Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

OKIsItJustMe

(19,933 posts)
Thu Feb 19, 2015, 06:08 PM Feb 2015

Coloring used in some sodas poses cancer risk to consumers, study suggests

http://hub.jhu.edu/2015/02/19/soda-caramel-coloring-cancer
[font face=Serif][font size=5]Coloring used in some sodas poses cancer risk to consumers, study suggests[/font]
[font size=4]Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, Consumer Reports analyze soda consumption data, urge FDA limits on potential carcinogen[/font]

Natalie Wood-Wright

[font size=3]Public health researchers looking at U.S. soda drinking habits warn that many people may be regularly exposing themselves to a potentially cancer-causing byproduct of the caramel coloring used in some types of soda.

Caramel color is a common ingredient in colas and other dark soft drinks, and a possible human carcinogen—4-methylimidazole (4-MEI)—is formed during the manufacture of some kinds of the coloring. Analysis of soda consumption data show that between 44 and 58 percent of people over the age of 6 typically have at least one can of soda per day.

Building on an analysis of 4-MEI concentrations in 12 different soft drinks first published by Consumer Reports in 2014, researchers led by a team at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future estimated exposure to 4-MEI from caramel-colored soft drinks and modeled the potential cancer burden related to routine soft drink consumption levels in the U.S.

The results of their research were published online Wednesday in PLOS One.

…[/font][/font]
5 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Coloring used in some sodas poses cancer risk to consumers, study suggests (Original Post) OKIsItJustMe Feb 2015 OP
I saw that article somewhere, and SheilaT Feb 2015 #1
I've switched to Gatorade a long 840high Feb 2015 #2
For me it was carbonation.. Thor_MN Feb 2015 #3
I also understand that the chemical sweeteners in SheilaT Feb 2015 #4
K&R DeSwiss Feb 2015 #5
 

SheilaT

(23,156 posts)
1. I saw that article somewhere, and
Thu Feb 19, 2015, 07:19 PM
Feb 2015

it does seem as if the actual risk in very low.

I pretty much stopped drinking soft drinks around ten years ago now. They just didn't make any sense to me, whether with sugar or with chemical sweeteners. At first I did miss them, and probably consumed about one a month. Over time that number has dropped so that I maybe have two or three in a year. What's interesting, is that they've become almost invisible to me when I'm in a place where bottled or canned drinks are available. I always go for water. I'm not going to make any unresearched claims about the health benefits of no longer drinking soft drinks, but I'm glad I gave them up. It amazes me sometimes when I'm at the grocery store and I see people with several large boxes of soft drinks. Oh, well.

 

Thor_MN

(11,843 posts)
3. For me it was carbonation..
Thu Feb 19, 2015, 08:42 PM
Feb 2015

Put CO2 gas into a long tube and it has to come out one end or the other eventually. I'd be more worried of the long term effects of phosphoric acid on teeth and bones than anything else, but I rarely opt for soda. Just about the only time I will seek it out is I need some caffeine and coffee or tea isn't an option.

 

SheilaT

(23,156 posts)
4. I also understand that the chemical sweeteners in
Thu Feb 19, 2015, 08:56 PM
Feb 2015

diet soft drinks tend to leach calcium from the bones. It's part of the reason we are facing an enormous epidemic of osteoporosis in this country. I know many women who drink diet sodas every single day.

When I broke my arm at age 60, several years back, the doctor who looked at the x-ray in the ER told me I had absolutely no sign of bone loss or thinning at all. That was nice to hear.

 

DeSwiss

(27,137 posts)
5. K&R
Thu Feb 19, 2015, 09:59 PM
Feb 2015
- Unfettered progress strikes again!

''Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.''

~George Santayana, The Life of Reason, Volume 1, - 1905
Latest Discussions»Issue Forums»Health»Coloring used in some sod...