In Michael Landing’s “The Coke machine – The Dirty Truth Behind The World’s Favourite Soft Drink” he tells us of the devastation by one of the world’s largest companies (Coca Cola) that has compromised our health, undermined workers rights, and environmental standards worldwide.  Coca Cola’s influence spreads across the world, from India and Mexico, where companies are suspected of decimating water supplies and spreading toxic pollution, to the US, where supersizing has led to an explosion in adult obesity and exclusive soda contracts in schools have fuelled childhood obesity and increases in diabetes.  At the same time, Coca Cola Company has become a huge success with enormous profits – but what is the cost to our health.

Landing tells us it all began in the late 1800’s when there was a shortage of doctors and many turned to the peddlers or travelling salesmen crisscrossing the United States selling so called patent medicines that could “cure” anything. After a lot of music, magicians and comedians, the salesmen used to reel in their potential buyers with outrageous pitches often whipping up fears of disease before “magically” healing a planted crowd member or two. So it was typical at the time to buy these “medicines” to “cure” what ailed you. 

John Pemberton, injured in Civil War, was convinced that the coca leaf was the best substitute for opium. Pemberton developed his first beverage as a run up to Coca Cola called French Wine Coca – that contained wine, coca leaf, with kola nut and other ingredients. In that era, most beverages were alcoholic and even children drank hard cider and beer. The late 1880s saw the rise of temperance movement so many turned towards the new carbonated drinks like Pemberton’s.  In 1886, as nervousness and anxiety was abundant after the Civil War, Pemberton set out to make a new nerve tonic as a cure. The exact formulation is a closely guarded secret, but he began by removing the wine (because of the temperance movement) and kola nut (because of its bitterness) and he added synthetic caffeine. Then, keeping the coca leaf (cocaine) (which was not removed until 1906), he also added sugar and citric and phosphoric acids, vanilla, lemon oil, extracts of orange, nutmeg, coriander and bitter orange and cassia, which was then carbonated.

Pemberton did not live to see Coca Cola’s success.  He sold Coca Cola to an ambitious Atlanta pharmacist, Asa Candler, who quickly spread the drink around the country in syrup form to drugstores to peddle in their soda fountains.  By 1895 Coca Cola was sold in all 44 states with Hawaii, Canada, Mexico and Cuba soon to follow. By 1902, Coca Cola was selling over a million gallons earning it $1.5 million in sales. In early 1900, Coca Cola began bottling and this revolutionized sales and by 1920, the company made $4 million in profit.

Candler then sold the company to Ernest Woodruff who then re-incorporated the company to raise more capital to expand and increase sales so in the 1920’s Coca Cola was to become one of America’s national symbols, eventually exporting the brand worldwide. 

Coke was sold in 6 ½ oz bottles until the 1950’s.  By then, the arms race with Pepsi had Coke rolling out 12 oz and 26 oz bottles at cheaper prices to stave off Pepsi’s challenge.

For decades, the price of sugar keep the lid on how big Coke could grow but in the 1980’s super cheap high fructose corn syrup was developed. This began the age of the supersize – Coke became so cheap to make and drink – sales boomed. With this great success also came the beginning of the obesity epidemic. Since then the size of the average American has doubled with the average BMI in the 1970’s at 14 – and now standing at 30. So with increase of consumption came the increase in sugar or high fructose corn syrup.  Sugar disrupts the body’s natural mechanism causing cells to become more resistant to insulin which leads to diabetes which before 1990 was known as adult onset diabetes since it occurred typically later in life. By 1996 however, so many children had developed it the name was changed to type 2 diabetes. Today it is estimated that 1 in 3 will now become diabetic!  

 But back in the 1980’s the war was not on sugar but fat. Hence the explosion of the low fat diet crazes. But despite the low fat diets we have become larger and larger every year. (The last 10 years consuming around 700 calories per day more mostly from carbohydrates and added fats and sugars and putting on an average 20 lbs more since 2000).

These days it is estimated that sodas, soft drinks and “juice” drinks like Coca Cola’s Minute Maid brand represent approx 25% of the calories in a typical American Diet.  A typical 12 oz can of soda contains about 150 calories. Times that by 3, which is the average daily consumption, and you get almost 500 calories, or about 3500 calories extra per week, or the number of calories needed to add one pound to a person’s weight in one month, or a massive 12 pounds in one year – just by drinking sodas! 

