{"id":44220,"date":"2011-09-21T15:28:12","date_gmt":"2011-09-21T12:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turkishforum.com.tr\/en\/content\/?p=44220"},"modified":"2014-01-06T15:25:19","modified_gmt":"2014-01-06T13:25:19","slug":"cancer-fear-over-cola-colourings-call-to-ban-ingredient-used-in-coke-and-pepsi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/2011\/09\/21\/cancer-fear-over-cola-colourings-call-to-ban-ingredient-used-in-coke-and-pepsi\/","title":{"rendered":"Cancer fear over cola colourings: Call to ban ingredient used in Coke and Pepsi"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sean Poulter<\/p>\n

\"\"
A health risk? America's National Toxicology Program says both 2-MI and 4-MI found in Coke are animal carcinogens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An ingredient used in Coca-Cola and Pepsi is a cancer risk and should be banned, an influential lobby group has claimed.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The concerns relate to an artificial brown colouring agent that the researchers say could be causing thousands of cancers.<\/p>\n

\u2018The caramel colouring used in Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and other foods is contaminated with two cancer-causing chemicals and should be banned,\u2019 said the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a health lobby group based in Washington, DC.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018In contrast to the caramel one might make at home by melting sugar in a saucepan, the artificial brown colouring in colas and some other products is made by reacting sugars with ammonia and sulphites under high pressure and temperatures.<\/p>\n

\u2018Chemical reactions result in the formation of two substances known as 2-MI and 4-MI which in government-conducted studies caused lung, liver, or thyroid cancer or leukaemia in laboratory mice or rats.\u2019<\/p>\n

America\u2019s National Toxicology Program says that there is \u2018clear evidence\u2019 that both 2-MI and 4-MI are animal carcinogens, and therefore likely to pose a risk to humans.<\/p>\n

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, found significant levels of 4-MI in five brands of cola.<\/p>\n

The executive director of the CSPI, Michael F Jacobson, has petitioned America\u2019s food regulator, the Food & Drug Administration, to take action.He said: \u2018Carcinogenic colourings have no place in the food supply, especially considering that their only function is a cosmetic one.\u2019<\/p>\n

Mr Jacobson said the name \u2018caramel colouring\u2019 does not accurately describe the additives, explaining: \u2018It\u2019s a concentrated dark brown mixture of chemicals that simply does not occur in nature.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"\"
Popular drink: The Beatles drinking bottles of coca cola in Paris in 1964. Scientists say its 'caramel colour' is a mixture of chemicals that does not occur in nature<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He added that while regular caramel could not be described as healthy, \u2018at least it is not tainted with carcinogens\u2019.<\/p>\n

U.S. regulations distinguish between four types of caramel colouring, two of which are produced with ammonia and two without it. The CSPI wants the two made with ammonia to be banned and has received backing from five prominent cancer experts, including several who have worked at the National Toxicology Program.<\/p>\n

The type used in colas and other dark soft drinks is known as Caramel IV, or ammonia sulphite process caramel. Caramel III, which is produced with ammonia but not sulphites, is sometimes used in beer, soy sauce, and other foods.<\/p>\n

The CSPI admitted that any risk associated with consumption of the chemicals would be extremely small. It said the ten teaspoons of sugar found in a can of regular cola would be more of a health problem.<\/p>\n

However, it argued the levels of 4-MI in the tested colas still may be causing thousands of cancers in the U.S. population alone.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Earlier this week, it was claimed that Coca-Cola\u2019s secret recipe had been leaked. It was even suggested it might be possible to recreate the taste and look on the kitchen table.<\/p>\n

The leak claims were denied by the company, where a spokesman said: \u2018Many third parties have tried to crack our secret formula. Try as they might, they\u2019ve been unsuccessful because there is only one \u201cReal Thing\u201d.\u2019<\/p>\n

Coca-Cola and Pepsi did not respond to a request for a response to the CSPI claims.<\/p>\n

This morning Coca-Cola rejected the CSPI\u2019s concerns.<\/p>\n

A spokesman said: \u2018Our beverages are completely safe. CSPI\u2019s statement irresponsibly insinuates that the caramel used in our beverages is unsafe and
\nmaliciously raises cancer concerns among consumers.<\/p>\n

‘This does a disservice to the very public for which CSPI purports to serve.<\/p>\n

\u2018Studies show that the caramel we use does not cause cancer.\u2019<\/p>\n

The company said its drinks do not contain 2-MEI. It said they do contain 4-MEI in trace amounts.<\/p>\n

It said: \u2018These extrapolations by CSPI to human health and cancer are totally unfounded.\u2019<\/p>\n

www.dailymail.co.uk, 17th February 2011<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sean Poulter An ingredient used in Coca-Cola and Pepsi is a cancer risk and should be banned, an influential lobby group has claimed. The concerns relate to an artificial brown colouring agent that the researchers say could be causing thousands of cancers. \u2018The caramel colouring used in Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and other foods is contaminated […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":44222,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,922],"tags":[7026,7023,7025,5757,6746,7024],"class_list":["post-44220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-usa","category-world","tag-ammonia-sulphite","tag-caramel-colouring","tag-caramel-iv","tag-coca-cola","tag-pepsi","tag-unnatural-caramel-colouring"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}