A new test should more accurately show the amount of benzene in
soft drinks on shop shelves, but that does not mean there is no
problem, says the scientist behind the new procedure to
BeverageDaily.com.
America's Food and Drug Administration has questioned the accuracy
of its own testing for benzene in soft drinks between 1995 and
2001, but held off criticism from Congress members for refusing to
publish results from its current...
Lawyers in the US announced yesterday they were taking two soft
drinks firms to court, alleging lab tests showed drinks
contaminated with benzene above America's safety limit for tap
water.
Testing soft drinks to reflect the effects of storage and transport
conditions will be crucial to realistically monitor benzene
formation in different drinks, a former industry scientist told
BeverageDaily.com.
Soft drinks makers have been hauled before the European Commission
to explain the presence of benzene traces in drinks, putting the
industry under pressure after recalls in the UK.
Soft drink consumption is the principal factor behind the growth in
global drinks, with health playing an increasingly important role
in consumer choice.
Britain's food safety watchdog has demanded recalls on four soft
drinks brands, after it found they were contaminated with benzene
at up to 28 times the country's limit for drinking water.
Levels of benzene found in soft drinks so far are not a safety risk
for consumers, says the US food safety watchdog, attempting to calm
public concern.
Coca-Cola said it was testing its soft drinks around the world for
benzene, as the group sought to reassure consumers that soft drinks
were only a very small contributor to daily benzene intake.
Trace amounts of a little-researched toxic metal have been found in
bottled water brands in PET bottles across Europe and Canada, says
new research from Germany.
Nestlé Waters has confirmed it is examining how to re-organise its
75 bottled water brands into a more coherent unit, as rivals spring
up from all sides.
Children kept off sugary drinks lost weight after a period of six
months, according to a new study, findings that add to the mounting
body of evidence linking childhood obesity with soda consumption.
More soft drinks will be tested for cancer-causing chemical benzene
in the UK after it was revealed some drinks contain up to eight
times the legal limit for drinking water.
Britain's food safety watchdog says initial tests on 230 soft
drinks show benzene levels above the UK limit for water, as the
industry tells BeverageDaily.com how it controls the issue.
UK-based Works With Water Nutraceuticals have announced the launch
of a range of flavoured spring waters with proven health benefits,
claimed to be the first of its kind in the UK to bring the Active
Health Drinks benefits to spring...
America's soft drinks association said it would have to look again
at benzene in drinks, after new tests revealed to
BeverageDaily.com suggest it and food safety authorities
failed to stamp out a problem.
Food safety authorities in Britain and Germany are checking soft
drinks for benzene after tests suggest a private deal with soft
drinks firms in the US, 15 years ago, failed to fix the problem.
US food safety authorities have re-opened an investigation closed
15 years ago into soft drinks contaminated with cancer-causing
chemical benzene, following evidence the industry has failed to
sort out the problem, BeverageDaily.com...
A lawsuit aimed at getting soft drinks out of US schools on obesity
grounds will be filed in Massachusetts, just as lawmakers there
prepare to vote on a school junk food ban.
Profits tumbled by two thirds last year for the world's largest
supplier of private label soft drinks, Cott Corporation, as the
group struggled to cope with rising input costs and a consumer
shift to non-carbonated drinks.
Soft drinks firms will voluntarily ban advertising to children
across the European Union in an effort to curb public criticism
amid the bloc's growing obesity problem.
A lawsuit aimed at getting soft drinks firms out of US schools on
obesity grounds is now ready to go, says one of the leading lawyers
involved to BeverageDaily.com, as new research suggests
obesity litigation will become the next...
A 3.1 per cent growth in UK exports of food and drink during the
first half of 2005 indicates that the industry is on track to break
the £10bn barrier for the first time in a decade.
Bottled water consumption is expected to overtake fizzy soft drinks
around the world within five years, says a new report, with Nestlé,
Danone and PepsiCo leading the charge.
Consuming fizzy soft drinks is not linked to esophageal cancer as
previously thought and diet drinks may even help decrease the risk,
suggests new research on the issue.
Cott Corporation, the private label soft drinks maker, said it
would close its Ohio factory in the US next year as part of its
plan to cut costs and get back on track with consumer trends.
Cadbury Schweppes has announced it plans to sell its European
beverages arm for £1.2bn to a private equity consortium led by Lion
Capital and Blackstone.
French water and dairy firm Danone has signed a deal to get rid of
its troublesome water cooler business in the US, though not without
taking one last hit.
The UK ranks second behind Canada in the level of productivity of
its food, drink and tobacco products work force, but Austria,
Finland and the Netherlands are on the way to overtaking the
island, according to an international study.
Belgian company Orafti has introduced a new low colour organic
sweetener that could tackle the problems faced by organic soft
drink manufacturers, including off-notes in colour and taste.
The amount of fake food and drinks entering the EU grew by 200 per
cent last year, with the higher quality of counterfeits making
detection more difficult, the bloc's administrative arm said this
week.
The world's largest supplier of private label soft drinks, Cott,
says 2005 profits will be badly hit by low fizzy drink consumption,
rising PET costs and poor performances from own-label bottled
water.
The rise in trademarking food products in the UK serves as
indication the industry remains on top of the game, as processors
and retailers attempt to meet consumers' demands.
Praise where praise is due. And it is certainly due for one
small-time drinks firm in southern Britain, which is spear-heading
answers to global water shortages that threaten to wreak havoc on
food producers everywhere.
Nestlé's bottled water sales are rising again in Europe but
competition from both private labels and brands, as well as soaring
plastics costs, are increasing pressure in the sector.
Consumer health trends and political pressure have pushed America's
soft drinks industry to ban fizzy sodas from elementary schools,
and radically reduce their presence in others, in favour of juice,
water and energy products.
Cott Corporation, the world's biggest supplier of private label
soft drinks, will join the growing club of aseptic producers after
buying Britain's Macaw group - offering new opportunities for
health products and better...
Energy drinks will account for £1 of every £5 spent by Britons on
soft drinks this year, according to a new survey by Mintel that
reveals the phenomenal growth of this sector.
Drinking large amounts of beverages containing fructose adds body
fat, and might explain why sweetening with fructose could be even
worse than using other sweeteners, according to a new report.
Coca-Cola, Pepsi and the rest of the soft drinks industry are
considering a voluntary ban on carbonated soft drinks in elementary
and middle schools following heavy lobbying from health
campaigners.
Britain and France are leading launches of functional, bottled
water in Europe, yet the trend remains in the grip of niche sectors
and still below flavour in the R&D priority list of the big
players, reports Chris Mercer.
Another write-down charge hits French firm Danone, taking the gloss
off a rise in dairy and beverage sales, as rumours of a take-over
bid by PepsiCo subside, reports Chris Mercer.
Bottled water sales are booming in Britain thanks to a new
generation of consumers who see the sector as more than glorified
tap water and better for their health and well-being than fizzy
drinks, reports Chris Mercer.
Proposals to put cigarette-style health warnings on soft drinks to
highlight the harmful effects of too many sugary beverages has been
called patronizing by the American Beverage Association, writes
Anthony Fletcher.
