Coke - It's the Real thing....

An interesting war is raging on kiwiblog this week (be patient - this link can take a while to open). The discussion I'm referring to is the preference between Diet Coke, Coke Zero, and the other varieties of Cola Drinks.

One of the posts mentioned an additive to Coke called HFCS or High Fructose Corn Syrup. It seems that initially "fat" Coke used to be made with Cane Sugar, but in most of the world the manufacturing of Coke now has moved to the cheaper HFCS.

This wouldn't make any difference if it weren't for the following information I found on the net. Please note I can not validate any of the following quotes (in italics)

According to an article in the American Journal for Clinical Nutrition, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is the possible culprit for the obesity epidemic in America. HFCS, which has been linked to diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and breast cancer among others, is almost ubiquitous in foods and beverages in the United States. There has been a 76% increase in Type II diabetes in adults 30-40 yrs old since 1990. The percentage of overweight children in the United States has tripled since 1980. The epidemic of type 2 diabetes cases across the nation will likely lead to a substantially higher incidence of strokes among middle-aged adults and newly diagnosed diabetics. I've found out that people who consume HFCS increase their triglycerides 32 percent relative to people who use mostly sugar. Elevated triglycerides is a precursor to elevated cholesterol. This is not speculation. This is according to University of Minnesota professor John Bantle. The body metabolizes high fructose corn syrup differently than sugar. It blunts the body's ability to recognize when it is full and increases a person's appetite. The more of it you consume the more you want to consume.

A reference to articles on HFCS can be found here.

The reason Coke uses HFCS is simply one of economics

Some quick numbers, on why Coke would use HFCS over sugar.
Annual US Per capita consumption of Coke in servings: 411
People in the United States: 297,890,000
Servings of Coke in the US, per year: 122,432,790,000
How much a 5 cent cost increase in sweetner, per serving, would affect the bottom line of Coca Cola: $6,121,639,500
How much a penny (1 cent) cost increase in sweetner, per serving, would cost Coca-Cola:
$1,224,327,900
How much 1/10th of a cent increase in sweetner, per serving, would cost Coca-Cola:
$122,423,790 (per year). Still nothing to sneeze at?

The making of HFCS can be found here.

A further quote from www.thundercloud.net states;

I'm not saying that sugar is good for you. I'm saying HFCS is very bad for you. Much worse than sugar. And you can hardly avoid eating HFCS if you live in the United States. If you don't believe me, get up right now and look at the label on a loaf of bread. Go into your refrigerator and look at the salad dressing, pickles, ketchup, juice drinks, soda pop - look in your pantry at the canned goods. You'll find in HFCS in almost everything - even in foods you don't consider "sweet".

At this stage I have no idea if HFCS is being used in New Zealand, but I'm going to drop an email to Coke (NZ) to ask...If I stop answering my phone you'll know why !