6/7/2017
A while ago Coca Cola Amatil announced that it would be launching a new product “Zero Sugar Coke”.
We need to ask why would they be launching a brand new product? Firstly we must understand that the message about sugar is finally getting through to the population. Today in New York super sized sodas at fast food take away outlets are now banned. The media have over the last few years been supplying a never-ending stream of news stories, documentaries and interviews where researchers are ringing the alarm bell loud and clear about just how processed sugar is the cause of the global obesity and diabetes epidemics. The World Health Organisation has communicated to the world that our sugar intake should be capped at 6 teaspoons per day but the estimates are that people are consuming on average 26 teaspoons per day and that does not include the high levels of high fructose corn syrup consumption. All of this additional energy is stored in teh body as fat which in turn has created an epidemic on non alcoholic fatty livers which in turn is that start of our worldwide metabolic issues.
No wonder companies like Coke are seeing a drop in sales of their flagship sugar loaded product. Their answer to date regarding the sugar issue have been laughable at best. When you listen to what they have to say one wonders if laughing or crying is most appropriate. Have a look at this interview where BBC’s Jeremy Paxman interviews the President of Coca-Cola Europe and you will see what we mean.
After watching such a laughable and discusting interview, have a look at this interview, “Type 2 Diabetes Is “Processed Food Disease”. Dr Robert Lustig is just one researcher who has devoted his career to the question of what we are consuming and what he has to say in relation to sugar is so profound that we can no longer ignore it. No wonder companies like Coca Cola are scrambling to come up with new products. Their Coke Zero has seen a decline in sales. Cole drinkers will often say that it is just not the same. So what does Coca Cola come up with. A product that they hope will lift their sales once again. “No Sugar Coke”
A few years ago we published and article, “The War on Sugar” and it appears that now the food industry is starting to fight back by bringing our products which sound like they elimate the issues that are making our society sick.
They have obviously named their new product to show that they no longer have a sugar issue, we are guessing in the hope that people will flock in droves to it, but what is this No Sugar Coke?
According to the Coca Cola website here are the ingredients:
- Carbonated Water Colour (150d),
- Food Acids (338, 331),
- Sweeteners (951, 950),
- Flavour, Caffeine.
Lets for a moment have a look at what these ingredients are:
150d – Caramel IV – sulfite ammonia caramel: Caramel colouring can be produced from sugar or glucose. For products using sugar produced from starch, gene technological applications can be used: Glucose can be produced from plant starches. Maize starch can comprise a certain percentage of genetically modified maize, especially when the raw material is imported from the USA or Argentina. In the EU, a relatively small area is planted with GM maize, which is not used as a raw material for food products. This could change if significantly more GM maize is planted. In future also: starch from potatoes or wheat. Enzymes breakdown the plant starches and converting them to the required ingredients or additives. Many of these enzymes are produced with the help of genetically modified microorganisms, e.g. amylasen, glucose isomerase and pullulanase. Sugar may stem from genetically modified sugar beets. In the EU, food and feed are allowed that are derived from a GM sugar beet that is grown in North America. Commercial cultivation of GM sugar beets is not planned for the near future in the EU. Currently in the EU, sugar is won from conventional beets exclusively.
The issues experienced from consuming this chemical colour can be:
Blood Pressure: Although colas have been linked to increased high blood pressure, it was thought that the caffeine in the beverages was to blame. However, a 2005 study in the “Journal of the American Medical Association” found that although regular caffeinated coffee drinkers were not more likely to have high blood pressure, regular cola drinkers were. The researchers concluded that another component in the colas was possibly to blame — the caramel coloring rich in harmful advanced glycation end products.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest petitioned the Food and Drug Administration in January 2011 to ban two types of caramel coloring that react with ammonia, due to cancerous byproducts they contain known as 2-MEI and 4-MEI. At the same time, the state of California added 4-MEI to its list of chemicals known to cause cancer. Both complaints are based on studies published in 2003 and 2005 by the National Institutes of Health National Toxicology Program that showed the chemicals caused cancer in some mice and rats.
