Chemical in soft drinks 'can wreck your child's DNA'

[Celebration]

Source: UK Daily Mail

Research shows that E211 - found in drinks such as Fanta and Pepsi Max - can switch off vital parts of DNA, causing serious damage to cells.

Laboratory tests suggest this could even result in degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and cirrhosis of the liver.

snip............................................

The research into E211 - or sodium benzoate - was carried out by Peter Piper, a molecular biology expert at Sheffield University.


snip..............................

"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," he told a Sunday newspaper.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/healthmain.html?in_article_id=458011&in_page_id=1774&ICO=HEALTH&ICL=TOPART

[Th1onein]

1. Just looked at my last can of Dr. Pepper

And it's the last can I will ever be buying. It contains sodium benzoate.

You notice how the soft drink salesmen refer back to the FDA? They've got them in their pocket. The FDA now only exists as a handmaiden to big pharma and corporate interests.

[tiptoe]

7. Bush-FDA ! (not every admin's FDA) nt

[barb162]

27. There was a great show a few years back on PBS about the FDA

and how many of the FDA people are direct from the pharmaceutical industry. I mean Signed, Sealed and Delivered. There are a few honest FDA people through. That place needs a major overhaul.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

106. It ain't just the FDA.

Signed, sealed and delivered (and I mean delivered).

[Cronus Protagonist]

29. Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Dr. Pepper?

Sorry, couldn't resist it.

:)

[Orrex]

37. I hate you for typing that

Before I could do it.

:rofl:

[Warren DeMontague]

32. Someone should tell the FDA people are still using Coca-Cola for birth control.

THAT would get their attention- seeing as the Jesus-drunk Theocratic Goons who Bush has put in charge over there are ONLY interested in keeping new forms of contraception off the market.

Doesn't matter if it kills you- as long as you can't use it to to screw for non-procreative purposes outside of the confines of a Christ-Centric Marriage.

[Orrex]

60. I'd think that would be uncomfortably fizzy

Great bubbling genetalia! What will they think of next?!?

[Warren DeMontague]

62. That sounds like something Dr. Smith from "Lost In Space" would say.

"Great Bubbling Genitalia! You bumbling ninny!"

[Orrex]

64. Try to use it in conversation at least once each day

I guarantee that people will take notice!

[Warren DeMontague]

65. It could become the new thing all the kids are sayin'.

That would be weird.

[lonestarnot]

109. Damn. Another thing to change.

:scared:

[musiclawyer]

2. I don't doubt it

Some very bad stuff in commercial soft drinks, diet, non-diet, energy drinks etc. They are all bad. As I recall Gatoraid looked like teh cleanest of the commercial drinks out there.

[atommom]

3. For some more info on this, here's a blog post with a number of links

The presence of benzene at levels above what would be allowed in a community drinking water supply is unacceptable from both the public health and the political perspective, as Coca Cola realizes. The amounts of benzene varies and is apparently related to the storage conditions and formulation of a particular bottle, but the levels are often two to three or more times the drinking water standard. Benzene is a known human carcinogen, and while the levels are in the part per billion range, there are good public health reasons that the EPA's recommended level in drinking water is zero (see our posts on this topic here, here and here).

Three of the remaining defendants make drinks marketed directly to children -- Sunny Delight, Shasta and Rockstar Energy Drinks. We love to wring our hands about imported pet food adulterated with melamine from China (see here and here), but food safety is also a problem for American and European companies. If I had to choose between melamine and benzene, I think I'd take melamine.

But why should I have to choose?

http://scienceblogs.com/effectmeasure/2007/05/benzene_in_soda_progress_but_s.php

[truthisfreedom]

4. Sodium Benzoate is in TONS of soft drinks.

Gahh!

[Show_Me _The_Truth]

21. It is also in herbs, fruits, and vegetables. Naturally ocurring

Cranberries, apples, and cloves as some examples.

[texastoast]

31. Well, if it is like most naturally occurring chemicals

in foods, there is some synergy working in the whole food that will likely keep from causing cancer or other nasty undesired effect when consumed in the whole food in moderation. I wonder what the content in a soft drink would be compared to what occurs in a whole food.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

54. It's a natural occuring process called "urination"

It's how the human body eliminates water soluble compounds that it produces, or recieves by consuming fruits, soft drinks, etc.

It even, miraculously, turns water insoluble compounds into soluble ones. For example, it'll turn toluene into benzoic acid.

