Venezuela: Why We Banned Coke Zero

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela's Health Ministry said Friday it banned sales of Coca-Cola Zero because the company failed to declare that the no-calorie soft drink uses an artificial sweetener allegedly harmful to health.

Health officials said tests show the cola contains sodium cyclamate. Coca-Cola Co. disputes that, saying the product sold in Venezuela uses different artificial sweeteners, Acesulfame-K and Aspartame.

Cyclamate is not prohibited in Venezuela. But the ministry said the company failed to report sodium cyclamate as an ingredient in Coca-Cola Zero when it received its initial health permit to begin selling the drink in April.

Coca-Cola is "failing to comply with sanitary norms," the ministry said in a statement published in the newspaper Ultimas Noticias. The ministry urged Venezuelans to refrain from trying the drink, saying it is "considered harmful to the health."

The U.S. prohibits the use of cyclamates in human food because of health safety concerns. Sales of Coca-Cola Zero elsewhere in Latin America have met with resistance over the use of cyclamate.

Rosy Alvarez, a spokeswoman for Coca-Cola Servicios de Venezuela, told The Associated Press on Thursday that "no ingredient of Coca-Cola Zero is harmful to peoples' health." But the company is complying with Venezuela's ban and has begun halting production, she said.

Kerry Kerr, a spokeswoman at Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta, said Thursday that the company was in discussions with the Venezuelan government.

Coca-Cola sells many other soft drinks in Venezuela, including Coca-Cola Classic, Chinoto, Frescolita and Hit.

Comments

[TammyKnowsBest]

I'm siding with Venezuela here. It looks like their health department is more cautious than ours.

[dteg]

Glad someone other than the manufacturer is testing what is in these products.

[DogoftheEarth]

Coke jumped the shark when they stopped bottling it in the old 6 1/2 ounce glass bottles.

[breakingpoint]

See, no one needs government because the private sector should always be unregulated and free to do as they like because we can trust them.

[kroltan]

Diet soda is poison. Too much sugar is bad for you, too. Take Benjamin Franklin's advice: “To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals.” Pretty simple.

[seted]

He was pretty chubby, wasn't he?

[kroltan]

So he didn't follow his own advice. But hey, he liked to party! Point is, a smart man said this years ago, but people think diets, pills and soda are going to cure their weight problems. And companies are making billions off of poisoning them.

[monty]

Splenda should also be declared a toxic substance. It causes a LOT of stomach and intestinal problems, yet you rarely hear anything about it in the news.

[husbusfun]

taste zero reads:

zero taste.

[jdw1981]

Soda would be "ok" for consumption (though it would still rot your teeth) if cane sugar were used instead of high-fructose corn syrup. The rest of the world has banned HFCS, but in the U.S., it's almost exclusively used.

Get a bottle of Torani syrup and some club soda and make your own. It definitely tastes better.

[okeefep1]

stop drinking soda period! its all poison!

[iSeeDumbPeople]

I don't see the appeal of it. It tastes like garbage.

[ModernTimes1]

Hey! Don't insult garbage!

[mspink]

Eat healthy, diet and exercise, die anyway.

[dutch163]

If the US bans cyclamates...why use them anywhere??

here's something else to watch out for : 2 new sweeteners, one from Coca Cola, one from Pepsi co:
"Purevia" and "Truvia"...many nasty side effects

[iSeeDumbPeople]

Unlike sugar, which acts like toxic poison in the human body, Stevia is a sweet plant that is actually a dietary supplement. It's not healthier -- it's healthy. I buy mine from a vitamin shop on the internet, but was recently pleased to see my grocer begin to carry Truvia next to the nasty Sweet n' Low and Splenda.

[nanjemoy]

I haven't tried "Truvia", but Stevia is OK in small doses - however, it is ridiculous to say that sugar acts like a toxic poison to the body. The problem is about concentrations.

[ModernTimes1]

If it's extracted from a plant then it healthy?
Look in the mirror and you'll definitely seedumbpeople.

[etcetc]

truvia is at lest natural, made from the stevia plant. i'd take that over lab made chemicals any day.

[HowInteresting]

The audacity of them to even try something like that is astounding.

[amaycatbaker]

All of the ingredients in soda can harm a person health, accept maybe the water before carbonation.

[jcwtts1]

I think the problem is less about the sweetener, though it is a problem, and more about Coke.
http://www.counterpunch.org/espada03242005.html
Coke has a horrible south american rep.

J

[EvieEve]

Diet soda gives me migraines.