THE COKE NIGHTMARE REVEALED – It May Require “CANCER WARNING” On Bottles

Natural News:

Back in January, the state of California added to its list of cancer-causing chemicals an ingredient commonly used in flavored soda beverages, which has sent major shockwaves throughout the processed food industry. And according to numerous reports, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and even Whole Foods are having to alter their soda beverage recipes in order to avoid being required by the state of California to label their products as causing cancer.

The cancer-causing chemical in question is 4-methylimidazole, or 4-MI, a byproduct formed during the production of caramel color, an additive commonly used in processed cola beverages. According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), caramel color produced using ammonia or ammonia-sulfites creates both 4-MI and 2-MI (2-methylimidazole), which have been shown to be carcinogenic

(http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/caramel_coloring_petition.pdf).

Read More:

http://thetruthisnow.com/headlines/the-coke-nightmare-revealed-it-may-require-cancer-warning-on-bottles/

AND here :

Consumer group finds cancer-causing chemical in colas [Updated]

March 05, 2012|By Eryn Brown, Los Angeles Times / For the Booster Shots blog

In a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the consumer watchdog group Center for Science in the Public Interest called on officials to ban the use of caramel coloring in popular soft drinks, citing a possible cancer risk.

This isn’t the first time that CSPI has targeted the food additive that gives colas, including Coke and Pepsi, their familiar brown color. The organization first petitioned the FDA on the matter in 2011, noting that 2-methylimidazole and 4-methylimidazole, which form when sugar is mixed with ammonia and sulfites to create caramel coloring, had been shown to cause lung, liver and thyroid cancer in mice and rats.

Read More:

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/mar/05/news/la-heb-cola-cancer-20120305

And Here:

photo: Rodale

Last year The State of California updated its

list of known carcinogens to include 4-methylimidazole (4-MI). Studieshave shown it to cause leukemia as well as cancerous tumors in the respiratory system.

Why are we mentioning 4-MI?

Well, its found in every can of Coke (an Pepsi). 4-MI is part of the caramel coloring that gives the carbonated drinks their distinctive brown coloring. But unlike homemade caramel, which is created by melting sugar in a saucepan, the stuff in coke is made by chemical companies by reacting sugars with ammonia and sulfites under high pressure and temperatures. The chemical reactions result in the formation of 4-MI.

In California, An item that may cause cancer must clearly be labeled as such. Coca Cola certainly does not want its bright red cans to include a “Warning: may cause cancer” label on them. So it has asked

DDW, the company that supplies its caramel coloring to fiddle with the formula to reduce the level of 4-MI below a point that would require a warning label.

Now of course the PR teams at Coke and the American Beverage Association are downplaying the risks. And so is the FDA (anyone surprised?). According to the FDA, a person would need to drink 1000 cans of Coke a day to reach the level of toxicity that caused cancer in lab mice.

Agreed, the risk for cancer is small. But it is there. So why take chances?

But the bigger beef we have with soda pop is the high sugar content. If you’re a cola drinker, that should be your main reason to quit.

Read more:

http://blog.fooducate.com/tag/4-methylimidazole/