[texastoast]

70. That's not what I meant

E.g., lycopene taken separately does not work as well as lycopene taken in a tomato. From that premise, I might inversely infer that sodium benzoate taken in a cranberry does not hurt the body as much as sodium benzoate consumed in a "pure" form in a soda.

[Show_Me _The_Truth]

79. It is only allowed at less than .1% wt/wt as a preservative.

Can be exceeded in naturally occurring foods.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

87. What is the concentration in naturally occuring foods?

And can I safely assume it's mostly due to the shikimic acid pathway?

[pschoeb]

83. No, Benzoic acid is naturally occuring

sodium Benzoate is not. The foods that contain higher levels are milk and dairy products, some fruits and some soy products. But the fruits contain about max 12mg/kg while soft drinks contain about 100mg/liter. I'm guessing most people don't eat 8.3 kg(roughly 17 lbs) of any fruit a day, let alone offending fruits with the maximum levels, whereas your typical kid probably drinks a liter of soft drinks a day.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

84. Sodium benzoate is naturally occurring.

It's the conjugate base of benzoic acid. Simple acid/base chemistry.

You're body produces benzoate, you've get sodium, ergo your body produces sodium benzoate.

[AzDar]

5. I'm a goner. 6 or more cans of Diet Mt. Dew a day since college...

:9

[info being]

12. Why on earth?!?

haha...that stuff is terrible! Switch to iced tea (no...not canned!). LOL

[undergroundpanther]

18. Ever try the diet

Code red? I dunno if it has sodium benzoate but it is tasty and hard to find in diet form. That is the two liter soda type I get like once every three months.. BTW Sodium Benzoate is in ALOT of foods too. You'd be surprised how much it is used.

[AzDar]

20. I have, and it's tasty. Finding it seems to be kind of hit-or-miss here in AZ.

I figure something's gonna kill me anyway, and lately I'm thinking it's going to be something seemingly innocuous, like my morning bowl of Corn Chex made with *some* ingredient which contains rat poison from China.
Meanwhile, I'll do the Dew...:-)

[AllyCat]

6. Gee, so glad it's a preservative in my kid's medicine...NOT!

You know, I asked the pharmacist too why they were using this in a child's medication. I was assured that it was needed to ensure the safety of the product since the sugar in it would breed bacteria, etc etc. I even asked him if there was any concern in having something with a benzene ring (from the old organic chem days) going into a 3 month old body.

Oh no...

Well, boy am I glad we took him off the med about 3 months ago and never looked back (it was causing him nightmares, anxiety, and insomnia). We just do our best to keep an ear on his heart to make sure he doesn't slip into a bad rhythm.

Double whammy would be this crap being made in China.

[lizerdbits]

34. Several amino acids contain a benzene ring

Phenylalanine and tryptophan. Tyrosine has a phenol group (benzene where a hydroxyl group replaces on H atom). I think a lot of our own hormones contain benzene rings.

Obviously benzene itself is a known carcinogen. But just because a chemical has a benzene ring in it doesn't automatically mean it's also a carcinogen, though it very well may be. What journal will Piper's research be published in? The article didn't mention it and I'm curious how it stops the function of mitochondrial DNA and not nuclear DNA. I guess it's able to cross the mitochondrial but not nuclear membrane? :shrug:

[havocmom]

8. Maybe I am a bit harsh, but parents who give kids soda should be outta the gene pool

Kids need real food not easy sugar. How many broken bones due to calcium leeching soda instead of milk, fruit juice or good ol water?

If ya don't start the kids on the crap, they won't miss it, so don't pour it down their throats :grr:

[JitterbugPerfume]

71. YES YES YES

you have the answer ---parental responsibility!

[NashVegas]

73. We Used to Have Soda For Birthday Parties and Picnics - Only

My mom wouldn't buy it for any other reason. Same thing with potato chips, etc.

[undergroundpanther]

9. I wonder

How much of my DNA is dead, because when I was going through a high stress in psych units I drank sodas in place of coffee for years,and also soda helps defeat some of the overwhelming fatigue caused by many psych drugs side effects. They drug you up with stuff strong enough to knock out a charging rhino and then expect you to be active LOL (as in participating in boring insipid most of the time ,so called 'activities') So if I didn't have any caffeinated soft drinks available I do not know how I could have made it staying awake in those places..The drugging at psych units got me hooked on soda. It took me a few months to kick the habit once I was free of the psych system.

