Pepsi, Coke, FRS “Energy” Drinks—Nothing more than Snake Oil?

September 17th, 2010. By janem

If it weren’t for lobbyists such as Public Citizen, Coca-Cola and Pepsi Co. would rule the world. Or at least control everything we consume. Hmm, I guess that does mean ruling the world.

I recently read an article in the NYT about Plumpy’nut—an edible paste comprised of peanuts, vitamins and calories—that is given to starving children and is believed by many to solve worldwide malnutrition. In fact it has been credited with greatly decreasing mortality rates in Africa during famines. Wouldn’t you know that the all-reaching arm of Pepsi wants part of the action!

According to the Times, Pepsi recently talked about playing “a more decisive role” in bringing ready-to-use foods to needy populations. The article refers to three nutritionists who warned that Pepsi-branded therapies could become “potent ambassadors for equivalently branded baby foods, cola drinks and snack foods.” This is precisely what Nestle did years ago when it muscled into the baby formula market in India. Baby formula was given to young mothers in hospitals, right after they gave birth, and guess what? They were given the formula for too long, they couldn’t produce breast milk so they had to buy Nestle’s stuff.

Anyway, back to Pepsi and how my rant began…

I was looking into the “FRS healthy energy drink” made by the good people at FRS Company. Well, lo and behold, if they aren’t in trouble already by claims of false advertising and questionable billing practices, they’ve gone and sold out to Pepsi! I wonder how long it’ll take before their recipes are diluted for greater profits…

FRS purportedly contains a large amount of antioxidants, specifically quercetin and Catechins, and one serving of its “healthy energy” drink is equivalent to 3 servings of blueberries, 6 servings of red onions, or 8 servings of raspberries. That must cost more than soda and sugar to produce (e.g., Coca-Cola’s VitaminWater) but critics say it’s nothing more than citrus-flavored snake oil…

Then the recent Coca-cola lawsuit, filed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, caught my attention. It too has attempted to deceive the public by making claims that its VitaminWater “reduces the risk of chronic disease, reduces the risk of eye disease, promotes healthy joints and supports optimal immune function, and uses health buzz words such as “defense,” “rescue,” “energy” and “endurance” on labels. That’s a bit rich, don’t you think?

Nutritionists think so. According to those in the know at CSPI, “the 33 grams of sugar in each bottle [of VitaminWater] do more to promote obesity, diabetes and other health problems than the vitamins in the drinks do to perform the advertised benefits listed on the bottles.”

After the lawsuit was filed, Coca-Cola said its drinks, like any beverage the company makes, can be part of a healthful diet. Accused of false advertising—and in a pathetic attempt to backtrack—Coca-cola said that “no consumer could reasonably be misled into thinking Vitaminwater was a healthy beverage.” Are they trying to pull the wool over our eyes twice?

Getting back to FRS, they may think the money is going to roll in with heavyweight Pepsi distributing their products. Perhaps Pepsi promised them the world market, maybe a package deal with Plumpy’nut.  According to Mintel research, energy drinks/shots manufacturers are having trouble attracting new customers.

Personally, I’m all for eating fruits and veggies and drinking tap water.

Tags: Coca-Cola, Energy Drinks, FRS company, Pepsi, VitaminWater

This was posted on Friday, September 17th, 2010 at 10:28 am and is filed under Consumer Fraud . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.