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

Researchers studied over 59,000 Danish pregnant women from 1996 to 2002. The women were evaluated during their pregnancy via a written exam, one of the questions gauging their diet soda intake. The expectant mothers who consumed at least one diet soft drink per day were found to have an increased likelihood, 38% more likely, of pre-term birth than the non-diet soda drinking mothers. If they drank four or more drinks per day they were 78% more likely. Those are some pretty scary numbers.

The study was authored by Halldorsson TI, Strøm M, Petersen SB and Olsen SF and is titled Intake of artificially sweetened soft drinks and preterm delivery: a prospective cohort study of 59,334 Danish pregnant women. It was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2010.

Read more: Midwives Magazine

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!

• 24% of California adults drink at least one soda or other sweetened beverage each day
• 41% of children between ages 2 and 11 drink at least a soda a day
• 62% of teens drink at least a soda a day
• 13% of 12-to-17-year-olds drink three or more sodas on a daily basis

These stats, from a 2005 California Health Interview Survey, show that soda consumption is widespread in the state. The survey finally found that adults who drink soda or sugary drinks daily are 27% more likely to be overweight.

(credit LA Times “Booster Shots” blog, Photo courtesy of ab4dd0n)

Obama has made some comments about a soda tax in an upcoming issue of Men’s Health. In the article, he states that “There’s no doubt that our kids drink way too much soda. And every study that’s been done about obesity shows that there is as high a correlation between increased soda consumption and obesity as just about anything else“. To counter that, he also states “people’s attitude is that they don’t necessarily want Big Brother telling them what to eat or drink, and I understand that“.

They are also calling this a “sin tax” and putting it in the same category as the cigarette taxes. It should be interesting to see how this plays out in the news media.

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Zevia is being introduced in six flavors: ZEVIA Natural Cola, ZEVIA Natural Orange, ZEVIA Natural Twist, ZEVIA Natural Root Beer, ZEVIA Natural Black Cherry and ZEVIA Natural Ginger Ale.

The ingredient used to replace sugar, stevia, is an herb native to South and Central America. Stevia’s taste has a slower onset than sugar, which may put off some Zevia drinkers. Without actually trying some, it would be hard to say.

You can get Zevia at Whole Foods or many other locations.

Glad to see some soda alternatives out there made from natural substances!

More on Zevia Soda.

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.