I had developed a systemic yeast infection a few years ago and had to break the sugar and carb habit fast. I don't know why was the the psych drugs or the sodas but When I had that infection I was developing allergies and I had a severe vitamin D deficiency and a serious B12 deficiency. Nowadays water and decaf herbal tea unsweetened,maybe stevia or xylotol in it or water with about a teaspoon of some kind of juice in it because I get sick of of plain water all the time.That is what I drink now..funny I was thinner BEFORE I kicked the soda habit.
And before I kicked soda I felt a low level sick all the time too.

Nowadays it takes me a week and a half to use up a two liter bottle. And usually the last fourth is flat so I dump it.I buy one of those maybe 3 times a year often I keep it around for guests I have a few friends who live on soda.and I use it If I get sick. The acids in soda often kill nausea for me if eating an orange does not work.

My roommate is a different story he puts away 2 two liters a DAY, sometimes more. He says he suffers nasty withdrawal symptoms if he can't get at least one soda a day. Scary. I hate to think of what havoc his habit is doing to his body..He's been drinking sodas for decades he used to use Dew as it was his favorite.

Methinks it is time to take away the"proprietary information" excuses from companies..Especially when companies make a product that will be ingested.Proprietary information,is abused like the phrase "national security". All I think this excuse does 99% of the time it's invoked is a way for bad people to hide bad deeds behind some security driven 'law' when they make their product toxic or addictive.ALL Companies especially drugs ,beverage and food companies must be forced to reveal all the info of what exactly is in the products the public is buying and the harm it can cause them or be shut down.

I think every company should be forced to reveal EVERYTHING they put in their products everythinbg, if they can't handle the thought of a true free market where existing ideas are improved they should shut the fuck up.. Companies that make products that are ingested, need to be totally transparent and they all should have all thier products and recipies tested and be subjected to un bribable un coercible extensive lab tests done by labs with nothing to lose or gain by telling what they discover in the tests and no lobbyists allowed to even speak to the people working in those independent labs.

I really think there is some sort of addictive substances put in sodas.
When I stopped drinking them I had withdrawal myself. I was never up to drinking two two liter bottles a day.It's scary. Maybe one of the reasons the recipe is secret is because of the toxic substances in it.

[ananda]

25. I hear you!

I drink only organic juice and decaf tea.

Every once in a while I have a bit of coffee,
mostly decaf.

And lots of water.

No processed foods at all. Period.

Hardly any grains except rice.

Sue

[silverojo]

77. IMHO, pop isn't addictive

Everyone in my family stopped drinking it, cold turkey, with no problems. The addiction is more likely psychological. :)

Luckily, I only drank that crap a few years--from mid-teens till I was 20, and realized it was just empty calories. Mom, on the other hand, was quite a bit older at that time, and had been drinking Pepsi most of her life....

NOTE: Pepsi is one of the worst offenders in terms of leeching calcium.

Today, her 5'5" frame is down to 5'1". She has compression fractures in her spine, bowed legs, osteopenia in her shoulders...you name it.

There should be, at the very least, warning labels on pop so people know what they're getting into.

[undergroundpanther]

95. Psychological addiction is still addiction

And there IS evidence of sugar and caffeine addiction Those are two obvious things in the ingredients found in alot of pop.
https://hopkinsnet.jhu.edu/servlet/page?_pageid=1721&_dad=portal30p&_schema=PORTAL30P
http://www.sfn.org/index.cfm?pagename=brainBriefings_sugarAddiction

[NeedleCast]

10. Moderation

I doubt the occasional soda is a DNA death sentence. Otherwise I would have grown horns and a tail long ago.

[undergroundpanther]

13. Damn

I'd LOVE to have nice twisting ornate horns and a soft neat-o panther's tail. Too bad dna mutation isn't cool like that. Most of the time mutations create disabilities,deformities, tumors, allergies, injuries and cancer. Damn. I'd look cool as anything with horns and a tail.(at least to myself and other freaks ). Dammit why can't something cool like that come of shit this??!!

[NeedleCast]

16. It's Possible

I think if you mix Mountain Dew, Pepsi and Red Bull you'll get just the effect you're looking for. That mix will probably cause you to hallucinate at a minimum, so it might not matter whether they're real or not.

[reprobate]

46. Me too. As long as the tail was prehensile. I always wanted a third hand. I would

come in so handy to carry the groceries in from the car.

