"Natural" Soda - so misleading!

Mindful_Trent

I found this article: http://tiny.cc/eahzf (Yahoo News)

Here's the first few paragraphs:
NEW YORK – PepsiCo Inc. is giving away at least 10 million free cans of Sierra Mist Natural this weekend at Wal-Mart stores to introduce its new version of the lemon-lime soda, which now includes sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup.

The company announced last month it was remaking the drink by also removing preservatives. It added "Natural" to the name to cater to shoppers' desire to avoid artificial ingredients and launched a major marketing campaign, spending what it normally spends in a year to market the billion-dollar brand in the last quarter.

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Uugh - when are people going to wake up and realize there is nothing "natural" about processed sugar - "normal" cane sugar, corn syrup - any of it!

It just irritates me so much that companies use "Natural" when there is nothing natural about soda. There is NO regulation surrounding the use of the word "Natural". Just because cane sugar starts with sugar cane plants, doesn't mean that the end product resembles anything "natural" - it's been processed with chemicals, bleached, had various parts separated and essentially stripped of all nutrients.

Here's a post I did awhile back that summarizes step-by-step how table sugar is made.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/119250-how-sugar-is-made

Motto of the story: Please be careful and don't assume that just because something is labeled "Natural" that it is good for you.

katschy

Motto of the story: Please be careful and don't assume that just because something is labeled "Natural" that it is good for you.

Good post. When people start blethering to me about their "organic" and "natural" foods, I point out that the coca plant is all natural; does that make cocaine a healthy addition to the diet? I don't think so.

briteyes

thanks for the info i'm trying hard to switch my household over to truly natural foods, but it is so hard, especially when I'm already so busy, and then to find the time to do all the research, go to the special stores, or just make it myself instead of buying it at the store.....

I have granulated sugar for baking, but if this is still just as bad for us as HFCS (which i've removed from our house), what can I use instead?

nisijam5

OK, I know that you have researched this very well.

So, I have a question, if you are going to drink it anyway...wouldn't this be a better option...I'm thinking in terms of kids...I think I would rather them drink the cane sugar than the HCFS...are they metabolized differently in the body?

Mindful_Trent

Motto of the story: Please be careful and don't assume that just because something is labeled "Natural" that it is good for you.

Good post. When people start blethering to me about their "organic" and "natural" foods, I point out that the coca plant is all natural; does that make cocaine a healthy addition to the diet? I don't think so.

I do support organic foods - it's completely different than "natural". There is much more regulation around the use of the "organic" label, and actually because the requirements are so strict, many farmers who would love to be organic just can't afford to be. I receive a delivery of organic fruits and veggies every other week - they're fantastic!

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/successfulfamily/Nutrition & Wellness/organlab.htm

Mindful_Trent

OK, I know that you have researched this very well.

So, I have a question, if you are going to drink it anyway...wouldn't this be a better option...I'm thinking in terms of kids...I think I would rather them drink the cane sugar than the HCFS...are they metabolized differently in the body?

Personally I don't see why cane sugar is any better than high fructose corn syrup. One comes from sugar cane, one comes from corn - both are HIGHLY processed. There are some studies that suggest that high fructose corn syrup is a larger contributor to obesity than regular sugar, so if you are going to drink it anyways, then I guess I can see why someone might want to go with regular sugar... They do make some sodas with stevia - you might consider this as an alternative, but if cost is a problem, I'm sure they're more expensive.

Mindful_Trent

thanks for the info i'm trying hard to switch my household over to truly natural foods, but it is so hard, especially when I'm already so busy, and then to find the time to do all the research, go to the special stores, or just make it myself instead of buying it at the store.....

I have granulated sugar for baking, but if this is still just as bad for us as HFCS (which i've removed from our house), what can I use instead?

I use honey, agave nectar, maple syrup and stevia. another good product is called sucanat - it's the sugar cane juice with the water evaporated. It's not highly processed. Depending on what you use, you may have to tweak recipes a little (with stevia, you barely use any because it's sweeter than sugar, so sometimes you have to add "bulk" with other ingredients to make up for the lower volume compared to if you used sugar.) I haven't experimented much with the baking - I mostly make recipes that already have one of those sweeteners in the recipe.

hollyk57

Great post, as always. This reminds me of the lawsuit that Snapple faced a little while back because they claim their products are all natural when they are not - and the diet products are loaded with fake sugar. I hate that peopl try to say Stevia and sucralose are 'natural' too because they 'come from sugar'. If it didn't come out of nature in the form you're now eating it and it has been process AT ALL... it's not natural

Mindful_Trent

Great post, as always. This reminds me of the lawsuit that Snapple faced a little while back because they claim their products are all natural when they are not - and the diet products are loaded with fake sugar. I hate that peopl try to say Stevia and sucralose are 'natural' too because they 'come from sugar'. If it didn't come out of nature in the form you're now eating it and it has been process AT ALL... it's not natural

Actually Stevia IS natural. It comes from the Stevia plant, which is found in South America, I believe. I use pure stevia extract as a sweetener option, mostly for my morning coffee. It is extracted from the plant using water, is not bleached and has no added ingredients (at least the type I buy.... some of the commercial varieties do have fillers added - I try to avoid those ones. Splenda/Sucralose, on the other hand, is NOT natural.