rights: What To Do If You’re Stopped By Police, Immigration Agents or the FBI”
https://www.aclu.org/drug-law-reform-immigrants-rights-racial-justice/know-your-rights-what-do-if-you (via LDL’s link in comment at 9:27 am)
(A little 4-MEI is the least of my worries these days, but kids should certainly avoid it. All things in moderation…)
That may be a way to rid the world of DU like at Fallujah …
“Ridding the world of toxins one soda at a time.”
LOL –
AY: R U a Fresca drinker?
Meanwhile, do you want to talk about bursting Amendment Rights?
Philly Police stop and frisk honor student in freezing weather;
and grab him so hard that they burst his bubble’s
OUCH….
http://theprogressivecynic.com/2014/01/24/police-castrate-honor-student-during-stop-and-frisk/
Interesting that they give the “average” amount in milliliters, as most Americans have no clue how much that actually is. It sure looks like an attempt to hide the facts and/or make them as confusing as possible.
Question #23 in Section 2 (Logical Reasoning) of LSAT 62 (December 2010) illustrates the flaw in Pepsi’s reliance on statistical averages for a defense:
Similarly, in McCleskey v. Kemp, the Supreme Court rejected a claim that the death penalty is racially biased because the defendant mistakenly relied on aggregate data (the Baldus study) when trying to prove discrimination in his particular case.
Pepsi’s rebuttal is like a warm, flat soda.
And I bet coke paid for the survey….
Profits are more important than people, including their health. Have you ever seen a corporation say they are in the people caring business? No. They are in the profit making business, the consequences to people be damned….
The Soda (or ‘Pop’ as my northern brethens call it) Industry has been hiding and fighting the truth(s) about their beverages and pancreatic cancer connection for decades. When will the American people wake up?
They didn’t call them soda jerks for nothing.
“Pepsi responded to the study quickly by saying that the average amount of diet soda consumed by people is just 100 milliliters and thus the chemical is not a risk. ”
I think Pepsi just discoved the cure for cancer.
The average person does not have cancer, so nobdy has cancer. Simple!
Ditto for obesity, etc.
“Drink Coke; great taste and less cancer”