[Massachusetts]

11. Try Guinness instead, it's Good for you!

[undergroundpanther]

14. Killian's Red, is the kind I like best

or Corona. Can't afford to get it most of the time. But when my friends throw parties knowing I like Killian's, they always have at least a six pack of Killian's there. I drink one to myself, and One for Sekhmet. I wouldn't drink anything if they didn't invite me..Haven't got the money to buy booze. Food takes priority.

[MGKrebs]

15. Peter Piper?

Peter Piper picked a pack of Dr. Pepper?

[atommom]

17. I posted upthread but wanted to mention that this is a pretty alarmist

article. The risks of sodium benzoate + vitamin C are real ... benzene is a known carcinogen. However, drinking a couple cans of soda is not a death sentence. Sodium benzoate should clearly be phased out, since we know it's potentially dangerous. But the laboratory tests they're referring to may not really reflect what's likely to happen in our own bodies.

[undergroundpanther]

19. Well

Knowing the heavy body burdens we carry of toxins inside us.. It's a wonder we all don't get cancer.
http://www.chemicalbodyburden.org/whatisbb.htm
And some things considered"safe" are not safe,when inside a body do to the chemicals inside our bodies that are NOT part of a toxic body burden.

[bedpanartist]

22. onlytapwater.org

I don't know if it's a site yet, but can you imagine the damage to big corporations if only a mass movement toward drinking - gasp - only tap water could do?

Imagine all of the millions of discarded plastic bottles we'd never see on the roadside.

Imagine all of the money big medicine and insurance would lose to the reduction in diabetes.

The amount of damage that could be done to corporate America by merely switching to tap water for all of your thirst quenching is huge.

[NeedleCast]

23. Even if we did

The food police would soon be doing studies on the dangers of tap water, the chemical additives and the horror of floride. These studies would, of course, be secretly funded by Coca-Cola and other mega-corps who also sell\bottle\distribute bottled water. The alarmists of the world will always find new "bad" stuff.

[bedpanartist]

26. and that is exactly why

I don't pay any attention to any of the corporate news, food chains, products, etc...

It's all built on a giant mountain of bullshit.

Water. Yum.

[texastoast]

33. Try red tea

I'm loving it. Rooibos and honeybush. I got my spouse and child off soda completely with rooibos.

[tinrobot]

58. Tap water? It's a secret plot of the Brita lobby!

Seriously, I only drink filtered tap water. Tap water is highly regulated by the EPA and actually higher quality than most bottled waters.

[SmokingJacket]

24. My chemist friend told me about how sodium benzoate combines

with citric acid to form benzene months ago. Why anyone thinks that a beverage made of water, sugar, and chemicals is suitable for children is beyond me.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

28. LOL!

They found that E211 could damage an important area of DNA called mitochondria!

:rofl:

[lizerdbits]

40. I completely missed that sentence or it didn't register

There's a good scientific writer! :spray:

[Pierre.Suave]

43. You know

when I saw that I was a bit suspicious, having aced Human Bio a few years back, I thought it sounded off. So I went to Wiki...

I think the write of that article does not understand DNA, nor how a cell works.


Mitochondria:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrion

In cell biology, a mitochondrion (plural mitochondria) (from Greek μιτος or mitos, thread + χονδριον or khondrion, granule) is a membrane-enclosed organelle, found in most eukaryotic cells.<1> Mitochondria are sometimes described as "cellular power plants," because they generate most of the cell's supply of ATP, used as a source of chemical energy. The number of mitochondria in a cell varies widely by organism and tissue type. Many cells possess only a single mitochondrion, while others can contain several million mitochondria <2><3>. Although most of a cell's DNA is contained in the cell nucleus, mitochondria have their own independent genomes. According to the endosymbiotic theory, mitochondria are descended from free-living prokaryotes.

DNA:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA is a nucleic acid molecule that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all living organisms. The main role of DNA is the long-term storage of information and it is often compared to a set of blueprints, since DNA contains the instructions needed to construct other components of cells, such as proteins and RNA molecules. The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in regulating the use of this genetic information.

Chemically, DNA is a long polymer of simple units called nucleotides, with a backbone made of sugars and phosphate atoms joined by ester bonds. Attached to each sugar is one of four types of molecules called bases. It is the sequence of these four bases along the backbone that encodes information. This information is read using the genetic code, which specifies the sequence of the amino acids within proteins. The code is read by copying stretches of DNA into the related nucleic acid RNA, in a process called transcription. Most of these RNA molecules are used to synthesize proteins, but others are used directly in structures such as ribosomes and spliceosomes.