Immune System: Caramel coloring III, the type produced with ammonia but not sulfites, may reduce beneficial white blood cell counts in your bloodstream, according to a study published in “Toxicological Sciences” in 1993. The Dutch researchers fed mice a diet with added caramel coloring III for a month and then measured their immune response to Trichinella spiralis, a microbe that causes the disease trichinosis. The mice given the highest levels of caramel coloring had the largest decreases in immune function.
Food Acid 338: It combines very quickly in the digestive tract with calcium and magnesium and thus forms salts that are not absorbed by the body anymore.
In large quantities, it produces hypocalcemia on the bone level and calcification of soft tissues.
It is assumed that one of the causes of osteoporosis is the fact that this substance makes it difficult for the body to absorb calcium and magnesium (it binds to these minerals in the digestive tract, forming compounds that can not be absorbed). Osteoporosis and related fractures represent major public health problems. The lifetime risk of fracture exceeds 13 percent for men and 40 percent for women, and hip fractures have been linked with an excess mortality of up to 20%.
Food Acid 331: Citric acid is a normal component of body cells and will be degraded and used by the body without side effects. Pseudo-allergic reactions (intolerance) have been reported, but these are very rare. People with such intolerance should also avoid all soft fruits and berries and products made from these.
Sweetener 951 is Aspartame: According to Dr Mercola the components of aspartame can lead to a wide variety of ailments. Some of these problems occur gradually while others are immediate, acute reactions.
This is what he writes on his web site: http://www.mercola.com/article/aspartame/hidden_dangers.htm
Aspartame is made up of aspartic acid and phenylalanine. The latter has been synthetically altered to carry a methyl group, which is responsible for aspartame’s sweet taste. The phenylalanine methyl bond, called methyl ester, allows the methyl group on the phenylalanine to easily break off and form methanol.
In fruits and vegetables, methanol is bonded to a fiber called pectin that allows it to be safely passed through your digestive tract. However, in aspartame, methanol is not bonded into anything that can help eliminate it from your body.
Once inside your body, the methanol is converted by alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) enzyme into formaldehyde, which can wreak havoc on your DNA and sensitive proteins. All animals, except humans, possess the ability to break down methanol into formic acid.
A few of the many disorders associated with aspartame include the following:
Birth Defects
A study funded by Monsanto to study possible birth defects caused by consuming aspartame was cut off after preliminary data showed damaging information about aspartame. Additionally, in the book While Waiting: A Prenatal Guidebook, it is stated that aspartame is suspected of causing brain damage in sensitive individuals. A fetus may be at risk for these effects. Some researchers have suggested that high doses of aspartame may be associated with problems ranging from dizziness and subtle brain changes to mental retardation.
Cancer (Brain Cancer)
In 1981, an FDA statistician stated that the brain tumor data on aspartame was so “worrisome” that he could not recommend approval of NutraSweet™.iii
In a two-year study conducted by the manufacturer of aspartame, twelve of 320 rats fed a normal diet and aspartame developed brain tumors while none of the control rats developed tumors, and five of the twelve tumors were in rats given a low dose of aspartame.iv
The approval of aspartame was a violation of the Delaney Amendment, which was supposed to prevent cancer-causing substances such as methanol (formaldehyde) and DKP from entering our food supply.
