Mountain DEWmocracy flavors and more Japanese Pepsi

http://www.avclub.com/articles/mountain-dewmocracy-flavors-and-more-japanese-peps,40506/

Taste Test
Mountain DEWmocracy flavors and more Japanese Pepsi
Josh Modell
April 27, 2010

Okay, this whole thing is at least a little bit insane—but maybe that’s what Mountain Dew is going for. In its never-ending search for the next extreme Dew flavor, the company launched its “Dewmocracy” campaign in 2008. You may recall that we Taste Tested that first batch. Our favorite flavor in that bunch—Voltage—was the winner, which we all felt really good about. We proceeded to dance the night away in Grant Park and tout the dawn of a new era. (Until it became clear that Voltage was just going to compromise on health care and backpedal on some of its strongest promises.)

For the current round of Dewmocracy, the Dew people really spun out of control while reaching out to (presumably) young people. Allow me to cut and paste:

“During June and July 2009, DEW Labs trucks drove around the U.S. giving fans a chance to try seven never-before-tasted flavors of DEW. The mobile tour reached more than 200,000 fans and was the first step in harnessing the collective intelligence of DEW drinkers. In addition to the truck tour, we also sent tasting kits to 50 DEW fanatics. These super fans were given all seven different flavors, a DEW video camera and three tasks: Taste. Debate. Vote. At the end of this phase, the seven flavors were narrowed down to three: Lime Blasted DEW, Punch of Tropical DEW, and Smooth Citrus DEW. These three final flavors were sent to the DEW Labs community—a group of 4,000 of our most passionate DEW fans—so that they could pick their favorite one. Once they tried all three flavors, DEW Labs split up into three Flavor Nations and banded together in collaboration to build out other elements of their favorite flavors.”

Phew. That’s a lot to sip on, I realize, so just take a minute to soak in the caffeine-spiked sensation. I don’t know about you, but I always thought that snack and soda flavors were invented by guys in white coats who were just secretly trying to figure out how to cram addictive ingredients into everything. When it came to taste, I just assumed that these old white guys took samples home to their children and determined which one they’d chug the most of without dying. And maybe that’s the way other companies actually, ahem, Dew it. But not here. This was (and continues to be) an incredibly complex, overcomplicated process that most Americans probably don’t understand or care to understand, much like the electoral college. There was also a contest to name these things and design the cans, with $10,000 prizes. This is serious soda business.

ANYWAY. We’re down to three flavors, and they’re in stores already. You can vote online at Dewmocracy.com for your favorite. (But you don’t HAVE to vote. A majority of Americans won’t.) Your choices, with their full names: Typhoon (“Punch of Tropical DEW”), Distortion (“Lime Blasted DEW”), and White Out (“Smooth Citrus DEW”). They arrived in our office in a heavy metal Dewmocracy-branded ammo case, which was overnighted to us. It weighed 10 pounds and contained one can of each of the three finalists.

We also happened to have a couple of unusual Japanese Pepsi flavors in the refrigerator—azuki and shibo. Azuki refers to the red bean that’s seen pretty frequently in Japanese dishes. (Lots of Japanese restaurants offer azuki ice cream, for instance.) It isn’t a particularly sweet taste, but it’s pretty common over there. We were unfamiliar with shiso, which is sub-billed on the bottle as “Japanese Refreshing Flavor.” Our resident Japanese genius Jun could only tell me that it’s a “leafy green;” Wikipedia says it’s an herb in the mint family, often eaten with chicken or sushi, or even on pizza, like basil.

The taste: Here we have examples of two completely opposite approaches to soda-flavor innovation, neither necessarily better than the other: The Dew flavors play it pretty safe, while the Japanese Pepsi flavors, unsurprisingly, go pretty far out. That’s probably because the Dewmocracy campaign plays by the rules: Each of these new flavors has, at its core, the essence of Mountain Dew, that unmistakable-yet-unplaceable citrus tang. For you, the voter, that means a certain level of comfort is already in place. Even if you don’t like the seasoning, you’ve still got a little bit of Dew at the heart of the drink. That also means that it’s easy to shrug your shoulders and say stuff like, “It’s like a slightly red-tasting Mountain Dew.”