Within cells, DNA is organized into structures called chromosomes and the set of chromosomes within a cell make up a genome. These chromosomes are duplicated before cells divide, in a process called DNA replication. Eukaryotic organisms such as animals, plants, and fungi store their DNA inside the cell nucleus, while in prokaryotes such as bacteria it is found in the cell's cytoplasm. Within the chromosomes, chromatin proteins such as histones compact and organize DNA, which helps control its interactions with other proteins and thereby control which genes are transcribed.


Conclusion, Mitochondria is NOT a part of DNA.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

48. You may or may not recollect from your human bio...

that the human body also produces its own sodium benzoate as a normal part of aromatic amino acid metabolism.

[Pierre.Suave]

51. I did not remember that

but I am sure you are right. I am not willing to give this article much credit anymore. If there is one error, there are probably many more.

[pschoeb]

94. Mitochondria have their own DNA

it's called mitochondrial DNA which is most likely what the author meant, except my guess is a spell checker corrected the text to mitochindria, not having mitochondrial in it. It seems no big deal to me, as the sentence makes perfect sense if one just adds a single l at the end, it seems likely it was at most a typo.

[Pierre.Suave]

96. Yes they do

but thats not what the sentence said.

It said the Mitochondria is an important part of the DNA, when infact the opposite is true.

[Tatiana]

45. Man. Dumb America at work.

Did the author mean important cell organelle?

:shrug:

[Orrex]

55. Nicely caught!

I'm embarrassed to have missed it!

[pschoeb]

91. My guess is it was an error caused by spell checker

That had mitochondria but not mitochondrial, as with mitochondrial the sentence is accurate.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

93. A part of DNA called the mitochondrial?

No, I don't think it's a typo, just old fashioned stupidity.

[anotherdrew]

30. what about potassium benzoate ? n/t

[lizerdbits]

36. I'd guess the chemical properties would be the same

It's just a different cation associated with the benzoate. Unless sodium and potassium have different dissociation properties under certain conditions.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

42. Not when you consume it.

It'll completely disassociate in the body. Hell, in the soda.

It's the same stuff. There'll be actual health effects for the sodium and the potassium though.

[lizerdbits]

47. That's what I figured

At physiological conditions no difference but IF the belief that the reactivity with vitamin C produces benzene in soda cans I supposed that if Na and K dissociated at different rates in soda can conditions and that dissociation was required for benzene formation (which I don't know is true) then that part could be altered. Kind of an offshoot of the original topic which is kind of how my brain works. :freak:

[Prophet 451]

35. Hardly a surprise

It's probably true but it's not exactly unusual. Following health news, it seems pretty much everything is bad for you these days and certainly anything enjoyable is.

Way I figure it, life is a savings account. When we're born, we get a certain number of days automatically (variable depending on stuff like genetics that's outside our control). You have a smoke, you pay a few hours. Have a salad for lunch, you claw a few hours back. Give and take. I drink a lot of coca-cola, I dunno if that's got this additive in but to be honest, it's probably no more of a danger to my health than the collosal amounts of coffee I drink or the 20 Marlboros a day.

Thing is, I sometimes wonder about how much effect these things have. I don't doubt they have an effect but I'm doubtful if it's as extreme an effect as is often presented. Example: My father and I once did a life expectancy test (from The Lancet so probably pretty reliable). He's a health freak, watches his diet and so on and he got a life expectancy of 84. So far, so froody. I do the thing and I smoke a pack a day; drink so much coffee that I bleed neat nescafe and, by my own admission, eat crud (but I also drink green tea, have pets (weirdly, pets really do seem to make a difference), I'm a man of faith (again, seems to make a difference but no-one knows why. My guess would be stress)and practice combat sports). What does my life expectancy come out as? 80. I feel good about those four years, he can have the four years. Amusingly, the test didn't even ask about drug use and my history of prescription drug abuse is probably what will get me before anything else.

My point is that I think genetics play a much bigger role in our overall health than we want to admit, not in terms of actual life expectancy so much as susceptability to various malfunctions.

[Orrex]

39. Take heart!

I drink a lot of coca-cola, I dunno if that's got this additive in...

According to the label on the can:

Carbonated water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Caramel Color, Phosphoric Acid, Natural Flavors, Caffeine.

See? Nothing but good for you!

[Prophet 451]

41. Excellent!

You know (and I think I'm echoing Bill Maher here), I've just done two more life expectancy tests. Both of them asked about illegal drugs but neither asked about the abuse of prescription drugs and yet, I know that the couple of joints I puffed years ago have done far less damage to my health than years of abusing prescription painkillers.

