Venezuela bans Coke Zero, cites "danger to health"

Venezuela bans Coke Zero, cites "danger to health"

www.reuters.com

CARACAS (Reuters) - The Venezuelan government of U.S.-critic President Hugo Chavez on Wednesday ordered Coca-Cola Co to withdraw its Coke Zero beverage from the South American nation, citing unspecified dangers to health.

The decision follows a wave of nationalizations and increased scrutiny of businesses in South America's top oil exporter.

Health Minister Jesus Mantilla said the zero-calorie Coke Zero should no longer be sold and stocks of the drink removed from store shelves while the government investigated its ingredients.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Interesting story here I think.

I have two ways of thinking here.

1 - is this the Venezuelan government having a pop at a US company - but, if this is the case - why just Coke Zero? If they were taking on Coca-Cola then why not remove all their products from the shelves.

2 - They actually know something about the ingredients of Coke Zero and that 'something' is worrying them intently.

I find it interesting that they have not stated what health risks they believe it contains, as this is going to potentially put doubt into people's minds as to the real reason they have done this.

Then again, perhaps they just want to confirm what they suspect before going public with it.

This could be potentially a very interesting story breaking here.

Right - back to work.

Peace,

MGGG

www.reuters.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Coke Zero tastes fantastic. Someone finally came up with a 'diet' soda that tastes like real soda and that doesn't taste 'diet'. I only have drank it a few times (trying to stay away from that stuff because of Kidney STones), but it was really good.

reply to post by machinegun_go_go


That's the trouble with a lot of these types of foods/drinks... they just get shoved out onto the shelves and we're expected to believe they're ok.

The ingredients (as written in bold) are listed on Australian cans of Coke Zero. Water anyone?

Carbonated water
Colour (150d) - aka "Sulphite Ammonia Caramel"
Food acid 338 - aka "Phosphoric Acid" (Also used for rust removal!)
Food acid 331 - aka "Sodium Citrates" (Also used in photography and as an anticoagulant of blood stored for transfusion!)
Flavour
Sweetener 951 - aka "Asapartame" (According to the US FDA, "the [National Cancer Institute] currently is studying aspartame and other dietary factors as part of a larger study of adult brain cancer." You might want to wait for the results before you drink it. Also, avoid this one if you're moody!)
Sweetener 950 - aka "Acesulfame Potassium" (Looking for reasons to avoid this sweetener? Look no further...)
Preservative 211 - aka "Sodium Benzoate" (Undiluted this stuff isn't too bad... Just don't let it touch your skin!)
Caffeine

2005 Study links Aspartame with cancer - available at the US government's NIH website
From the Conclusions... "Our study shows that Aspartame is a multi-potential carcinogenic compound whose carcinogenic effects are evident even at a daily dose of 20 mg/kg bw, much less than the current ADI for humans in Europe (40 mg/kg bw) and in the United States (50 mg/kg bw).

thezeromovement.org...
See the page for links to further info on the ingredients.

Coca-Cola Zero or Coke Zero is a product of the Coca-Cola Company. It is a sugar-free variation of Coca-Cola. It is marketed as having zero sugar,[1] except in the United States, Canada, and Taiwan, where it is marketed as having zero calories.[2]

Coke Zero's formulation is intended to be a calorie-free alternative to Coca-Cola Classic.

en.wikipedia.org...
I think there is a difference between 'intent' and reality.

Even people on Yahoo answers are warning of aspartame
au.answers.yahoo.com...

And a Diabetes is talking about it too..

Seems like Coke Zero has absolutely zero going for it right now.

Wikianswers also gives it the boot.

It's got aspartame in it. Good on the Venezualan government! It's a public health risk and should be banned in all countries.

i wonder if they've banned all diet drinks then? They all contain it.

reply to post by FlyersFan


Well if it tastes good, it must be GREAT for you!



The FDA is a joke.

Don'tcha just love how they politicize this story almost making it seem that "because they are critical of US Policy then they must be NUTS for worrying about the health of their own citizens"

I hope they keep this crap off of the shelves and I hope this story dominates the headlines for weeks!

Good job Venezuela!

aspartame is some nasty stuff. i drink lots of soda (im a caffiene fiend) but i wont touch any with aspartame. i think some one should have done the same here in the us get rid of that sweetner. there are many natural sweetners that can be substituted for sugar that havent shown as much problems as aspartame. dick chaney strikes again.

I love Coke Zero. And I've seen the reports - you have to ingest a jack ton of it to be near a risk level. Look if you're drinking 10 Coke Zeros a day for 10 years you'll have bigger problems than Aspartame.

reply to post by krill


I avoid anything with "diet" on the label these days having convinced myself that aspartame is the root of all evil. My family and friends thing I am insane.

Now I quite happily munch things loaded with real sugar ... then head off to the gym 2 or 3 times a week to work it off. I have never been in better shape my entire life.

Besides, I only see overweight people drinking diet drinks, so it must be a cause of obesity.

