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

[MadHeart]

My local food store has an entire aisle (both sides) filled with junk--soft drinks and flavored, carbonated waters, etc. and chips, chips, chips of every description, including hi cal "trail mixes" and nuts (high in fat, but have many nutrients you need, so yeah, I do buy those).

[Mathend99]

You may think I'm being dumb, but I stay away from anything that's artificial. I drink beer, though.

[HummusGringo]

Beer is not artificial. Many artificial flavors are not harmful at all, and and many of the harmful chemicals are plant-derived. The only TRUE way to keep safe is pay attention to subtle cues from your body. Every body is slightly different, and will respond a little differently to the same chemicals. Just b/c something is artificial does not necessarily mean it's harmful, and many natural things are incredibly poisonous, or are even bizarrely so, like phototoxic plants.

We are chemistry, the world around us is chemistry. You need to find the chemicals, natural or otherwise, that are benign vis-a-vis your own. That's all...

Beer... yum. :) One of the many perks of living in the NW... great, great beer here.

[jennytaylia]

Interesting to think that Coca-Cola may be using a banned sweetener in this product... and even more interesting that it's Venezuela that claims to have discovered this in testing. Backwards country? I think not. Perhaps we need more independent testing here in this country, rather than trusting the corp's to tattle on themselves.

[cdnnewsjunky]

Ya, just amazing what can happen in a country that employs and follows regulations. Easy for them though, they don't have a lot of Republicans living there.

[asier]

You have no idea of what you are writing about. I live in Venezuela and consider myself pretty left leaning.
But what we have here as a goverment, is a strong armed military cleptocracy. More in common with the reactonary discourse of America´s far right than with progressive politics.
Maybe they do have a legit case here against Cocacola. But it would be an exeption to the rule.

[cardineau]

I am an educated engineer with years of experience in Venezuela, and Hugo Chavez is the greatest thing for the populace of Venezuela in the last 100 years. Most of the negative comments are the results of million dollar media campaigns by the CIA.

[yakaria]

It is a person's choice on whether or not they want to drink a product. The Government should not be allowed to regulate a product.

[Noble]

Do you really believe this idiocy or are you just trolling?

[Ranta]

Yes. We should all have our own lab to test the ingredients in everything we consume. A few online chemistry courses and a little equipment ought to do it.

[nervousexpat]

when "studies" are sponsored by corporations, do you think people can actually make INFORMED choices about the safety of products? remember when oat-bran was the new "miracle food"... ? well, Einstein, that study was sponsored by Quaker oats. So if the government isn't charged with keeping the food supply safe through regulation, where do you suggest we turn?

[kareemachan]

Right, so the government shouldn't have banned fen-phen from diet products even tho it causes heart problems? Or heavy metals like mercury or lead? Or steroids? Or excessive antibiotics that could compromise your ability to fight off infection? Tr@//.

[AkronGuy]

The sweetener is banned in the U.S., but not in Venezuela. Reading the article, the main complaint of the Venezuelan government seems to be the mislabeling by Coca Cola, not the use of cyclamates.

Ironically, the U.S. banned cyclamates based on a Canadian study but the Canadian government considers cyclamates to be safe enough to be sold in Canada. And many European countries also permit the sale of cyclamates.

[MadHeart]

All soft drinks are detrimental to your health, including many of the "extreme" types of energy and "vitamin" drinks. For women, carbonated sodas can leech calcium from your bones (maybe men, too, although the studies have been mainly on women who suffer osteoporosis much more frequently than men).

[Ranta]

Is beer O.K.?

[yakaria]

Beer is addictive. Just like caffeine. People chose to drink what they please.

[BlazeKING]

The high number of corn, dairy and grain products in our diets is causing obesity, not really lack of exercise. We NEVER evolved to use that stuff in high quantities if at all. Stick with what we evolved to eat...fruits, vegetables and meat. You'll feel far better and you'll stop craving the unhealthy foods. Just like with cigarettes, they get you hooked and you start justifying their use to yourself.

[ebanks84]

So absolutely true. And MONSANTO is the real evil in this country insofar as our obesity problem is concerned.

http://www.newfrontier.com/asheville/bad_seed.htm

[andj]

thank you for the link. I am aware of how evil Monsanto is but it great if people could take the time to read up and educate themselves.

