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

[liberalrebuttal]

Great,

And I just bought a 12 pack case.

:(

[lianmolive]

Funny

[fame]

Drink water.

[booboo111]

High fructose corn syrup's a killer also.

[zaz33]

I remember a report stating that the normal American diet is 60% corn based.

How's that for a balanced diet?

[ebanks84]

That's MONSANTO'S hold on our country.

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

[Harmony1812]

That's one reason we are getting fatter.
Everything has high fructose corn syrup in it.

[samuelberg]

That and everyone doesn't walk anymore.

[djgonebad]

The average American DRINKS 60-GALLONS A YEAR!!!!!

[kkuchenb]

You are so right. I stopped eating HFCS a couple of years ago. You pretty much can't buy anything with a familiar supermarket brand name if you want to avoid it.

[samuelberg]

It's all about caloric intake. Don't eat too much, get plenty of exercise and you can still enjoy your chocy cake every now and then.

[Deaninphilly]

Me too, and I lost 20 lbs without doing anything else but cutting that crap out of my food. I've found more and more companies are doing away with it though. I don't buy anything that just states corn syrup either, you can't trust that it isn't HFCS.

[MadHeart]

It's in almost everything, although some commercial bread is excluding it now. But watch your jams and jellies, too; I found a European product, Bonne Maman (French & Belgian) that uses sugar cane instead for sweetening, sold in a lot of regular food chains.

[wial]

Acesulfame-K is almost certainly a carcinogen, but they managed to stop the studies somehow after it started causing cancer in rats. Google it.

[zaz33]

wail - that's a common practice - And the FDA accepts the results.

As I stated before -

We might be safer if we did away with the FDA and let the lawyers keep the corporations in line.

[walleymr]

wow, so many experts

[MIKEinNYC]

This is just the Venezuelans being a holes. They don't want cyclamates. The product does not contain cyclamates. So what's the problem?

[RandVictims]

Why would a western corporation lie?

Keep consuming man-made foods, you'll be fine.

[WongChin]

You just said below that people are not forced to drink Coke, implying that Coca Cola has a right to concoct dangerous chemicals for human consumption. Well, governments also have a right to regulate. It baffles me then that you have a problem with that, seeing as you have no problem with Coca Cola's right to produce poison. Amazing.

[vegasobserver]

Corporations should not be allowed to put any kind of chemicals in the foods and drinks they sell. We cannot let corporate barons dictate what we eat and drink. Chavez is right. Corporations like Coca Cola need to be regulated more and brought to heel.

[MIKEinNYC]

No one is forcing anyone to drink it.

[humdrum02]

The problem is that people assume it is safe to consume and is "not harmful to people's health". Except it is and people don't know about it.

That's the job of the Health Ministry in Venezuela and that should be the job of the FDA here in the US- to inform consumers of the possible harmful effects and regulate whenever needed.

[nippyfan]

No one really forces someone to do crack either, but once you get your hands on it....

[plaidsportcoat]

ACK! Frescolita. Ack!!

[rdiaz921]

wth is frescolita.

[flamflurm]

I thought for sure this was about fluoridated water.

[chronic]

Excellente!!

[jdporter]

"begun halting". heh.

[LemonMeringue]

Everybody just switch to iced tea. If it has to be sweet, use stevia.

Pop is one of the worst health habits of Americans.

[kkuchenb]

Pop? Are you Canadian? (I do agree though, for Americans AND Canadians.)

[Michael7843853]

How about if I pop you one? I'm from the upper midwest and the term 'pop' used to be preferred. Many now call it 'soda' for fear of ridicule by sophisticates such as yourself. Being old school, I consider saying 'soda' an affectation of the insecure, at least for people of my generation.

[Harmony1812]

Couldn't handle stevia.

[strick9]

Stevia seems to be sweet enough, but it is also an excelent source of fiber which in even moderate useage can result in a laxitive effect.

I prefer to drink unsweetened iced tea made with "Lady Grey" or "Earl Grey", The bergamot and citrus flavor eliminates need for sweetener to mask the natural taste.

[camanokat]

Good Earth tea, either herbal or regular is naturally sweet...I think it has cinnamon oil in it. Yummy!

We call it pop up here in WA. Sounded funny to me when I first moved here.

[atomic]

The real truth is that corporations , especially Coke could care less about our safety. What they care about is money.

[Shagz2001]

Frighteningly true. I've seen it working first hand for a major fast food chain. "It's not old until it's sold" is an inside joke among restaurant managers. And almost never does corporate management actually take safety precautions unless it'll save money (or at the very least break even). If something costs additional money but means the public will get a safer product, the odds are it won't get approved.

It really is all about money.

[LemonMeringue]

Watch "The Future of Food" - you can watch it for free on the internet.

It's truly terrifying.

[booboo111]

Gee........ Ya think?

[atomic]

Aspartame is very dangerous chemical ... it was Rumsfeld that got it passed through congress after it was deemed unsafe ... though politics they gamed the facts and it's now a staple in our food supply ... I am certain Rumsfeld was paid well by the company for his deceit. This is the same bastr*d that has made millions off Tamiflu.

Remember the WTC asbestos problem? Cheney's company Halliburton was tied into that situation and when the towers were brought down by controlled demolition the air was unsafe to breath .... politics again lied to the people because connected powerful people made it so.

[LemonMeringue]

And bird flu vaccine. How many fortunes has Rumsfeld made? Conflict of interest anyone?

[Harmony1812]

Big Pharma uses the same scare tactics as the GOP. If you don't get the vaccine for the human papalloma virus then you will die from it.
But then they tell you of all the dangerous side effects and then they say it is no guarantee that it will work anyway. They are jeopardizing our health and lives by pushing unecessary vaccines that have terrible side effects often worse than the disease that you probably would never get anyway.
Anything for $$$$$.

[chronic]

Yes!!!

It should be banned!

[zaz33]

atomic - You got it all right.

Even Chavez doesn't have the courage to ban the POISON aspartame.

Discontinueing the consumption of aspatame has healed some ailments.

[sviolette]

Why not just drink water?

[LemonMeringue]

I am certain they put much, much more caffeine in these drinks than they state on the label.

I can drink coffee all day, and still sleep, but if I have a Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi I cannot sleep at night.

[patrickhenrypress]

There are now so many drugs in the water supply, perhaps the artificial sugars are less toxic...

[MIKEinNYC]

Because Coke tastes good!!!

[zaz33]

MIKE - I'm old enough to remember 5 cent coke in a bottle.

That was the real thing !!!!!!