As the Super bowl was yesterday, I feel now is no better time to talk about coke, soda, pop- whatever you like to call it. Last year the marketing geniuses at Coca-Cola released a new drink called Diet Coke Plus. What does the plus stand for you ask? Jumping on the bandwagon of a more “health conscious” America, Coke decided to “fortify” its diet coke with vitamins B6, B12, and zinc. However, according to the FDA, there are certain criteria that must be met in order to put the “plus” word on a food label. Unfortunately Coke’s Diet Coke Plus did not meet those criteria. Because it mislabeled its product the FDA issued a warning to Coca-Cola telling them they must fix this mistake immediately. Coke responded by saying that “We take seriously the issues raised by the FDA in its letter”.
If you visit Coke’s website for the product (link here: http://www.dietcoke.com/) it says that it contains 15% of your RDI for niacin, B6, B12 and 10% for zinc and magnesium. The FDA often does not closely scrutinize the vitamin claims that are made on many products, but because of the popularity of coke it chose to step in and closely evaluate the claims that were being made by the company. Oddly enough, the plus drink has a higher amount of caffeine than the regular diet coke- so much for healthy!
Are there any other coca-cola products that were affected by FDA regulations? Also where did you find this article or information about diet coke plus. I am also curious if there are any other very popular products that have gad a large amount of FDA scrutiny. I do think it is interesting that the word diet is before the coke product with the highest number of calories.
I found an article from the New York Times that was posted before the Diet Coke Plus drink hit the stores in the United States. As I read the article, I saw the main reason for this new Coca-Cola brand - sales were down in 2005, and obesity was being blamed on soft drinks. Pepsi and other companies also jumped on board to come out with a “vitamin-fortified” or “healthier” soft drink to sell to consumers. With catchy advertisements and the idea of “nutrients” in a soft drink, why wouldn’t some people go for the new drink? I found this topic quite interesting.
Reading this article made me think of what I saw at Publix the other day, The Cola from Red Bull. Red Bull has this new product which they claim is a special composition of ingredients, all from 100% natural sources. It contains flavors derived from both the Kola nut and Coca leaf, ingredients in the original colas. It contains no phosphoric acid, no preservatives and no artificial flavors. One ad says that Red Bull Cola is strong and natural. I am really curious to see how well this product will do. So I guess I will have to wait and see.
7 comments:
Are there any other coca-cola products that were affected by FDA regulations? Also where did you find this article or information about diet coke plus. I am also curious if there are any other very popular products that have gad a large amount of FDA scrutiny. I do think it is interesting that the word diet is before the coke product with the highest number of calories.
I think it's even funnier that the same product had the words "diet" and "plus" in its name.
Sorry, but I couldn't resist...
I found an article from the New York Times that was posted before the Diet Coke Plus drink hit the stores in the United States. As I read the article, I saw the main reason for this new Coca-Cola brand - sales were down in 2005, and obesity was being blamed on soft drinks. Pepsi and other companies also jumped on board to come out with a “vitamin-fortified” or “healthier” soft drink to sell to consumers. With catchy advertisements and the idea of “nutrients” in a soft drink, why wouldn’t some people go for the new drink? I found this topic quite interesting.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9804E0DA1531F934A35750C0A9619C8B63
Here is the warning letter that the FDA sent the Coca-Cola Company telling them to change their product label on Diet Coke Plus.
http://www.fda.gov/foi/warning_letters/s7064c.htm
Reading this article made me think of what I saw at Publix the other day, The Cola from Red Bull. Red Bull has this new product which they claim is a special composition of ingredients, all from 100% natural sources. It contains flavors derived from both the Kola nut and Coca leaf, ingredients in the original colas. It contains no phosphoric acid, no preservatives and no artificial flavors. One ad says that Red Bull Cola is strong and natural. I am really curious to see how well this product will do. So I guess I will have to wait and see.
and here is the link: http://redbullusa.com/?gclid=COm-t7zWv5gCFRQhnAod0BN8Zw#page=Cola
All I have to say is that Diet Coke Plus tasted A LOT like Diet Coke Splenda, and neither tasted that great. =(
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