I am glad I live in the EU where we are strongly against GM foods.

Regarding Blaxeking comment about corn diets - you cant excape a corn/grain diet even if you eat meat. Livestock is corn fed when it should be grass fed.

[MadHeart]

Don't forget ConAgra; the company that makes Slim Jims and Hebrew brand hot dogs at this plant had an explosion in Garner, NC this week, killing 3 employees.

[yakaria]

True.

[onepartysystem]

Monsatan, as one of my college professors liked to call them. She's a biologist.

[ebanks84]

So absolutely true. And MONSANTO is the real e v i l in this country insofar as our obesity problem is concerned.

http://www.newfrontier.com/asheville/bad_seed.htm

[BlazeKING]

Stay away from soft drinks in general if you value your health...diet is probably even more harmful to you than regular. It's just like putting in "light" on a pack of cigarettes. Stick with tea and water and natural fruit juices and you'll be alright. I would not trust these new chemicals that our bodies never evolved to use.

[ebanks84]

Yes! And to be even more safe, get yourself a water filter to put on your tap instead of buying water you don't know what's in it.

[ebanks84]

That's exactly why Americans are so overweight. Between our foods, drinks, and medications, we are being systematically wiped out by the corporations. This country worries more about MONEY than their people's health it seems. What a sad state of affairs. And don't forget MONSANTO. Make sure you put them on your list of things NOT TO BUY. Look them up, please. They've so infected our corn that it's a "no wonder" we are having the problems we have in our weight.

http://www.newfrontier.com/asheville/bad_seed.htm -- the "k i l l e r" seeds!!

[ebanks84]

WTF? Why isn't is banned here in the USofA?

[rdiaz921]

I drink iced tea and WATER.

1 cup of coffee in the AM; quit smoking last August and do not miss the habit.

[exile]

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.

WTF

[Mauiloa]

This is not unusual at all. Many US companies push banned chemicals and ingredients foreign countries; especially 3rd world nations. It all comes down to one reason. PROFIT.

Isn't Capitalism wonderful?

I say let's remove regulation on everything so that corporations can make as much money as possible; health and safety be damned!

[surrealestate]

Cyclamates were banned primarily because of pressure from the sugar industry in this country. The same sugar industry who has managed to keep cane sugar prices twice what they are in other countries, which subsequently created a market for high-fructose corn syrup.

Cyclamates were an inexpensive sweetener that didn't have an aftertaste, so many food manufacturers were adopting it instead of sugar. It has taken years to come up with new sweeteners, and they are all much more expensive to produce.

The study which led to the banning of cyclamates here involved feeding rats and mice ridiculously large doses of the sweetener, like a serious percentage of their weight. Canada quite reasonably left cyclamates on the market based on the same study.

[newsforjim]

I live in the Netherlands, and Coca Cola Zero is available everywhere....so you can drop the holier than thou dutch stuff already...

[netzwerg]

Thats exactly why it is banned here in the Netherlands aswell.

Too much dangerous chemicals for our european stomachs, only americans are used to such high amounts of poisonous food.

[rdiaz921]

thanks newsforjim. now we know netzwerg is a liar.

:)

[Nishaboston]

I live in the Netherlads and I can assure you that Coke Zero is not banned. I was telling my boyfriend just a few weeks ago that I am sick of their stupid commercials. You can find them everywhere, at least here in Amsterdam you can.

[Noble]

I don't claim to know what this person meant but it's possible they were referring to the sodium cyclamate, which as the article mentioned is also banned in the US.

[Readbetweentheelevens]

Notice to U.S. Citizens: This is your only health warning about Coke Zero -- from Venezuela's Health Ministry. We've lost our bearings. No one in our government cares about the food we eat. Your life and health are at risk, if you are relying on the U.S. government.

[ebanks84]

AMEN!

Everyone needs to read labels on their drinks and food and look up some of the stuff you're consuming. We have been corporation guinea pigs for eons. It's time we stop and wake up!

[nippyfan]

At least they give a damn in Venezuela.

[opine2u]

Aspartame can become addictive if used in excess, it's much better to drink the 'Real Thing.'

[samuelberg]

Why even drink soft drinks at all. None of it's any good for your teeth, let alone your waistline. Even diet products raise your blood sugar levels at the right temperature.