To combat this, Coke and other soft drink companies started to add the artificial sweetener Aspartame to Diet Coke in 1983 (despite regular drinkers complaining about headaches, dizziness, fatigue, depression and insomnia and claims of cancer by other countries health studies).  Investigations were carried out by the company and the FDA and it was stated Aspartame was not harmful.  Despite the evidence to the contrary from other countries studies! Plus, if you think drinking Diet Coke will stop you from putting on the weight – think again – it has now been proven that drinking “diet” drinks is 7 times more likely to increase your belly size than if you don’t drink diet drinks!

And since then, in 1995, another potentially dangerous chemical has been found in Diet Coke – benzene – a chemical linked to leukaemia and other forms of cancer.  Coke was not alone, Perrier water was also found to have benzene in its drinks forcing them to recall 160 million bottles worldwide.  But the public was not informed until 2005 of benzene in Coke’s Fanta – Consumers finally took action against Coke, Pepsi, Cadbury and other companies and Coke settled in 2007 and along with the others and agreed to reformulate the drinks.

It is in the schools today where the fight continues because that is where obesity begins.  Making deals with school boards and trustees, Coke has managed to secure agreements with financial aid so long as the school only sells coke brands or anything that is approved by Coke. What followed were also exclusive deals with sports stadiums and fairgrounds. They were relentless to drive sales at whatever cost.

As our kid’s health started to deteriorate, parents and anti soda lobbyists started to meet the corporation head on with some success, forcing it out of the schools.

And as much as these anti soda lobbyists activities has had an effect – Coca Cola and others like it now have got on the “bottled water “bandwagon. 

What about Bottled Water – is it The Real Thing?

The bottled water industry is one of the biggest scams around today.  Let’s start by saying that the US water system is one of the safest around, delivering fresh, drinkable water to millions for pennies. Even with one of the best water systems in the world, last year, Americans spent more on Poland Spring, Fiji Water, Evian, Aquafina and Dasani water than they spent on iPods or movie tickets — $15 billion and they are expected to spend $16 billion this year.  

We drink tons of bottled water; in fact, over 38 billion water bottles a year are pitched into landfills — in excess of $1 billion worth of plastic. And what the companies don’t tell you is that most of the bottled water we buy is actually regular tap water from a municipal facility, repackaged by Coca-Cola and PepsiCo with a few minerals added.    

What Coke has done (like others) was to formulate a mix of minerals that they could ship to their bottlers to put in their tap water, then the mixture is put through a carbon filter and zapped by ultra violet light to kill bacteria and then put through a reverse osmosis filter to help purify it. However, in one example, it was actually discovered that the UK version of Dasani used water directly from the River Thames, which is not the world’s most pristine waterway, making it no more pure than London tap water but potentially more dangerous to drink!!

So basically, companies like Coke, take over local water supplies for virtually nothing, bottle it, and sell the water at huge 1000% profits – not to mention the 17 million gallons of oil each year now required to produce the plastic bottles just in the US.

It’s any wonder in 2007 The Economist called the success of the bottled water industry “one of capitalisms greatest mysteries” calling it the new “snake oil”.

To add more insult to injury, to get on the more “health conscious” boom Coke has released “Vitamin Water” and other “Sports” drinks like PowerAde with supposed health benefits which are essentially just sugared water with an few extra ingredients using “double labelling” (for example in Vitamin Water, it states its only 50 calories per serving when in fact its 125 calories per serving), to tempt us into consuming it.

Misrepresentation of what is actually in your bottled beverages it seems is still rife today – just like it was over 100 years ago when we were sold “snake oil”.

It’s time to choose what to stand for and show it by what we buy.  The beverages that Coke and other companies like them, Pepsi, Nestle, and Cadburys are quite simply in my opinion, pure poison. They are definitely not, “The Real Thing”.

The safest way to consume one of the primary and basic necessities of life, water, is from a high-quality water filter, distiller, or reverse osmosis system.  From there it is best to carry it around in glass or a stainless steel container.  Not only are you doing your body good from drinking from a high quality filter you are taking positive action for the environment. Drink filtered water, herbal teas and natural juices from a source you can trust.

For more information on alternatives and my Vital Fit Nutrition eBook visit my website www.vitalliving.com  there is a better way…….

Sincerely,

Dennis Croll

www.vitalliving.com