Still, we carefully considered each new Dew flavor, letting them breathe, smelling their corks, and dispensing them only in the finest carafes. “White Out: Smooth Citrus” was the clear winner in our labs, because it was the least effusively sweet. It was indeed smooth, and would probably make a nice mixer for some classy vodka. “Distortion: Lime Blasted” ratcheted up the intensity, tipping the scales in favor of something slightly sour, though at the same time still very sweet. “Typhoon: Punch Of Tropical Dew” didn’t do much for anybody: Sometimes when a brand reaches too far outside its comfort zone, it tastes like store-brand fizzy punch. But all was not lost, because Mountain Dew is asking for us to vote only for our favorite. And as much as it pains us to vote for the Caucasian, “White Out” was the winner by far.

These Japanese Pepsi flavors have no tether to the taste of original Pepsi—and no desire to have any sort of cola taste or identification. This is a proud Pepsi, with a reputation built on respect for tradition, but unafraid to innovate. Sadly, for American palates, that’s not necessarily a good thing. When you’re expecting a sweet sugar blast, being hit with a sharp, mint-like herb flavor can be a little jarring. Same goes double for azuki, which in spite of its artificial color and sugary smell, does indeed taste like beans. Neither was terrible, and we probably would’ve had more measured reactions if we were expecting Vitamin Water. But there’s plenty of sugar in all of these, though none of that wildly manufactured high-fructose corn syrup flavor we’ve come to know and love.

Office reactions:

White Out: Smooth Citrus Dew

•“Yep, that’s smooth. So smooth, it’s pretty much indistinguishable from Slice. Where’s the X-TREEM?”
•“It tasted slightly of coconut and lime.”
•“It’s the bastard child of Mountain Dew and cream soda.”
•“Definitely a member of the cream-soda family. Perhaps the wacky cousin, but you could still tell it is related.”
•“The most refreshing and drinkable of the bunch. I’d fancy some of this with a smidge of rum.”
•“The Crystal Pepsi of Dew, minus any flavor.”
•“I couldn’t taste anything.”

Distortion: Lime Blasted Dew

•“That isn’t half-awful. It’s pretty strongly limey. You almost can’t taste the chemicals and the high-fructose corn syrup.”
•“It’s regular Dew with a melted lime Fla·Vor·Ice.”
•“Tastes like your rudimentary lemon-lime beverage. This would probably go well with vodka.”
•“They removed all the citrus from regular Mountain Dew and added a capful of lime juice.”
•“The best of the lot, but needs to be more assertive. Steal the taste from Jarritos Lime Soda.”

Typhoon: Punch Of Tropical Dew

•“Carbonated punch. Kinda bland, but not bad. Pretty much like red Kool-Aid with some bubbles.”
•“Tasted like a watermelon Jolly Rancher.”
•“Just too damn sweet.”
•“Almost has some sort of cough-syrupy taste. I doubt I could finish a whole can of this guy.”
•“Like soda you’d get at a church potluck.”
•“Lies somewhere between Code Red and Gatorade, like an EXTREME soda sandwich.”

Shiso Pepsi

•“This tastes more like shampoo than anything else that’s ever crossed my lips. And not even good shampoo—some cheap Suave crap.”
•“The first sip tasted slightly of plant. Then it tasted like lime and mint, and the mint was so strong that it reminded me of toothpaste.”
•“The soda version of a fresh-cut-grass scratch-and-sniff sticker.”
•“I was not expecting the minty flavor, but it actually wasn’t too bad. I can see where the leaf is represented, as it does smell and taste slightly like grass.”
•“Green tea with mint and grassy flavors. I’d say it’s unique.”
•“Lawn clippings and Granny Smith apples? It’s hard to nail down.”
•“Tastes like Play-Doh rolled around in cut grass.”

