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- In 1998, Americans guzzled 15 billion gallons of soda,
an average of about 585 cans per person.
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- Caffeine in sodas aims to addict, according to a new
study. Researchers are now drawing a comparison to nicotine's use in cigarettes.
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- Caffeine in soft drinks - which Americans drink more
of than water - is added to addict consumers, not to enhance flavor as
soft drink manufacturers claim, said researchers who compared caffeine's
use in sodas to nicotine in cigarettes.
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- "The marketing parallels between nicotine and caffeine
are pretty stunning," said psychopharmacologist Roland Griffiths,
who directed the research. "Both are psychoactive drugs. Until recently,
cigarette companies denied that nicotine is addicting and said it was added
merely as a flavor enhancer for cigarettes. The same is being said for
caffeine."
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- Griffiths and other scientists at Johns Hopkins University
School of Medicine said most soda drinkers cannot taste the difference
between caffeinated and non-caffeinated drinks.
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- The study appeared in Archives of Family Medicine, which
is published by the American Medical Association, and concluded that caffeine
was instead added to soft drinks for its addictive nature to boost consumption.
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- The Johns Hopkins study found that only 8 percent of
a group of 25 adult consumers were able to detect the caffeine in sodas.
The rest could not tell the difference between caffeinated and non-caffeinated
drinks until caffeine levels were raised to levels beyond those approved
by the Food and Drug Administration.
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- "This stands in sharp contrast to the claim some
soft drink manufacturers make that they add caffeine purely for taste,"
Griffiths said.
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- Soda makers responded to a 1981 FDA proposal that caffeine
be eliminated from cola drinks by saying it enhanced flavor.
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- Roughly 70 percent of soft drinks consumed in the United
States contain caffeine, the study said.
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- "I'd like to see the soft drink industry come out
of denial about the role of caffeine in their products," Griffiths
said. "They're adding a mildly addicting, mood-altering drug, one
which surely accounts for the fact that people drink far more sodas with
caffeine than without."
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- A trade group representing the soft drink industry called
the study's conclusions irresponsible and contended caffeine added to the
beverages does enhance flavor.
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- "It was a very poorly conducted and designed study.
The conclusions are irresponsible and they were not based on the science,"
said spokesman Jeff Nedelman of the National Soft Drink Association.
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- He said several of the taste testers in the study were
smokers, with depressed senses of taste, and that they sampled many warm
sodas over a brief period.
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- Soft drinks contain only a fraction of the caffeine present
in coffee, Nedelman added.
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- Griffiths noted that caffeine-free versions of Coca-Cola
Classic and Pepsi, the two most popular soft drinks, made up only 5 percent
of sales.
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- Soft drinks represent the single largest source of added
sugar in the U.S. diet, according to sources cited in the study. Soda drinking
displaced consumption of more nutritional foods and could lead to more
tooth decay, obesity and bone fractures, the report said.
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- In 1998, Americans guzzled 15 billion gallons of soda,
an average of about 585 cans per person. Consumption of soft drinks has
more than doubled since 1975, and more soda is consumed than water.
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- "We know adults and children can become physiologically
and psychologically dependent on caffeinated soft drinks, experiencing
a withdrawal syndrome if they stop," Griffiths said in the study.
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- "Most adults can become informed about, and cope
with, withdrawal. ... But it is more problematic in children who are less
well-informed and whose soft drink consumption may be sporadic," he
said.
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- Griffiths said manufacturers should explain their reasons
for adding caffeine to drinks and spell out the amount of the additive
used.
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- Reuters contributed to this story.
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