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Straight Facts

I recently read that soft drinks, including diet drinks cause heart disease. Is this true?

This is false. A recent study published in American medical journal Circulation, about metabolic syndrome and sparkling drinks, gained much media attention in Australia. Metabolic syndrome, also known as insulin resistance, is a group of conditions that put you at risk of heart disease and diabetes. It is a complex issue that cannot be attributed to a single cause or a single food, drink or ingredient. The assertions being made could apply to any product containing kilojoules – if you over consume any food or beverage with kilojoules, there are health consequences. Neither regular or diet sparkling drinks nor any other product as unique in this equation. For more information about metabolic syndrome and this study, click here

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Sweetener Basics
Sweetener Basics
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According to taste research, one of our first flavour experiences is sweetness, so is it any wonder that many of us crave sweet things every now and then?

The sweet taste that we desire comes from two types of sweeteners – sugars, which provide kilojoules, and non-nutritive sweeteners, which provide few or no kilojoules. People who have a sweet tooth, but are also trying to watch their weight, often choose non-nutritive sweeteners.

Nutritive sweeteners

Sweeteners like table sugar (sucrose) are considered nutritive sweeteners because they are energy-containing carbohydrates that can be used to fuel the body. Sucrose contains about 17 kilojoules per gram, or 67 kilojoules per teaspoon.

Non-nutritive sweeteners

Non-nutritive sweeteners are also sometimes called low-kilojoule or intense sweeteners because their sweetness is so potent — ranging from 200 to 600 times the sweetness of sucrose. This is why sweeteners such as aspartame can taste sweet but contain virtually no kilojoules.

There are many rumours and much confusion surrounding non-nutritive sweeteners, particularly aspartame, the main sweetener contained in sparkling beverages. Having more information about the sweeteners used in drinks can help you make informed decisions and better understand the role drinks play in a healthy diet.

More than 200 scientific studies and food regulatory bodies across the world including Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), Food and Drug Administration in the US (FDA) and the UK’s Food Standard’s Agency (FSA) confirm the safety of aspartame as a non-nutritive sweetener. 

In addition, The Coca-Cola Company in Australia has established an Advisory Council of experts in the area of obesity, public health and nutrition to provide advice and counsel to the Company on nutritional topics such as this. In August 2007 the Council reviewed the latest research on the sweetener we use in our drinks. The review found that these sweeteners are safe and that they can also play a beneficial role in the healthy diet of people with diabetes or people interested in managing their weight.