[Maraya1969]

53. Some comedian on cigarettes shortening your lifespan reminded us

that it is just the shitty old years that get kicked off anyway so why worry about it?

[Prophet 451]

59. It was Dennis Leary

It's part of his "No Cure For Cancer" routine. I have the CD.

[UNCLE_Rico]

72. Dude, you and I sound like we could've been twins separated at birth...

What you just posted there (except the faith part) described me to a friggin 'T'.

Totally Trippy...

I'd imagine you'd be the sort who knows how to take 'er easy, and live life (for the most part) one day at a time...

[Prophet 451]

81. I try to

I suffer from clinical depression which makes that more difficult but yeah, I try to.

As for faith, no-one knows why it makes a difference. My guess is that being an athiest in a society full of believers (often believers who are rather agressive about their faith) makes one overly stressed.

[BootinUp]

88. I think you are pretty much right on the genetics part

but I think the environment and stress must play a big role too. And I often question whether studies on particular substances really rule out these other effects.

[Prophet 451]

92. I don't think they can

The nature of genetics means the effects can't really be ruled out. Nor can stress or your usual enviroment. I mean, even if I go into a lab for the tests, I'd still know if, for example, the bank was foreclosing on my house, right?

Stress has been proven to cause a lowered immune reaction. That's not news to anyone so it seems logical that excessive stress would also make one more susceptable to various illnesses or bodily malfunctions. My solution to stress? Get a cat. Seriously, my two have done more for me than all the meds I've ever been prescribed.

[hippiechick]

38. And what about the aspartame thing from a few years back ...

.... you know, the sugar subsitute that our own Rumsferatu was so crucial in helping get approval for?


Between that, bovine growth hormones, other chemicals in fast food and now sodium benzoate ... shit, our kids are gonna all be Toxic Avengers. :scared:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

44. And let's not forget dihydrogen monoxide.

It's also found in many sodas.

[hippiechick]

49. ... that even SOUNDS deadly!

:(

[lizerdbits]

50. I'm definitely switching to all water now!

:rofl:

There was a story a few years ago about kids knocking on neighbors doors telling them their water supply was contaminated with dihydrogen monoxide and people flipped out and started calling public officials!

[Thor_MN]

103. Dihydrogen monoxide is a powerful solvent!!!

When you consider how many things it will dissolve, it's a wonder that it hasn't been banned from prepared foods. Obviously, it's the food corporation's lobbying efforts that have kept this chemical on the market and in our foods.

[Speck Tater]

52. Scientists have learned from Bush. FEAR gets you funding.

Bush tells reporters "YOUR children are in danger." Scientist tells parents "YOUR children are in danger." If it's like all the other "studies" done on the taxpayer's dime the results are whatever results would bring the most funding to the researcher. I just don't trust this whole "everything causes death" fear-mongering of grant-hungry "scientists" any more. Especially since two weeks from now this latest "Child-killer" scare will be long forgotten, or utterly refuted. Just like the "study" linking cell phones to bee deaths; bogus from the very start!

How many headlines have you seen going back and forth between the "coffee kills" to "coffee is good for you" positions? "Scientific studies" have covered every possible permutation of outcomes on that issue. The only thing these "scientists" care about any more is where their next research grant will come from, and to get those grants you need to generate sensational headlines.

[gravity]

69. It's the media who is pushing the fear

not the scientists.

[Orrex]

56. But is it safe for midichlorians?

I'd hate to think that The Force is no longer with Pepsi.

[Zavulon]

57. If this were true, I'd be reduced to a tribble by now.

The key word is "CAN," as in "can switch off vital parts of DNA." E211, under the right circumstances, CAN kill cats and cholesterol at the same time, but in fact does neither.

It's kind of like the phrase "can help" in ads, which means nothing. Example:

"Honey Nut Cheerios can help lower cholesterol."

Translation: "Honey Nut Cheerios don't do jack shit about cholesterol, but if you eat them instead of triple cheeseburgers you might see a drop below 500, you gluttonous fuck."

[Vilis Veritas]

67. ROFL

:rofl:

[BootinUp]

100. lol. n/t

[Thor_MN]

104. Thank you!!! Best laugh I've had all day!!!

[Catherine Vincent]

61. Sodium Benzoate.....

[Jokinomx]

63. I quit drinking Coke (1 liter a day for years) one year ago.

For the fifteen years I suffered with intestinal problems. My Doctors said I had Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Never once in that time did any professional offer advice to quit drinking Coke.

