Soda vending machines, a thing of the past?

This move is a good one from the standpoint of the “war on soda.” Governments are coming to realize that soda, when consumed excessively, are along the lines of cigarettes in that they are very unhealthy and lead to a shortened lifespan and decreased standard of living.

We applaud San Francisco’s ban on regular soda and restrictions on diet soda and hope to see other municipalities follow suit.

Read more: Sugary-drink ban starts to affect S.F. sites

The officer was responding to a soda theft at a convenience store (at 5 am no less) but was unable to find the getaway car upon arriving at the scene. The officer then waited across the street to see if the thief would return. A little while later the car returned and the officer matched the description of the vehicle to the one which had fled the scene earlier.

After performing a traffic stop, the officer saw the packs of soda in the car and the accused’s girlfriend copped that he had been stealing soda from several convenience stores. They also found a plastic bag containing pot.

The 38-year old suspect is being held in the Nueces County Jail in lieu of $1,000 bail.

Talk about a soda habit!

We’ve covered Soda taxes before, but Philadelphia’s recently proposed sweetened drink tax puts it at the forefront of the ‘tax soda’ movement. Mayor Nutter is proposing a 2-cent per oz tax on sweetened beverages. For example a 20-oz bottle of soda would be 40 cents more and a 2-liter bottle would be $1.35 additional.

I am all for taxing unhealthy foods to help subsidize healthcare. But this appears to be a tax meant to help with the actual running of the city budget. What is to stop them from taxing any other type of food? What about a tax for every gram of fat content in a food source?

Although I am not completely against a soda/sugar tax, this does strike me as the wrong way to go about it. If this passes, expect similar ordinances to pass in other major metropolitan areas.

Coca-Cola, in development with Bsquare, is designing a high-volume soda dispenser to replace those old-ones of the 20th century. Code named “Freestyle”, the machine can serve up to 100 flavors. How does it do this? It uses technology based on the exact doses dialysis equipment uses combined with highly condensed soda concentrate to deliver exact quantities and proportions of the ingredients that make up your soft drink.

Here is a short clip of the machine in action:

An onboard computer uses RFID to make sure the 46-ounce cartridge are loaded in the correct spots. The computer can also be used to send usage data back to Coke headquarters so that they can analyze details usage data and decide where machines need to be added or removed.

The Freestyle machines are currently being tested in Georgia, California, and Utah. Coca-Cola plans to place around 60 test machines around the United States by the end of the summer. Aren’t we lucky?

Originally seen from FastCompany.

Interesting article over at The Wichita Eagle.

“I believe soda is the next tobacco,” said Barry Popkin, director of the University of North Carolina’s Interdisciplinary Obesity Center and author of “The World Is Fat,” published this year.

Soda drinkers haven’t achieved pariah status like smokers before them, but proposed sugar taxes and social pressure to be healthy can put a damper on doing the Dew — and even some in the growing ranks of diet pop drinkers are feeling soda shame.

Although I am NOT a proponent of taxing beverages of any kind, the article does raise a good question. When consumers drink soda excessively, which leads to obesity and other health problems, and do not have health insurance coverage, can the rest of the taxpayers be expected to foot the healthcare bill? Would it be wise to target a main source of obesity and spread the tax burden over those who are consuming soda?

These are all good questions that I think, from a tax perspective, go back to whether you think the government should have a hand in healthcare and what kind of ‘distribution of wealth’ should occur.

I recently drove past the Pottstown Memorial Medical Center and saw a group of 5 or 6 staff members smoking across the street (so they could be off hospital property), looking like total outcasts. Part of me said “Good, they should quit smoking anyway and get the message” but the other part felt bad for them.

Since soda doesn’t have “second hand effects”, I do not think that soda drinkers will go the way of the tobacco smoker, but there will probably be an increasing social stigma to consumers of the sugary beverage (and the diet aspartame replacement).

