Caffeine study angers soft drink industry
By LINDSEY TANNER, Associated Press
CHICAGO (August 14, 2000 9:18 p.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) -
A study suggesting that caffeine is added to colas not for flavor but to hook
consumers provoked an angry response Monday from the soft drink
industry, which called the results flawed and irresponsible.
Caffeine "is added for one reason, for flavor," said Jeff Nedelman, a
spokesman for the National Soft Drink Association.
The study's authors, from Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, said about 70
percent of soft drinks sold nationwide contain caffeine and likened the
marketing of caffeinated colas to the tobacco industry's early claims that
the addictive stimulant nicotine was added to cigarettes for flavor.
In their study of 25 adult cola drinkers, participants were given cola
samples at six different settings and asked to distinguish between the
caffeinated and non-caffeinated sodas based on taste alone. Just two said
they could detect the taste of caffeine in amounts similar to those added to
colas such as Pepsi and Coca-Cola Classic.
The results appear in August's Archives of Family Medicine, an American
Medical Association publication.
"I'd like to see the soft drink industry come out of denial about the role of
caffeine in their products," said lead researcher Roland Griffiths. "They're
adding a mildly addictive, mood-altering drug, one which surely accounts
for the fact that people drink far more sodas with caffeine than without."
Hogwash, countered the National Soft Drink Association, a trade group
representing U.S. companies that make, market and distribute more than
95 percent of the soft drinks sold nationwide.
"Too few people were tested, too little science was used in the testing and
too much opinion is contained in the conclusions," the association said.
Alan Leshner, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which
helped fund the study, agreed the study was too small to draw sweeping
conclusions.
"I don't agree with the conclusion that caffeine should be lumped with
nicotine," Leshner said.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steve Wingate
Anomalous Images and UFO Files
http://www.anomalous-images.com
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
<A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