I decided to quit drinking the stuff last May and switched to Propel. A Gatorade flavored water.

Immediately my IBS disappeared. I have had two minor episodes in the last year...both two days after drinking a 20 oz bottle of Coke. When I was a Cokacola addict, I was having two episodes a week with severe pain.

Propel is a little more expensive to drink.... but, it has changed my life. Now with this information, I even feel better.

:toast:

[shanti]

68. i used to drink a lot

of soft drinks on a daily basis too, mainly coke. but i quit about 6 months ago. tried the splenda drinks, but they just taste awful to me. now, i just drink bottled water, ice water, if possible. lost weight too. i know the plastic's not too good for you, but plain water is better than the chemicals and HFCS in coke! i've come to realize that water really is the most refreshing drink around!

coke is the debbil!

[JerseygirlCT]

97. Was it the caffeine or were you drinking diet?

I can't manage nutrasweet, and I have to be very careful about caffeine, too. Both seem to set my gut off.

I allow myself one coke (yeah, yeah, in the morning, ok!) a day. After that it's decaf iced tea or juice (both very watered down at that) or seltzer.

I noticed the most significant difference after cutting out the nutrasweet. Caffeine just seems to exacerbate problems, not necessarily start them.

[Thor_MN]

105. I quit drinking soda (pop to us in Minnesota) several years ago

due to the carbonation. I recall reading an article disputing that carbonation could have any effect on the human body as there is a effective system (lungs) for removing carbon dioxide. I decided the author was an idiot as there is no effective system to remove gaseous CO2 from your intestinal tract. Let's just say I'm a much quieter person if I don't drink carbonated beverages.

Take a 20 ounce bottle of anything carbonated, loosen the cap and squeeze the bottle to remove the gas. Tighten the cap, shake it, repeat. and repeat. and repeat. After you get bored 20 or 30 repetions later, picture all that gas sitting south of your throat. From there, it has only two easy paths out of the body. So if you are not burping the alphabet, you have a C02 powered assist in the the other direction.

[Vilis Veritas]

66. I once knew a guy who ate food his whole life.

Then he died.

Food kills. Stop the madness. ;-)

[McCamy Taylor]

74. People are supposed to drink water. Now they drink diet soda instead.

They drink a big one to two liter bottle a day in place of the water that nature intended them to drink. In the process, they get Nutrasweet, which actually increases their appetite, making them eat more food and increasing their obesity problem. And now we find that the preservatives in their diet soft drinks are dangerous when ingested in large, regular amounts.

Sodium benzoate probably will not hurt you if you eat a little once in a while in some marmalade or in a pickle. But if you chug two liters a day (in place of water) it can not be natural or healthy.

The remark about eating food and dying is really inappropriate when you consider the tainted garbage that is sold to people to replace healthy food in the diet. Some people never eat a bite of healthy food from one day to the next. They eat processed, refined, chemicalized crap that is little better than the lethal stuff that the chinese minister of drugs and food is about to get executed for overseeing.

PS Sugared soft drinks are much better than diet soft drinks IMO because people know that they are getting a food item and know to limit their consumption of the sugared soft drink the way they would sweets or ice cream. Plus, the sugar should serve as a preservative. You get sugar and water and some carbonation. Nothing wierd there. Diet soft drinks were made to be over used and abused and to replace water. I see too many people give diet soft drinks to their kids. The drinks are full of chemicals that have not been well tested. We are all guinea pigs. If you do not want calories in your drink, try water. If you want bubbles, drink mineral water.

[McCamy Taylor]

76. Have to rebut my own post. Here is what happens when people abuse sugared soft drinks.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=64824

The entire soft drink industry is rotten to the core. They finance tons of bogus research to silence critics. They keep us fat, diabetic, toothless (and now neurologically degenerated).

[Vilis Veritas]

115. Agreed.

As for the soft drink industry, it appears they are no different than any other large corporate raider. They are beholding to their bottomline, not the people who buy their products.

The biggest problem is advertising. There needs to be limits on advertising. But that is an entirely different thread...

And...they keep some people fat. Not all of us...;-)

Peace.

[shanti]

113. sugared soft drinks...

too bad that there aren't any more here that actually have sugar, they all have HFCS instead. you have to buy mexican or caribbean soft drinks to get them with sugar.

