Silk purse out of a sow's ear
As you know, coffee is my main vice, but there was a time when the permanent fixture in my hand wasn't a travel mug full of java -- it was a can of Diet Coke. In fact, it wasn't until I started working with Dr. Wright that I kicked my diet soda habit. Before that, I had no idea just how closely it resembled toxic sludge. But today, thanks to what I've learned from Dr. Wright, I'm sludge-free -- and more and more people are joining the ranks all the time. Which, apparently, has Coca Cola very nervous. So much so that they're reformulating Diet Coke in an attempt to keep up with "consumer demand for more natural products." "Reformulating" is pushing it just a tad, though. Really, all they're doing is removing a particular preservative, sodium benzoate, from the current formula. Aside from being unnatural, sodium benzoate has also been linked to numerous health problems in various studies. But Coca Cola claims they're not removing it based on any of the unflattering study results and insists that "Our decision is based on emerging consumer trends for natural." Funny that they're so insistent that they're trying to make their products "natural" – especially when this is such a halfhearted attempt. First of all, Diet Coke is the only product slated for the sodium-benzoate overhaul: a spokesperson from the company said that there are no plans to remove the artificial preservative from any other products. Second, this little project is only taking place in Britain, so if you live anywhere else in the world, your Diet Coke is still going to be as artificial as ever. And speaking of artificial, Coke's move towards "more natural products" apparently doesn't extend to the other artificial ingredients its beverages contain, like the aspartame found right along side the sodium benzoate in each and every can of Diet Coke. So whether or not the sodium benzoate stays or goes, Diet Coke is still far from anything even remotely resembling a "natural" product. It's like the old saying goes: You just can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Source:
"Sodium benzoate removed from Diet Coke," NutraIngredients.com (www.nutraingredients.com), 5/27/08 | 