Azuki Pepsi

•“Oh God, I don’t know what’s worse, that someone decided to make red-bean-paste Pepsi, or that it actually tastes this much like red-bean paste.”
•“It’s like the makers of Pepsi joined forces with the people at Jones Soda specifically just to gross me out. This is incredibly disgusting.”
•“Carbonated beverage and bean flavor should not go together.”
•“Like Vitamin Water with bubbles. Not too sweet.”
•“Really delivers on the azuki bean flavor. I’m not saying that’s a good thing.”
•“It’s floral but not fruity, with a starchy aftertaste.”
•“If it was a little less sweet, I might actually drink the red-bean Pepsi.”
•“I keep thinking about the liquid from canned kidney beans.”

Where to get it: The Mountain Dew flavors should be available everywhere, but only for a few months—then two get voted off the island, and one will remain. The Japanese Pepsi flavors are generally limited-edition, but we found them at napajapan.com

Sugar Makes A Comeback

http://www.retroland.com/retroblog/food/sugar-makes-a-comeback/

Sugar Makes A Comeback
By Eric
Jan 17, 2010

Are you one of those soda purists who curse the day when their favorite beverage switched from heavenly sugar to that sorry substitute – the evil high-fructose corn syrup? Do you find yourself scanning each new store you enter to see if maybe, just maybe, they carry Coca-Cola in the tall glass bottles, the ones manufactured in Mexico that still contain sucrose?

Realizing that a sizable portion of the soda-buying public yearns for a return to sugar in their soft drinks, the folks over at Pepsi went all retro on us, introducing “Throwback” versions of both Pepsi and Mountain Dew. Packaged in cans that look just like the ones you remember from yesteryear, these products are available for a limited time – until February 22, according to the company website.

At Retroland, we want to know how you feel about the return of these sucrose-laden soft drinks. Have you tried them, and if so, what did you think? Share your thoughts on these retro-sodas with all of us at Retroland. Meanwhile, some of us will be anxiously waiting to see if Coke jumps on the bandwagon, so that one needn’t travel too far to, once again, experience “The Real Thing.”

Health fears over use of sweetener

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/health/health-fears-over-use-of-sweetener-1.929341

Health fears over use of sweetener
Coca Cola and Pepsi switched to sweetening their US products with HFCS in 1984
30 Oct 2009

A sugary ingredient that is commonly used to flavour processed foods and soft drinks could be a major cause of high blood pressure, new research has found.

High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is abundant in many types of foods and beverages, including fizzy drinks, biscuits, ketchup and bread, and was originally viewed as a “healthy” method of sweetening.

Its introduction 20 years ago has caused consumption of the fruit sugar fructose to rise sharply, alongside increasing levels of obesity.

Although healthy amounts of fructose exist naturally in fruit, excessive amounts of the sugar may be harmful. Studies have already shown that large quantities of fructose cause the liver to pump fats into the bloodstream that may damage arteries.

Links to insulin resistance and diabetes have been documented, with research also concluding that when people consume artificial sweeteners they have an increased desire to keep eating.

Researchers who carried out the new study in the US looked at more than 4500 adults with no prior history of high blood pressure.

Fructose intake was calculated by asking participants to rate their consumption of foods such as fruit juices, soft drinks, bakery products and confectionery.

The study found that people who ate or drank more than 74 grams of fructose per day, the equivalent to 2.5 sugary soft drinks, increased their risk of developing high blood pressure.

“Normal” blood pressure is said to be a reading of around 120/80 millimetres of mercury (mmHg) depending on age. The first figure relates to blood pressure when the heart is actively beating, the second is the reading of the blood pressure between beats.