[Vilis Veritas]

114. Uhmm...perhaps,

I should have included the sarcasm tag and not the little winkie eye.

Rather than get into a lengthy diatribe about the science of eating bad foods and what it does, I will simply defer that you are right and I should not have made light of the situation, especially since I avoid as much of that crap as possible and would never want to be seen as ADVOCATING excessive use of dietary products.

WHOLE FOODS. That is what people should eat. The more the merrier.

Peace.

[BootinUp]

86. lol. so true. n/t

[Socal31]

75. Hmmmm.

Reading the label to my Monster Energy Drink....."benzoic acid?"....


Eh...better cut down on the 24oz I drink a day. Im sure theres at least 3 other carcinogens in here too.

[Orrex]

78. Why is this the top story on the DU front page?

Mods: Please delete this message if the question is out of bounds!

[The Backlash Cometh]

80. Check your flavored water. Aquafina Flavor Splash has Sodium B.

[eppur_se_muova]

82. GROSSLY EXAGGERATED, IRRESPONSIBLY ALARMIST HEADLINE.

Benzoic acid/benzoate is lethally harmful to YEAST (a single-celled organism). It has been known for a very long time that benzoate shuts down the metabolic pathway for fermentation in yeast (this is WHY benzoate is added in the first place -- it kills fungi, yeast, and some bacteria, while showing little toxicity to most other organisms). This researcher has seen signs of shutdown of mitochondrial functions in yeast and CLAIMS it is because of DNA damage, when it could be due to other factors. This is a PRELIMINARY result of research on SINGLE-CELLED organisms, and there is as yet no reason to believe that what is true of yeast is true of humans -- there are, after all, profound differences between most yeast and most humans.

While this research needs to be followed up, it is way too soon to be claiming that benzoate causes DNA damage in humans. The evidence for this, so far, is zero.

[Speck Tater]

89. At the risk of repeating myself: FEAR gets funding. Scientists want funds.

So, having discovered that fear works, they use it to preserve their salaries.

[eppur_se_muova]

90. There's some in every social category, not just scientists.

And it might be this guy's just an attention ... nah. Better not say it.

[Endangered Specie]

99. You make that sound like you don't think scientists should get any funding?

and its not to 'preserve their salaries' its to do further research :eyes:

and, incidentally, I don't think scientists wrote this, the news media did.

[mike_c]

98. bingo....

We have a winner.

[sleipnir]

101. It took how many posts to point this out? Jeez....upthreaders looking for fear.

Congrats to you, eppur_se_muova, for actually reading the article and logically thinking about the situation.

I can't believe so many people just skipped the facts and went straight to fear-mongering.


And, this is from a tabloid-style newspaper. What did everyone expect?


Sure, sodas aren't that good for you, but the fear in this thread is undeniable.

[Celebration]

102. Anyway

Even he is only concerned about the people that guzzle the stuff, not the more responsible consumers. Unfortunately, there ARE people who drink so much soda that only God knows how much damage they are doing to themselves.

As people pointed out, it may be more of a problem when this is combined with Vitamin C, to form benzene.

In any case, I don't think this warning was for the light or even moderate drinkers of soda.

[Nihil]

111. "Benzoic acid/benzoate is lethally harmful to YEAST"

Quick! Give this drink to Republican voters and save your country!

:evilgrin:

[BootinUp]

85. Call me highly skeptical.

Sodium benzoate has been used in foods for decades. On the other hand I favor further research to confirm or deny his findings.

[havocmom]

107. LOL yeah, and people seem to be de-volving too

:toast: -but only with water or (real) raspberry leaf tea :)

[GoddessOfGuinness]

108. What about all that cranberry juice I've given my kid?

Is that bad too?

[NuttyFluffers]

110. The frozen yogurt, which i call frogurt, has sodium benzoate......... that's bad.

but you get your choice of sprinkles! ... the sprinkles are also cursed.

[Javaman]

112. This is good to know but I just can't get past the researchers name...

Peter Piper????

Peter piper picked a pack of pickled...

[KansDem]

116. I had my last cola in January 1980

I swore off "Coke," "Pepsi," and all the rest to avoid high-fructose corn syrup. Just stop drinking this crap! You don't need to consume the poison the mega-corps put in their factory food.

Look for alternates, like natural cola, seltzer, ice tea...

[mvd]

117. I've avoided Sodium Benzoate anyway

Also things like Polysorbate 80. I just prefer my things like ice cream without them. You can't get away from them in toothpaste, but I spit that out.