Dr. Pepper Snapple Group has reportedly announced that it will remove its 7UP products with antioxidants from the market by early 2013. The company evidently denied that its decision was related to a lawsuit filed against it by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), which had alleged that the products were falsely advertised. Additional information about CSPI’s lawsuit appears in Issue 461 of this Update. According to a Dr. Pepper statement, the decision to reformulate the product for consistency across its brands was made in 2011 and that it had met with CSPI to discuss the organization’s claims this summer. The company also noted that its 7UP Cherry clearly states on the label that it is a “cherry-flavored soda that does not contain juice.” See Associated Press, November 8, 2012.
Tag Archives soda/soft drink
The Irish food and drink industry has reportedly rejected government proposals to impose a sugar tax on soft or “fizzy” drinks, calling the tax a “discriminatory” measure that “would have no health benefits and would further hit already hard-pressed Irish consumers.” Commenting on the issue, Food and Drink Industry Ireland (FDII) cited the “fat tax” initiative in Denmark that was reversed this week after authorities found it did not change consumer behavior but instead led to higher inflation and an increase in cross-border shopping. As FDII Director Paul Kelly explained, “Fiscal measures specifically aimed at altering behavior are complex to design and can be highly unpredictable. Ireland already imposes high taxes on many foods. While most foods are exempt from VAT, the standard rate of 23% applies to confectionery items like sweets, chocolate, crisps, ice-cream and soft drinks. An additional tax on sugar or soft drinks would leave Irish consumers…
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has filed a putative nationwide class action in a federal court in California against Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, Inc., alleging that the company misleads consumers, through marketing and product labeling, to believe that the antioxidants contained in its beverages are derived from fruits and that the company’s use of antioxidants in soft drinks violates contrary Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations. Green v. Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, Inc., No. ___ (C.D. Cal., filed November 8, 2012). By using the term “antioxidant” in the names of some of its beverages, the company allegedly distinguishes its products “from similar soft drinks and, thereby, command[s] a premium price for the Products.” According to the complaint, “Contrary to Defendant’s claims and representations, the Products do not contain any real cherries, real berries, or even extracts from those fruits. Nor do the Products derive their antioxidant…
A recent study has reportedly claimed that “soft drink intake is associated with higher risk of ischemic stroke for women.” Ehab Eshak, et al., “Soft drink intake in relation to incident ischemic heart disease, stroke and stroke subtypes in Japanese men and women: the Japan Public Health Centre-based study cohort,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, October 2012. After analyzing food-frequency questionnaires and data from approximately 40,000 Japanese men and women aged 40-49 years, researchers evidently concluded during an 18-year follow-up that “soft drink intake was positively associated with risk of total stroke and more specifically ischemic stroke for women.” At the same time, however, the results suggested “a nonsignificant inverse trend for risks of total and ischemic strokes…for men” that “was weakened after the exclusion of early incident cases or after the exclusion of participants with baseline comorbidities.” “There was no consensus about why an adverse effect of soft drink…
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has invited the submission of “videos of people pouring out soda on or about October 24” to celebrate the second annual Food Day. Videos will be accepted until November 7, 2012, with the winning entry receiving $1,000. According to CSPI executive director Michael Jacobson, “Food Day is about inspiring people to change diets for the better and by advocating for better food policies. Making a ‘Pour One Out’ video is the perfect way for a budding filmmaker—or anyone with a smartphone, frankly—to join the movement for healthy, affordable, and sustainable food.” Entries will apparently be judged for creativity, originality and message effectiveness. See CSPI News Release, October 16, 2012.
Relying on data provided by a study of more than 60,000 Norwegian women from 1999 to 2008, Swedish and Norwegian researchers have found that a “high intake of both AS [artificially sweetened] and SS [sugar-sweetened] beverages is associated with an increased risk of preterm delivery.” Linda Englund-Ögge, et al., “Association between intake of artificially sweetened and sugar-sweetened beverages and preterm delivery: a large prospective cohort study,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, August 2, 2012. The women were asked about servings of carbonated soft drinks and non-carbonated beverages, both AS and SS, per day, week and month, and a serving was defined as 250 mL for all beverages. The groups were divided into AS and SS groups and further divided into intake categories. For women consuming more than one serving per day of AS beverages, the adjusted odds ratio for preterm delivery was 1.11. Consumption of more than one serving of…
The City of Lakewood, Colorado, has reportedly adopted an ordinance that will subject soft drinks and candy to a 3 percent city sales tax. The tax code change was apparently considered and approved during the city council’s August 27, 2012, meeting. The ordinance is intended to align the city’s taxation of food with the state by exempting sales of food for immediate consumption from sales tax, while taxing soda and candy. According to a news source, the change takes effect in 30 days. See ABC7News, TheDenverChannel.com, August 28, 2012.
A recent study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has reportedly registered a significant decrease in the availability of soft drinks in secondary schools but “widespread access to other sugary beverages, such as fruit drinks and sport drinks.” Yvonne Terry McElrath, et al., “Trends in Competitive Venue Beverage Availability: Findings From US Secondary School,” Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, August 2012. After surveying the availability of competitive beverages in 1,900 public middle and high schools from 2006-07 to 2010-11, researchers with the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research reported that the percentage of high school students with access to regular soda fell to 25 percent in 2010-11 from 54 percent in 2006-07, while the percentage of middle schoolers with access to regular soda declined to 13 percent in 2010-11, down from 27 percent in 2006-07. At the same time, however, the survey purportedly revealed that 63 percent of…
“In an era of political polarization, Michael Bloomberg has the rare ability to come up with policies that enrage everyone,” opines New Yorker staff writer James Surowiecki in this August 13, 2012, article analyzing the mayor’s plan to prohibit all New York City food vendors from selling sodas in sizes larger than 16 ounces. Surowiecki argues that despite bipartisan disdain for the proposal, Bloomberg’s scheme “makes clever use of what economists call ‘default bias,’” the tendency for consumers to choose certain options not because they reflect actual needs or desires but because they are presented as the default selection within the context of other choices. As Surowiecki recounts, researchers have allegedly shown that people calibrate their consumption habits by outside cues “like the size of a package or a cup” as opposed to feelings of satiety. “And since the nineteen-seventies the portion sizes offered by food companies and restaurants have…
The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) has sent a July 3, 2012, letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, asking the U.S. Surgeon General’s Office to issue a report “that examines how the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages impacts the health of Americans.” Noting that the 2012 Cancer Prevention Guidelines stress the importance of a healthy diet and weight in reducing “one’s lifetime risk of developing or dying from cancer,” ACS CAN has called for an “articulate, science-based and comprehensive national plan of action” to combat rising obesity rates. “We know there is a direct link between excessive consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and obesity, and the adverse health effect can be profound in children as they grow into adults and throughout their lives,” states the letter. “As was the case in 1964, when the Surgeon General first revealed to the broad American public…