More than 74 grams of fructose a day increased the chances of a higher reading of 135/85mmHg by 28%, the study found. It also increased the likelihood of a higher reading of 140/90mmHg by 36% and 160/100mmHg by 87%.

Since it was first developed in the United States in the 1970s, HFCS has widely replaced sugar as a result of the vast corn subsidies offered to farmers and the high price of sugar tariffs and quotas.

While there is no naturally occurring fructose in corn syrup, an enzyme was discovered in the 1950s that could turn its glucose content into fructose. This process was refined in the 1970s, leading to the mass production of HFCS. The product is also easier to blend and transport given its liquid form.

HFCS is now preferred over cane sugar among the vast majority of American food and drink manufacturers thanks to its low production costs. Coca Cola and Pepsi switched to sweetening their products with the substance in 1984, but continue to use sugar in other nations. Four main companies in the US control 85% of the HFCS market.

The use of HFCS in Europe has not been as widespread as in America. In 2005, the EU set a production quota of 303,000 tonnes a year. By contrast, the EU produced an average of 18.6 million tons of sugar annually between 1999 and 2001.

Americans today consume 30% more fructose than they did 20 years ago and up to four times more than they did 100 years ago, those behind the latest study reported yesterday at the annual meeting of the American Society of Nephrology in California.

Dr Diana Jalal, from the University of Colorado, and colleagues wrote in their paper: “These results indicate that high fructose intake in the form of added sugars is significantly and independently associated with higher blood pressure levels in the US adult population with no previous history of hypertension.”

Further work was needed to see if lowering fructose consumption could normalise blood pressure, Dr Jalal said.

15 Truly Shocking Facts about Soft Drinks

http://dentalassistingschool.org/15-truly-shocking-facts-about-soft-drinks/

15 Truly Shocking Facts about Soft Drinks

Who really thinks that much about ordering a Coca Cola or Pepsi with lunch? It’s delicious and brings a slight tear to your eye if you gulp the cold bubbles too fast. What’s not to love? The calorie count for one, but drinking soda can also lead to more health problems than a larger pant size. Inside that can or bottle, a host of harmful stuff is waiting. Read on for 15 soda shockers that may make you want to put that soft drink you’re sipping on now.

1. Sodium benzoate, a preservative commonly found in high-acidic sodas like Fanta and Dr. Pepper, can screw with your DNA. The additive can cause health concerns like Parkinson’s disease, cancer, cirrhosis and hyperactivity in children. In 2008, Coca-Cola removed sodium benzoate from Diet Coke, and plans to remove it in other soda drinks as well.

2. Sodas have a massive amount of sugar stored in that little can or bottle – as much as 10 teaspoons. A human liver can’t handle that much sugar at once and processes it into fat.

3. Soda has been known to cause serious gastrointestinal problems from increased stomach acid levels from caffeine. Not only that, but caffeine is addictive.

4. In 1994, the Journal of Adolescent Health published a study correlating sodas with bone fractures in young girls. The study concluded that there was “strong association between cola beverage consumption and bone fractures in girls.”

5. Let’s talk about diabetes and soda. The spike of energy you feel after downing a soft drink is a result of insulin being released to control the sugar levels in your body. Eventually with diabetes, you must deliver your own sources of insulin to control the levels of sugar in your body because your pancreas is tired.

6. The acids in soft drinks can wear away tooth enamel leaving your teeth to fend for themselves against other lesser, natural acids.

7. Diet soft drinks that contain saccharine can actually make you gain weight by tricking your body into eating more because sodas sweetened with saccharine actually have no calories to metabolize according to a study by Purdue University. There seems to be nothing diet about diet soft drinks when they add to your waistline.

8. Carbonated drinks can lead to cancer. When you drink a soft drink and it results in acid reflux problems or heartburn, you are actually increasing your chances in developing esophageal cancer, especially if the condition goes untreated.

