Coke Zero banned
Coke Zero has been banned in Venezuela by the government citing concerns that it is harmful to health.
All Coke Zero in Venezuela as of 31/10/09 was to be removed from shelves and destroyed due to concerns over the concentrations of sodium cyclamate which is used in South American countries to sweeten Zero. Sodium cyclamate has been banned as a carcinogen in the US since 1969.
Concentrations of sodium cyclamate in Zero were found in government tests to be 100 times the level considered safe.
Oddly, especially given the fact that it is implausible to believe that Coca Cola were unaware of the US ban, Coca Cola had failed to mention sodium cyclamate as an ingredient when it applied for permission to market Zero in Venezuela.
In Australia and the US, as well as in Europe, Coke Zero is sweetened with aspartime which has been linked to neurological damage.
Taken from Venezuela Bans Coke Zero Citing Health Concerns published by Natural News
Comment
This is yet another example of the total absence of ethics in a major corporation, whereby Coca Cola knew (certainly it is not credible to suggest they did not know) that the product they were using to sweeten their product was carcinogenic, with evidence so clear that it had been banned in the US for 40 years.
This breach of ethics was only discovered because Venezuela is wealthy enough to afford to test products like this. Most 3rd world countries and even some second and first world countries do not run tests on products like this, either because they do not have the funds or they blindly trust the corporation to be responsible.
Related to - Health news | Food and Nutrition
By Mark O'Brien