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Revealed: WHO aspartame safety panel linked to alleged Coca-Cola front group (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 1 year ago by NightOwl@lemm.ee to c/worldnews@lemmy.ml

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It uncovered eight WHO panelists involved with assessing safe levels of aspartame consumption who are beverage industry consultants who currently or previously worked with the alleged Coke front group, International Life Sciences Institute (Ilsi).

Their involvement in developing intake guidelines represents “an obvious conflict of interest”, said Gary Ruskin, US Right-To-Know’s executive director. “Because of this conflict of interest, [the daily intake] conclusions about aspartame are not credible, and the public should not rely on them,” he added.

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[-] dingus@lemmy.ml 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Around 20+ cans of coke a day which the majority of people don’t do.

This guy has never met an American. Ever heard of a Big Gulp? We literally had private companies engineer bigger soda cups to handle how much fucking soda Americans drink.

[-] jonsnowman@lemmy.world 30 points 1 year ago

I dont necessarily disagree with your overall point about Americans drinking a lot of soda, but I don't think pointing out that a company makes a cup a little smaller than 3 cans of soda is a very strong counterargument to the claim that it takes 20+ to be harmful...

[-] dingus@lemmy.ml 13 points 1 year ago

The largest Big Gulp is 50oz and when I was a kid, people leaned on free refills for them. A 50oz is almost a whole 2-liter.

You're not wrong, it's not the best example, but I've seen people go through numerous Big Gulps a day.

Hell, when I worked overnight as a security guard, one of my fellow guards who drink an entire 2-liter of Mountain Dew to himself every night.

It's hard for me to think about because I can't even get through a whole 16oz without stopping halfway because it's too syrupy.

[-] chakan2@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

A 2 liter a day is still miles away from the amount you'd need to drink to reach unsafe levels.

I think you'd have to drink 3+ a day before you're at unsafe levels if you're 150lbs (and...well...if we are shitting on eating habits, 150 is a very light American).

[-] ShakeThatYam@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

Tbf, about half of a Big Gulp is filled with ice.

[-] AnonStoleMyPants@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 year ago

Holy balls that's a large cup wtf. How popular are they? I mean, you see them in movies but that's all the info I can draw from lol.

[-] Madison_rogue@kbin.social 7 points 1 year ago

A Big Gulp is 30 ounces, 20 cans of coke is 240 ounces of soda. That's a lot of Big Gulps. That said the Double Gulp, the largest size 7-11 offers, tops out at 50 ounces. Yet you'd have to drink almost five of those to reach 20 cans.

in 2018 The United States consumption of soda per capita was 38.87 gallons per year, or 13.6 ounces of soda per day. Which was down from 45.5 gallons per year in 2010.

[-] DarkWasp@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

This is fair lol. I’m Canadian and when I was 17-20 I’d consume around 4-6 cans a day which was a crazy amount to myself and most people. 20+ seems nuts just financially.

[-] CIWS-30@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

Agree. Even recently, I would have up to 5-6 cans worth myself (have since cut down a lot), but alongside the financial cost, there's also the acid eating away at your stomach lining and the excess caffeine to worry about alongside the Aspartame.

Frankly, given the stomach issues and acid reflux that too much soda can give you, I would imagine that people (even sodaholics) would have to stop much sooner than 20 due to all the other issues involved with sodas before the problems with Aspartame would even come into the picture.

Not to say that I'm not leery of Aspartame, but diet Soda has other major issues beside it.

[-] chakan2@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The soda acid thing is also a myth. The PH level of your stomach acid is much higher than soda.

Edit: Yes, had that backwards...but my point stands...stomach acid is more acidic than soda. It's not an issue.

Yes...I concur, it's terrible for your teeth.

[-] VulKendov@reddthat.com 4 points 1 year ago

Lower pH means stronger acid. Soda is not more acidic than you stomach acid. The real danger that the acidity of soda poses is to your teeth.

[-] dingus@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

And considering the knock-on effects to the rest of your body from your teeth, it's not an issue to sneeze at.

[-] downpunxx@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

cut a stomach open, spread the stomach acid on a painted car hood, eat that shit right off. saying it's the same ph as stomach acid, is like saying 1 of a thing is safe but 2 of the same thing has to be safe as the 1 thing. idiocy. and said with such confidence. ah the internetz, such a boon to humanity.

[-] chakan2@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago

Sigh...come back after highschool chemistry.

[-] dingus@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

You're not wrong, it is nuts, health-wise and financially!

[-] HughJanus@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 year ago

We literally had private companies engineer bigger soda cups to handle how much fucking soda Americans drink.

This is a really weird statement. Like it was some sort of feat of engineering to manufacture larger cups.

[-] dingus@lemmy.ml 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Very arguably, with 1970's manufacturing standards, and how much 32 ounces of liquid weighs, it was an engineering feat at the time. So much so that the originals looked more like a milk carton.

https://physicalculturestudy.com/2017/08/31/the-history-of-the-big-gulp/

Potts’s desperation caught the attention of Coca-Cola, who in 1976 sent representatives to the merchandise manager with a strange proposition. Coca Cola wanted to create a new 32 ounce cup for their drinks, a previously unheard of amount. The largest size at the time was 20 ounces, and even that was considered to be monstrous. Instinctively Potts refused, claiming that the Cups were “too damn big” and in Potts’s defence, he was right. The design for the 32-ounce cups was square on the bottom and resembled your average milk cartoon.