9. Liquid calories are the enemy, and sodas have a lot of them. According to an article on the “liquid candy,” a 32 ounce Coca Cola contains nearly 400 calories. That’s certainly something to think about before you supersize that value meal.

10. A 2007 laboratory study led by food science professor, Chi-Tang Ho, Ph.D, of Rutgers University concluded that out of 11 different carbonated sodas containing high fructose corn syrup also had alarmingly high levels of carbonyls, a reactive compound believed to cause tissue damage. Carbonyls can be harmful to people with diabetes that already have elevated levels of reactive carbonyls. Ho estimated that a can of soda can have up to five times the amount of carbonyls than blood tested from a diabetic individual. Therefore, high fructose corn syrup may not be so good for you.

11. Caffeine withdrawal may make you cranky. It can give you nasty headaches and possibly cause you to chase your husband around the living room, frying pan in hand ready to strike. Just a friendly warning.

12. It’s an old tale, but Coca Cola used to contain small amounts of cocaine as its special ingredient until 1929. How much was actually in the soft drink is uncertain, but in 1885 when the product was developed there must have been more than a few people walking around with a cocaine buzz.

13. Experts have found that drinking between two and nine liters of cola a day can cause a condition called hypokalemia that inhibits muscle function from a loss in potassium. Two patients studied suffered from symptoms like fatigue, appetite loss, muscle weakness and persistent vomiting from drinking several liters of soda a day according to the International Journal of Clinical Practice. Both patients were weaned off the cola and symptoms disappeared.

14. Drinking too much coke can cause metabolic syndrome. The American Heart Association characterizes metabolic syndrome as multiple metabolic risk factors found in one individual. Some of these risk factors include elevated blood pressure, abdominal obesity, low HDL cholesterol and high LDL cholesterol and insulin resistance. Metabolic syndrome can lead to diabetes and heart problems.

15. Chronic cola drinkers can also expect a host of other health problems to follow the above mentioned and possibly others that have not been identified by health experts. Some other diseases linked to excessive soft drink consumption include gout, chronic kidney disease, osteoporosis, kidney stones and tooth decay.

The refreshing crack of a can or bottle of soda may sound good, but the health risks outweigh a few moments of sugary pleasure. Researchers are finding new links to health problems and soda every year, but you have to die from something.

Pepsi Products Get a Sweet Makeover

http://food.aol.com/new-pepsi

Pepsi Products Get a Sweet Makeover with Real Sugar
Pepsi announces a trio of additions to their product lines
by Kat Kinsman

Members of the original Pepsi Generation are about to get a sweet trip down memory lane. The company announced on Thursday that three new "retro" sodas will be hitting beverage aisles beginning in March and April.

Frank Cooper, a VP for Pepsi-Cola North America Beverages announced via the company's website, "Pepsi Natural and the Throwback duo (Pepsi and Mountain Dew) give consumers the opportunity to refresh how they experience soft drinks."

The big difference? Packaging and sweetener. Pepsi Natural, touted as a "premium" cola, replaces the brand's standard sweetener -- high fructose corn syrup -- with natural cane and beet sugar, shaving four grams of sugar per 12-ounce serving. Pepsi's website also touted lightly sparkling water, natural caramel, kola nut extract, natural apple extract and a light, amber color as hallmarks of its revamped formula.

Two more brand extensions, Pepsi Throwback and Mountain Dew Throwback, will be available for a limited time only. These soft drinks are also sugar-sweetened and packaged with an old school design, inspired by the '60s and '70s. Both will be nationally available beginning April 20th, for a limited run of eight weeks.

High fructose corn syrup has come under fire from opponents who claim that the substance -- chemically identical to sugar -- promotes obesity, though no scientific causality has been found. HFCS became popular with manufacturers in the 1980s as an alternative to cane sugar, which generally costs twice as much. Sugar sweetened Pepsi products, indicated by a white cap, are available in the United States during Passover, as the consumption of corn is forbidden under Kosher law during that time period.