• Take baby steps. If you drink four sodas per day, replace two with an alternative today.
• Make alternatives slowly. Start with diet soda, then switch to flavored water.
• Once you’ve gotten comfortable with this routine, replace your other sodas with an alternative.
• Still alive? Great! Now switch those diet sodas or flavored water to plain water. Don’t like plain water? Try adding fresh fruit to them.
• Experiment with other beverages like teas, milk, soy milk, and seltzer – the goal here is to hydrate mostly with plain water.
• Don’t keep soda in the house. Make it a treat to be enjoyed now and then.

I am on the step where I have replaced soda with flavored water. Although the chemicals that make up the composition of these flavors (such as 4C “Energy Rush” drinks) doesn’t agree with me – it is a step in the right direction.

Never liked the taste of Diet Soda so I was able to skip that step!

Source: Diet Blog

What is pH?

Acidity ranges in general go from 0 to 14, with a pH of 7 being neutral. Pure water is typically considered neutral at pH 7, where tap water has been measured having a pH of 7.67, a slight base.

For more on Acids, Bases, and pH.

Here is a chart of the ph of some common household items:

The pH of soda pop

So how did soda fare in this study? As you could probably guess, not too well.

Here is a chart of the acidity levels of some common sodas:

Results of Study

The study was done by submersing teeth in soda, so although this does not show real-life drinking patterns, it does show that the longer soda is exposed to teeth, the more corrosion does occur. The authors of the study suggest drinking soda through a straw to mitigate any contact with your teeth – and that definately means no swishing. 

Finally, as you can tell, the pH of some sodas equals the pH of Vinegar! If that isn’t enough to turn your stomach, I don’t know what is!

Source: Commercial soft drinks: pH and in vitro dissolution of enamel – Jain, Nihil, Sobkowski, Agustin

A steady, litres-per-day diet of colas can cause serious muscle problems, doctors warned in a study Tuesday.

A review of clinical cases showed that super-sized doses of soft drinks loaded with processed sugars and caffeine can cause potassium levels in the blood to plummet, giving rise to a condition known as hypokalaemia.

Small changes in potassium levels can profoundly effect the functioning of the body’s cardiovascular and neuromuscular systems.

Typical symptoms of hypokalaemia are decreased muscle strength, cramping, palpitations and nausea.

In more extreme cases, potassium deficiency can lead to heart trouble and profound paralysis.

“We are consuming more soft drinks than ever before and a number of health issues have already been identified,” including tooth decay, loss of bone mass, and diabetes,  said Moses Elisaf, a doctor at the University of Ioannina in Greece and main architect of the study.

“Excessive cola consumption can also lead to hypokalaemia, causing an adverse effect on vital muscle functions,” he said in a statement. [emphasis added]

So in addition to making you fat, drinking soda excessively can also make you weak. Yet another reason why you should stop drinking soda!

Source: Canada.com

One idea to help pay for health care reform may be hard to swallow for Coke drinkers and the soft drink industry.

Congress plans to discuss a tax on sweetened soft drinks that are often blamed for helping cause health problems like obesity and tooth decay in the first place.

Not surprisingly, companies like Atlanta-headquartered Coca-Cola Co. are sour on the potential of a so-called “sin” tax on their products.

“It’s an over-reach when government uses the tax code to tell (people) what to eat and drink,” said Kevin Keane, senior vice president of the American Beverage Association. Officials from Coca-Cola declined to comment, instead referring questions to Keane’s group.

Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution

ScienceDaily (May 20, 2009) — Doctors have issued a warning about excessive cola consumption after noticing an increase in the number of patients suffering from muscle problems, according to the June issue of IJCP, the International Journal of Clinical Practice.

“We are consuming more soft drinks than ever before and a number of health issues have already been identified including tooth problems, bone demineralisation and the development of metabolic syndrome and diabetes” says Dr Moses Elisaf from the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Ioannina, Greece.

Yet more reasons to stop drinking soda!

Source: Science Daily