The 'diet' label is a LIE anyway, I drank the stuff for about 5 years and NEVER lost any weight, even with a calorie controlled diet and exercise. I stopped drinking it and the weight literally fell off, I lost a stone ( about 6.5 KG ) in about 2 months.

Apsartame is a poison, I look for it on ALL the produts I buy these days, mind you think the damage has been done , thanks poisonpeddlers.

Originally posted by Nammu
It's got aspartame in it. Good on the Venezualan government! It's a public health risk and should be banned in all countries.

i wonder if they've banned all diet drinks then? They all contain it.

Exactly what i was gonna say. It is an outright poison. I love how the article indicates "labor issues" gimme a break.

Do not drink or eat anything with Aspartame. Drink water or juice. If your concerned about flouride also then you can buy a Berkey water filter and that removes most of the fluoride or just buy bottled water that has no flouride like Dasani.

Either way if you just don't drink soda in general you will be healthier i guarantee it.

I would not touch any of the "manufactured diet stuff" for anything in this word, any diet is nothing but poison trash so full of additive and junk is not funny.

Remember since the "diet" industry has been booming people are getting fatter no slimmer, and the only thing booming is diabetes.

Venezuela is not the only country that has banned sodas in their nations.

I have fibromyalgia and aspartame drives my pain level up. I also have Metabolic syndrome and aspartame is bad for that.

The only 0 calerie sweetner i can use is Splenda.

maybe President Hugo Chavez has stock in Pepsi.

Well! I've been drinking one small can of "Cola Light" with my lunch for a couple of years now!

And I've finally decided it's time to stop drinking this 'aspartame poison'.

I'm seriously suspecting they are the cause of my headaches recently?!

I hope I can live without them?

This goes way beyond Diet Coke, Ive just had a look on the label of this Schweppes Origional Lemonade bottle which ive been drinking all day and it contains, yep, Aspartame

Get real.

I've been drinking diet coke for years. No problems whatsoever. No weight gain, nothing. But then again, I do not have chronic hypochondria and paranoia of "additives", as many "additives" are from natural sources themselves.

Aspartame might not be, but I haven't seen any reliable evidence saying it's an evil toxin consumed at levels people normally do.


I'm willing to bet this is a targeted political move, since Chavez has about the mentality of a fitful 5 year old. If this was really a concern about public health, he would be yanking more than just Coke Zero off the shelves, since aspartame is used in everything from soda pop to condiments.

Sometimes, Chavez does provide amusement.

reply to post by machinegun_go_go


I used to drink Coke Zero, but I stopped after seeing how droplets of it dried. They didn't just dry and leave a residue, they dried in droplet form. Very strange.

Originally posted by Skadi_the_Evil_Elf
Get real.

I've been drinking diet coke for years. No problems whatsoever. No weight gain, nothing. But then again, I do not have chronic hypochondria and paranoia of "additives", as many "additives" are from natural sources themselves.

Aspartame might not be, but I haven't seen any reliable evidence saying it's an evil toxin consumed at levels people normally do.


I'm willing to bet this is a targeted political move, since Chavez has about the mentality of a fitful 5 year old. If this was really a concern about public health, he would be yanking more than just Coke Zero off the shelves, since aspartame is used in everything from soda pop to condiments.

Sometimes, Chavez does provide amusement.

Sorry, but that its absolute ignorance at best. Though it could be seen a political, middle-finger, to the US, give me a break they have banned 1 type of soft drink... that's not much of a middle finger.

So I think you all can quit chirping about that. What's happening here is a government officially got the balls to say, hey wait, lets not poison our people. Aspartame, the reason why coke zero, is coke zero, is extremely toxic, and shouldn't be consumed by anyone for any reason.

I go indepth about Aspartame, www.abovetopsecret.com... there.

[edit on 11-6-2009 by king9072]

Believe it or not i wrote coca cola company some time ago about the why and how they didn't distribute the vanilla coke anymore[god i loved that] and why we have to drink this more "masculine in the market placed" zero cola while we already have dieet/light cola[but thats more for the female audience]...this was their response

In antwoord hierop, graag het volgende. Hartelijk dank voor uw suggestie maar Coca-Cola vanilla is sinds midden 2007 geen onderdeel meer van ons assortiment in Nederland. Helaas hebben wij moeten besluiten, wegens onvoldoende belangstelling van consumenten en handel, om dit niet meer voor de Nederlandse markt te produceren. Het spijt ons, dat wij u als liefhebber van Coca-Cola vanilla moeten teleurstellen. Reageer, voor verdere vragen en/of opmerkingen, niet op deze email met de "Beantwoorden" of "Reply" functie van het email programma, maar stuur ons een nieuw webformulier via het onderdeel Veel gestelde vragen op onze site. Met vriendelijke groet, COCA-COLAConsumenten Informatie

quess i have other taste then the rest over here..



[edit on 11-6-2009 by Foppezao]