Stevia-Sweetened Diet Soft Drink Hits the Market

http://www.naturalnews.com/025458.html

First Stevia-Sweetened Diet Soft Drink Hits the Market: Zevia!
Thursday, January 29, 2009
David Gutierrez, staff writer
Key concepts: Stevia, Zevia and Soda

(NaturalNews) A new company called Zevia has introduced a line of stevia-sweetened, zero-calorie carbonated soft drinks, the first such products to hit the U.S. market.

Zevia soda comes in four flavors: Cola, Orange, Root Beer and Twist (lemon-lime). It contains no calories, but everything else soda drinkers have come to expect, from carbonation to caffeine (the cola contains 45 milligrams, about as much as a Diet Coke).

Because stevia has not been approved as a sweetener by the FDA, Zevia is not technically a soft drink, but rather a nutritional supplement, even though it can be found next to sodas on the shelves of 900 stores across the United States. A label on the product reads, "A dietary supplement is not permitted to disclose the amount of calories, carbs, fat, when there is zero. For that reason, Zevia does not disclose them."

Stevia is a natural sweetener derived from the leaves of a tropical American plant, and has a long history of traditional use in Brazil and Paraguay. It has been approved as a food ingredient in Japan since the 1970s.

According to Zevia co-founder Ian Eisenberg, the process of removing stevia's bitter taste and making a good-tasting soft drink was long and difficult.

"We made a lot of really, really bad soda and drank it," he said.

"There's a reason Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi don't have a lot of competition," agreed co-founder Jessica Newman. But now that the drink has been perfected and rave consumer reviews are coming in, "We are on a crusade to get people to kick the diet soda habit."

Major soft drink companies are also positioning themselves to exploit stevia's appeal as a natural, no-calorie sweetener. Cargill and Coca-Cola have already submitted a stevia product named Truvia to the FDA for approval and Coke hopes to market a stevia beverage before the end of 2008. Pepsi has introduced a stevia-based sweetener in Peru and plans to follow up with U.S. product launch this fall.

Analysts believe that both Coke and Pepsi will wait for the official FDA go-ahead before selling stevia-sweetened soft drinks.

Sources for this story include: seattlepi.nwsource.com.

FDA Approves Stevia

http://www.naturalnews.com/News_000626_stevia_Truvia_FDA.html

FDA Approves Stevia, Ends the Era of Oppression of this Herbal Sweetener
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, December 19, 2008
Key concepts: Stevia, Truvia and FDA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted GRAS approval for a natural, zero-calorie sweetener it once sought to wipe out from the U.S. marketplace. Following political pressure from powerful consumer product corporations (Coca-Cola and Pepsi, primarily), the FDA has once again fallen in step with the interests of Big Business and legalized a food and beverage ingredient that it once aggressively oppressed.

In this case, however, the approval of this ingredient happens to be in the best interests of consumers. Why? Because it will largely replace aspartame, an artificial sweetener chemical linked to numerous neurological disorders, including headaches, eye disorders and other problems.

It will also unleash a wave of stevia-sweetened products for consumers, and that's good news for diabetics or anyone seeking healthier products sweetened with an herbal extract rather than a synthetic chemical.

I publicly predicted this FDA decision just two weeks ago an article containing thirty-one predictions for 2009 (http://www.naturalnews.com/024976.html). The FDA's approval of stevia is prediction #8, for those keeping track. (Interestingly, at least two of the top 13 predictions for 2009 have already come true in the last month of 2008!)

The circumstances surrounding this FDA approval of stevia reveal yet again the true loyalties of the agency. When stevia threatened the profits of aspartame, it was routinely suppressed by the agency. FDA thugs seized imports of stevia at the border, destroyed millions of dollars in stevia products, threatened companies with fines for daring to sell stevia, and even ordered one company to destroy its recipe books that mentioned stevia in dessert recipes. But now, when Coca-Cola and Pepsi want stevia approved, the FDA suddenly reverses its oppression and decides to legalize the herb.

