Soft Drinks Found to Contain High Levels of Cancer-Causing Benzene

[Lorien]

March 2, 2006
by the Times / UK

Soft Drinks Found to Have High Levels of Cancer Chemical

by Rajeev Syal

Traces of a carcinogenic chemical have been found in soft drinks at eight
times the level permitted in drinking water, it was revealed last night.

Tests conducted on 230 drinks on sale in Britain and France have identified
high levels of benzene, a compound known to cause cancer, according to the
Food Standards Agency. There is a legal limit of one part per billion of
benzene in British drinking water. The latest tests revealed levels of up to
eight parts per billion in some soft drinks.

Benzene has been linked to leukaemia and other cancers of the blood. Traces
found in Perrier water 15 years ago led to the withdrawal of more than 160
million bottles worldwide. The disclosure has prompted food safety
campaigners to demand that the Government reveal which products contain
benzene. At present, the drinks¹ identities have not been revealed.

Richard Watts, of Sustain, a pressure group lobbying for better food
standards, said that this should be done urgently because the drinks were
being marketed to children. ³The scientific evidence is unclear about
whether there is any safe level of benzene. We see no reason why it should
be different from the designated safe level in drinking water. If it is
unsafe in drinking water, why should it be safe in soft drinks?² he said.


More: http://www.organicconsumers.org/foodsafety/benzene06030...

[NYdemocrat089]

1. I'm glad I gave up soda for Lent.

I think I might just stop drinking it all together.

[Lorien]

4. I gave it up last year. It was tough-the stuff is highly addictive

but I have more energy and I think more clearly since doing so.

[Dogmudgeon]

2. Pollution is now ubiquitous

Benzene is bad enough, but PTFE compounds -- Teflon by-products -- have been found in every watershed in the world. PTFE derivatives are carcinogenic and act like hormones, a class called "xenoestrogens".

I wonder how many of our "moral" health problems are caused and/or potentiated by environmental pollutants. Diabetes, for instance, is strongly potentiated by xenoestrogens, as well as a number of organic sexual dysfunctions.

When making changes in one's diet, it's easy to stop drinking soda. Forgoing sugar is easy, trans-fats is a little more difficult, but nobody can just stop drinking water. Plants and animals alike concentrate chemicals. The solution is going to have to be political. The environment won't be able to process the overall load of pollutants back into simple organic compounds until the loading has stopped.

--p!

[Lorien]

5. It sounds like cooking on Teflon might not be very healthy either

I wonder how much of that stuff is filtered out with a Brita filter? Of course, fish are probably laden with it too...

[hang a left]

14. No offense Pigwidgeon but

Forgoing sugar is NOT easy for someone like me.

[shanti]

16. please

it is NOT easy to stop drinking soda. i've been doing so, three cans of coke per day, for the last 10 years AT least and i can't stop. yes, i know it's bad for me, but i drink it instead of coffee in the morning, at lunch, and at dinner.

[Lorien]

18. I understand. I "quit" Diet coke about six times before I finally stopped

drinking the stuff. It's made to be addictive; I had horrible headaches and felt sluggish as hell each time I tried to quit. I finally had no choice because it was really affecting my health, but I still kinda miss it.

[RB TexLa]

3. Still going to drink diet coke, I'm going to die of something, can't say

will care of what when I'm dead.

[MoeHayNow]

6. It's amazing that people will go on and on

about soda pop.

It has happened at every job I've ever had. I drink a lot of Diet Coke. (A two-liter a day is not at all uncommon.)
Seems that information like that brings out the "high and mighty" in many people. I really don't get it. Often they are the same people who go out for smoke breaks and hit up happy hour after hours.

Do I know that it's probably bad for me? Yes.
Do I care? Not particularly.
Am I an addict? I suppose so.
Will I continue drinking Diet Coke in large quantities? You betcha.

[Lorien]

12. Er, I didn't post this to appear "high and mighty"

people have a right to know what's in the food and beverages they consume (a right now at risk, as congress recently approved a "food labeling act" that would allow the mega corporations to put disease causing ingredients in foods without notifying the public about the risks. profits above all, you know).

Do I smoke and or drink? No.

Have I been a Diet Coke addict? Yes.

Do I drink it now? No. It was contributing very negatively to a chronic illness that I have, and I finally followed my doctor's advice and gave it up-along with sweeteners, white flour,most dairy, and processed foods. The chronic illness is nearly cured.Since Coke and Pepsi are big GOP contributors, I also stopped giving the GOP my money through those purchases.

It's a great game they're playing; putting addictive crap into our food supply, making heavily processed (unhealthy) foods more affordable due to subsidies, and restricting access to health care. Survival of the richest meets Darwinism. The poor have no choice but to consume and suffer the consequences, and the rest can choose their poison; enjoy your treat today and pay later with their lives, or eat a healthy-if restricted and none too convenient-diet.

[NNadir]

7. Previous thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

The preferred pathway for the metabolism of benzoic acid, which does not involve decarbonxylation, is linked in that thread.

Benzoate is found in many food plants, including cranberries, prunes and plums, among others.

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

Sometimes rather large doses of sodium benzoate are given to people having certain genetic diseases that do not allow them to process nitrogen to make urea. Generally, without such treatment, these conditions are fatal. One such condition is carbamoyl phosphate synthetase deficiency. This disease is described here:

http://www.emedicine.com/PED/topic314.htm

[Generic Brad]

8. Benzene. Mmmmmmm.

That makes for some mighty fine carcinogenic drinking, I tell you what.

[Ariana Celeste]

13. lol

Welcome to DU!

[GodHelpUsAll2]

9. Add that to the list

There seems to be something in everything that will cause cancer and it becomes the panic of the moment. Does anyone wonder why we are not all dead yet? I mean with eggs, butter, artificial sweeteners and now cokes we should all at least have some type of cancer. Spare me. It's always something.

[Hardrada]

10. This food scare bit started with cranberries in 1962, I think.

[GodHelpUsAll2]

11. It's a miracle

there is anyone left to "test" all this stuff with all the food of death out there.

[madokie]

17. Yep, the christmas without cranberries

Not sure of the year like you but I remember.

[Hardrada]

19. We had some kind of cranberry in a can

but not the "real" cranberries. I was annoyed and made fun of the fearmongers even then when I was still a teen.

[Oilwellian]

15. I also recently learned...

some meat processors are treating beef with carbon monoxide to keep it looking fresh longer. Mmmm....benzene and carbon monoxide...it's what's for dinner.