Posted on 05/28/2007 10:05:29 AM PDT by Coleus
You may want to put that soda can down.
A common preservative found in drinks such as Coca-Cola, Sprite, Dr. Pepper, Fanta and Diet Pepsi may cause serious cell damage, according to a report in Britain's The Independent. Sodium benzoate has the ability to switch off vital parts of a person's DNA, according to research from a British university. The problem is usually associated with aging and alcohol abuse, but new findings show that drinking soda with the preservative can eventually lead to of the liver and degenerative diseases such as .
Click here to read the full story in The Independent.
Sodium benzoate, which derives from benzoic acid, has been used for years by the carbonated drinks industry to prevent mold from developing in soft drinks. The ingredient has been the subject of concern on cancer, because when mixed with Vitamin C, it turns into a carcinogenic substance called benzene, the Independent reported. Last year, a Food Standards Agency survey of benzene in drinks found high levels in four brands that were removed from store shelves. "These chemicals have the ability to cause severe damage to DNA in the mitochondria to the point that they totally inactivate it: they knock it out altogether," said Peter Piper, a professor of molecular biology and biotechnology.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
There are some things worse.
Hot coffee with lots of cream and sugar. The heat stimulates bacteria growth fed by the sugar and cream.
And of course...meth.
Yep. Especially if you’ve been using this stuff for the last 70 years anyway.
I don’t drink pop so I’m not going to comment.
Dr. Pepper? Yep. For a long while that was with cane sugar, though. Does that count?
A nutritionist once told me that it was stupid to eat foods with preservatives. She said, "Why would you want to eat something mold won't even eat?"
I got the real thing in my hands right now. Here is the list of the ingredients:
As you can see, no Sodium benzoate.
Spose so.
G&H, pure cane sugar, from hawaii...
Do they even make that old stuff anymore? Everything nowdays is either made from corn or soybeans. Someday they’ll even make steak and eggs out of it.
Coca Cola Plus has vitamins added. Will have to check the ingredients, although I wonder how much the lab rats had to ingest to achieve this study’s results.
But here is an interesting table from Wikipedia (on Coke Zero). Notice how the ingredients vary by market. I have noticed how products with the same name can taste different in other countries. I wonder if the ingredients change over time also?
But Coke makes me ill. And the first time I ever had Pepsi, I threw up.
Okay so I know a lot of FReepers are mocking this. . .BUT . . .I have something to say on this one.
As a mom of twins — very fraternal girls (that means NOT identical, as in NOT “matching” DNA) we have experienced issues with sodium benzoate for nearly 12 years now.
One of my girls is extremely sensitive to it. At their 1st birthday party, her face, neck, skin all swelled — at the time we wrote it off to the icing (the dye) on the cake. It was definitely a contact reaction (or so we thought at the time) as the places it touched v. the surrounding skin were very distinct and raised (think huge hives in the shape of wherever a one-year old spreads icing on their first birthday — it sucked!). As she got older (and up to probably age 2 or 3) she kept having reactions to things and we could *not* figure out what it was.
Somewhere along the way between ages 1 and 3, we got to the point of writing everything down, tracking her entire intake, introducing one food/month etc. The ONLY thing that consistently came up on all the lists was sodium benzoate (or benzoic acid). It is in *everything* made in the US it seems like: soft drinks — including Dr. Pepper, but ironically not Coca Cola — it is in diet foods like reduced fat margerines and salad dressings. It is also in many, many liquid medications (including DYE FREE BENADRYL LIQUID! If I recall that was one of the final clinchers to figuring out what was setting her off — she reacted to it!).
For some stupid reason Whole Foods Market allows it as a preservative in their “medical” stuff — the one cough syrup (guafanesin only) we could use added it when she was 4 or 5 — Whole Foods corporate and I had a long discussion about it and came to no conclusion other than the one place she could previously eat everything she no longer was able. They called it an acceptable preservative then, even though the UK and other countries in Europe had studies even then to the contrary.
At this point, my daughter is 12 years old. One of the first things she learned to read was labels on products — one of her first words to recognize was “sodium” — she got a chemistry lesson about sodium v. sodium benzoate at around age 5. Her reactions are no longer a visible one — she doesn’t swell up like she used to. The reactions are now more of an out of control episode. It is as if she is an ADHD child having a really bad day whenever she consumes anything with it in it.
Before anyone on here tells me I am full of it, she has been tested and observed both here in Texas and at Johns Hopkins hospital by the allergists there. Her doctor here and she have great discussions about it as he is sensitive to the taste of it (again I know you aren’t supposed to be able to taste it — but she and her doc both swear they can). It’s not a food allergy per se, as it is a preservative and it doesn’t have to be in her diet (or anyone else’s for that matter) in any way/shape/form, and we all eat healthier by not having the stuff in the house that contains it.
Interesting Links:
http://www.inchem.org/documents/cicads/cicads/cicad26.htm
http://www.sci-toys.com/ingredients/sodium_benzoate.html
http://www.ukfoodguide.net/e210.htm
http://www.ukfoodguide.net/e211.htm
~B.
Coke has changed drastically in just the last 30 years. A relative of mine went out and bought several cases of coke when they were about to stop offering it in glass bottles. About 10 years later(this would be in the early nineties I think) I drank some of it with a group of people and we were astonished. It tasted so completely different from anything else on the market it was amazing. It had a much stronger taste and was far less sweet. I think they are constantly changing the recipe to maximize proffits. Ever cheaper and cheaper ingredients.
You drank 10 year old coke? You do know the stuff goes bad, don’t you?
I can’t stand it three months after the expiration date.
No. HOw could it go bad? It’s sealed up just like a can of peas.
Chemical reactions can occur even in a sealed can of peas.
Coca Cola used to be made with real cane sugar which has now been replaced with corn syrup. You can get it bottled from Mexico or at certain times of the year when some kosher Coke is bottled, if you want the real “real thing”.
I’ve tasted Coke when it was over a year old (from one of those Christmas collectible glass bottles); it definitely was past its shelf life.
Excellent post. I’ve printed it for a relative who experiences some very similar symptoms to those your twin experienced at the first birthday party, although the cause hasn’t been pinned down yet. BTW, best wishes to your twins.
In all seriousness is there anything out there that can't kill you?
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