Again, this is a rare case where the FDA's decision benefits consumers, but the circumstances behind the decision were in no way motivated by consumer interest. They were motivated by corporate profits.

Betty Martini's victory

What's so profitable about stevia? Well, thanks to the efforts of Betty Martini and others who have been warning about the dangers of aspartame, word has spread across the 'net to the point where informed consumers no longer want to consume aspartame at all. In other words, the aspartame opponents succeeded in destroying the consumer acceptability of aspartame! And that led the big players (Coke, Pepsi, etc.) to look for something that would be more acceptable to consumers.

That search led them to stevia. And once Big Business got behind the herb, it was only a matter of time before the FDA caved in to commercial interests and legalized the herb.

Realize this crucial point: The FDA's decisions these days are based entirely on corporate profits and have absolutely nothing to do with science, safety or consumer interests. Remember, it was just a few days ago that the FDA declared infants, children and even pregnant women could now eat essentially unlimited quantities of mercury in fish, without any negative health consequences whatsoever! This is the same agency that says children can "safely" eat melamine, bisphenol-A, MSG, sodium nitrite and all sorts of other dangerous, toxic substances that harm human health.

So don't be fooled for a minute into thinking that the FDA's approval of stevia has anything to do with serving the People.

Stevia victory!

Nevertheless, this approval of stevia stands as a major consumer victory. And I want to take a minute to applaud three people who deserve big-time credit for spreading the word about aspartame, thereby creating demand for stevia that has finally led to its approval:

• Dr. Betty Martini (http://www.mpwhi.com/main.htm)
• Jeff Rense (www.Rense.com)
• Dr. Russell Blaylock (www.RussellBlaylockMD.com)

There are many others, of course, and even NaturalNews may deserve some credit (I've been promoting stevia for ten years now), but the main credit goes to Dr. Betty Martini who has fought aspartame for well over a decade.

In fact, the approval of stevia is paving the way for the banning of aspartame! And I predict aspartame will eventually be banned or removed from the GRAS list, but that would have never happened unless an alternative were available. Stevia is that alternative.

Is Cargill's stevia really safe?

There is some speculation that the patented stevia being used by Coca-Cola, Pepsi and other big businesses is in some way less natural than the traditional stevia we've been buying at health food stores for years. Some have wondered how their patented stevia (Truvia) could actually be patented unless there were some synthetic molecules in it.

It's a reasonable question, but at the moment, I'm not aware of any evidence of Truvia being adulterated or synthesized in any way at all. In fact, I personally welcome the ingredient and applaud Cargill for pressuring the FDA into getting this GRAS approved. There is no evidence I'm aware of that their stevia is genetically modified or altered in any way. Of course, if such evidence emerges, I'll make it available here on NaturalNews, but at the moment I'm supporting this Truvia ingredient and would even consume it myself. That's always subject to change if new information emerges, of course.

Sherry Weiss Poall, who works for the RF Binder public relations agency that serves Cargill, has been distributing safety research data about Truvia since July, 2008, but since those studies were paid for by Cargill, many people might dismiss their objectivity.

In any case, I believe that the natural health community should cautiously embrace this ingredient for the time being. It is, after all, a hugely positive move for the food and beverage industry to be able to ditch aspartame and shift to an herbal sweetener. If anything, this is a monumental victory for natural health over synthetic chemicals. It's a victory that took over a decade to become a reality, but it has finally arrived in the United States thanks to this late decision by a reluctant FDA.

Watch for stevia-sweetened products to appear on store shelves everywhere. You'll also see lots of formulations that will combine stevia with other sweeteners to provide higher sweetness with fewer overall calories (and a lower glycemic index).

Coke to unveil natural diet drink in U.S.: report

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081215/us_nm/us_cocacola

Coke to unveil natural diet drink in U.S.: report
12-15-8

(Reuters) – Coca-Cola Co is expected to launch a drink in the U.S. this week containing a natural, calorie-free sweetener, the Wall Street Journal said.

