Written By: Nirmalya Dutta | Published : September 15, 2014 3:54 PM IST
If things go to plan Coke Zero will launch in India by October which is expected to be priced the same as Diet Coke. Coke Zero is different from Diet Coke in the sense that its taste is closer to the taste of the Classic Coke compared to the Diet Coke which has its own distinctive taste. Some believe that Coke Zero will be more popular in India than its diet counterpart.
Thankfully India is still not a huge consumer of soft drinks. This move follows the recent example of PepsiCo chairman Indra Nooyi to provide 'healthier' options to soft drinks. She was recently told by the Food Processing Ministry that the beverage giants should make their soft drinks healthier by reducing the sugar content in them.
While the soft drink giants might talk about going healthy the truth is a small can of cola packs in a staggering 39g of sugar along with 140 calories which is far higher than the American Heart Association's recommendation that men consume 37.5g of added sugars while women consume 25g in a day!
Here's an epic video where the BBC's Jeremy Paxman who grilled James Quincey about the sugar content in Coke. He shows how a small paper glass has 23 sachets of sugar while a larger one has 44 packets of sugar!
Various different sources have talked about the dangers of soft drinks. A major study done by the Imperial College London, drinking even 350 ml of carbonated beverage a day is likely to raise your chance of getting type 2 diabetes by 20%. Researchers believe that it's not just weight gain that soft drink causes but it could also be causing an increase in insulin resistance.
Other researchers have shown that sugary drinks can damage the liver and kidneys and are linked to the risk of developing cancer or dementia. Studies have also shown a link between soft drink consumption and higher heart disease and hypertension risk. Professor Barry Popkin of the University of North Carolina had told the Sunday Times: 'If there is any item in our food supply that acts like tobacco, it is sugared drinks.' Professor Nick Wareham, who led the Imperial team, told the Mail Online: 'Labels on sugar-sweetened beverages should be explicit about how much sugar they contain and should say that we should limit consumption as part of a healthy diet.'
Why we need to worry about soft drinks
American scientists Robert Lustig had called for sweetened drinks and food to be regulated in the same manner as tobacco. Earlier, New York City Mayor Bloomberg had tried to ban supersized sodas in his city but to no avail, the courts deciding that it impeached on their freedom of choice. It has long been hypothesised that it was the easy availability of sugar in our diet that made the entire race vulnerable to obesity.
Why do we crave sugar?
As human beings, we're designed to crave sugar since it contains glucose which is essential because it's an energy source that keeps the human body functioning. However, earlier sugar was only available in natural sources like fruits which limited the amount we consumed. The Industrial Age however made crystallised sugar readily available and now it's hard to find a society where sugar isn't readily available.
How much sugar do soft drinks have?
Now the problem is that soft drinks contain a lot of sugar, 350 ml will have 31.5 g of sugar. The American Heart Association recommends that adolescents consume between 21 and 33g of sugar per day for children, while adult women should have 25g and adult men 37.5g. One can of soda, actually has enough sugar to fulfil your entire day's calorie requirements without adding any nutritional value whatsoever!
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