A late FDA toxicologist testified before the U.S. Congress that aspartame was capable of producing brain tumors. This made it illegal for the FDA to set an allowable daily intake at any level. He stated in his testimony that Searle’s studies were “to a large extent unreliable” and that “at least one of those studies has established beyond any reasonable doubt that aspartame is capable of inducing brain tumors in experimental animals…”
He concluded his testimony by asking, “What is the reason for the apparent refusal by the FDA to invoke for this food additive the so-called Delaney Amendment to the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act? …And if the FDA itself elects to violate the law, who is left to protect the health of the public?”v
In the mid-1970s, it was discovered that the manufacturer of aspartame falsified studies in several ways. One of the techniques used was to cut tumors out of test animals and put them back in the study. Another technique used to falsify the studies was to list animals that had actually died as surviving the study. Thus, the data on brain tumors was likely worse than discussed above. In addition, a former employee of the manufacturer of aspartame told the FDA on July 13, 1977 that the particles of DKP were so large that the rats could discriminate between the DKP and their normal diet.vi
Diabetes
The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is actually recommending this chemical poison to persons with diabetes, but according to research conducted by a diabetes specialist, aspartame:vii
Leads to the precipitation of clinical diabetes
Causes poorer diabetic control in diabetics on insulin or oral drugs
Leads to the aggravation of diabetic complications such as retinopathy, cataracts, neuropathy and gastroparesis
Causes convulsions
In a statement concerning the use of products containing aspartame by persons with diabetes and hypoglycemia, the researchers says:viii
“Unfortunately, many patients in my practice, and others seen in consultation, developed serious metabolic, neurologic and other complications that could be specifically attributed to using aspartame products. This was evidenced by the loss of diabetic control, the intensification of hypoglycemia, the occurrence of presumed ‘insulin reactions’ (including convulsions) that proved to be aspartame reactions, and the precipitation, aggravation or simulation of diabetic complications (especially impaired vision and neuropathy) while using these products… Dramatic improvement of such features after avoiding aspartame, and the prompt predictable recurrence of these problems when the patient resumed aspartame products, knowingly or inadvertently.”
Another researcher stated that excitotoxins such as those found in aspartame can precipitate diabetes in persons who are genetically susceptible to the disease.
Emotional Disorders
In a double blind study of the effects of aspartame on persons with mood disorders, findings showed a large increase in serious symptoms for persons taking aspartame. Since some of the symptoms were so serious, the Institutional Review Board had to stop the study. Three of the participants had said that they had been “poisoned” by aspartame.
Researchers concluded that “individuals with mood disorders are particularly sensitive to this artificial sweetener and its use in this population should be discouraged.”ix One researcher stated about aspartame, “I know it causes seizures. I’m convinced also that it definitely causes behavioral changes. I’m very angry that this substance is on the market. I personally question the reliability and validity of any studies funded by the NutraSweet™ Company.”x
Additionally, there are numerous reported cases of low brain serotonin levels, depression, and other emotional disorders that have been linked to aspartame and often are relieved by stopping the intake of aspartame.
Epilepsy/Seizures
With the large and growing number of seizures caused by aspartame, it is sad to see that the Epilepsy Foundation is promoting the “safety” of aspartame. At Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 80 people who had suffered seizures after ingesting aspartame were surveyed. Community Nutrition Institute concluded the following about the survey:
“These 80 cases meet the FDA’s own definition of an imminent hazard to the public health, which requires the FDA to expeditiously remove a product from the market.”
Both the Air Force’s magazine, Flying Safety, and the Navy’s magazine, Navy Physiology, published articles warning about the many dangers of aspartame including the cumulative delirious effects of methanol and the greater likelihood of birth defects. The articles note that the ingestion of aspartame can make pilots more susceptible to seizures and vertigo.
Twenty articles sounding warnings about ingesting aspartame while flying have also appeared in the National Business Aircraft Association Digest (NBAA Digest 1993), Aviation Medical Bulletin (1988), The Aviation Consumer (1988), Canadian General Aviation News (1990), Pacific Flyer (1988), General Aviation News (1989), Aviation Safety Digest (1989), and Plane & Pilot (1990) and a paper warning about aspartame was presented at the 57th Annual Meeting of the Aerospace Medical Association (Gaffney 1986).
A hotline was even set up for pilots suffering from acute reactions to aspartame ingestion. Over 600 pilots have reported symptoms including some who have reported suffering grand mal seizures in the cockpit due to aspartame
Sweetner 950 Acesulphame Potassium Acesulphame K: is also used as an artificial sweetener, doesn’t seem to have as much negative press as Aspartame but potential heath effects could include increased levels of cholestrol in blood and it also caused cancer and tumours in animals trails.
Flavour: No information has been given so for all we know it could be anything causing anything. Sounds risky to me!
Caffeine: The Mayo Clinic state that consuming more than 500-600 mg of caffeine a day may lead to insomnia, nervousness, restlessness, irritability, an upset stomach, a fast heartbeat and even muscle tremors. However, previous research has linked even moderate amounts of caffeine to negative health effects.
What Now?
The question is would you touch this stuff? If you do you either don’t care about your health or you love to live dangerously! We think that the following video sums up the Coke story exceptionally well.