Coke is pushing ahead even though the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as of Sunday hadn't issued formal approval of the ingredient, the paper said.

Coke plans to market three flavors of a juice drink in its Odwalla line that contain the sweetener, derived from the herb stevia, the paper said citing people familiar with Coke's plans.

Coca-Cola's rival PepsiCo Inc has several drinks ready to go in the U.S. market with the sweetener, the paper said, adding that the company is waiting for the FDA to clear the additive.

Stevia is approved for use in at least 12 countries and as a dietary supplement in the U.S., according to the paper.

After some studies suggested adverse health effects from stevia-based products, such as potential mutations in the livers of rats, the FDA concluded in the early 1990s that data weren't sufficient to allow its use as a food additive, the paper said.

Coke, Pepsi and companies they are working with told the paper that their sweetener -- called Truvia by Coke and PureVia by Pepsi -- is more highly purified than the versions of stevia used in those earlier tests, and that new data have been submitted to the FDA.

Coca-Cola and PepsiCo could not be immediately reached for comment by Reuters.

(Reporting by Ajay Kamalakaran in Bangalore; Editing by Mike Nesbit)

Aquafina labels to spell out source - tap water

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070726/hl_nm/pepsico_aquafina_dc

Aquafina labels to spell out source - tap water
By Martinne Geller
Thu Jul 26, 2007

PepsiCo Inc. will spell out that its Aquafina bottled water is made with tap water, a concession to the growing environmental and political opposition to the bottled water industry.

According to Corporate Accountability International, a U.S. watchdog group, the world's No. 2 beverage company will include the words "Public Water Source" on Aquafina labels.

"If this helps clarify the fact that the water originates from public sources, then it's a reasonable thing to do," said Michelle Naughton, a Pepsi-Cola North America spokeswoman.

Pepsi Chief Executive Indra Nooyi told Reuters earlier this week the company was considering such a move.

Pepsi's Aquafina and Coca-Cola Co's Dasani are both made from purified water sourced from public reservoirs, as opposed to Danone's Evian or Nestle's Poland Spring, so-called "spring waters," shipped from specific locations the companies say have notably clean water.

Coca-Cola Co. told Reuters it will start posting online information about the quality control testing it performs on Dasani by the end of summer or early fall.

"Concerns about the bottled-water industry, and increasing corporate control of water, are growing across the country," said Gigi Kellett, director of the "Think Outside the Bottle" campaign, which aims to encourage people to drink tap water.

San Francisco's mayor banned city employees from using city funds to buy bottled water when tap water is available. Ann Arbor, Michigan passed a resolution banning commercially bottled water at city events and Salt Lake City, Utah asked department heads to eliminate bottled water.

Critics charge the bottled water industry adds plastic to landfills, uses too much energy by producing and shipping bottles across the world and undermines confidence in the safety and cleanliness of public water supplies, all while much of the world's population is without access to clean water.

But industry observers said such opposition is unlikely to drain U.S. sales of bottled water, which reached 2.6 billion cases in 2006, according to Beverage Digest. The industry newsletter estimated that U.S. consumers spent about $15 billion on bottled water last year.

"Consumers have an affection for bottled water. It's not an issue of taste or health, it's about convenience," the newsletter's publisher, John Sicher, said. "Try walking up (New York City's) Third Avenue on a hot day and getting a glass of tap water."

Dave Kolpak, a portfolio manager at Victory Capital Management, said the environmental objections will have little impact on the bottom line for either Pepsi or Coke, though he admitted it could slow the market's growth rate.

"Pepsi and Coke do not make a lot of profit" on bottled water, said Kolpak, adding that people may talk about the issue, but will likely continue buying some bottled water. Victory Capital owns about 3 million shares of PepsiCo among its $62 billion under management.