As speculated earlier, the Venezuela ban kerfuffle is (on the surface, at least) about the artificial sweeteners used in Coke Zero.
Venezuela’s Health Ministry said Friday it banned sales of Coca-Cola Zero because the company failed to declare that the no-calorie soft drink uses an artificial sweetener allegedly harmful to health.
Health officials said tests show the cola contains sodium cyclamate. Coca-Cola Co. disputes that, saying the product sold in Venezuela uses different artificial sweeteners, Acesulfame-K and Aspartame.
Cyclamate is not prohibited in Venezuela. But the ministry said the company failed to report sodium cyclamate as an ingredient in Coca-Cola Zero when it received its initial health permit to begin selling the drink in April.
It’s not clear — especially since it is legal in Venezuela and elsewhere in Latin America, why Coke would lie about using Cyclamate. My suspicion is:
- Coke inadvertently sent some Cyclamate version to Venezuela rather than the Aspartame version that they had cleared.
- Coke intentionally sent it, because of some sort of supply shortage of the Aspartame version, and got caught.
- The Venezuelan government is faking the matter.
Regardless, the Venezuelan government is exploiting the kerfuffle to its own publicity ends. If Cyclamate is legal in Venezuela and CZ stands accused of importing stuff with Cyclamate, banning the product (as opposed to levying a big fine) seems to be mostly about posturing and less about public safety.
Coca-Cola is “failing to comply with sanitary norms,” the ministry said in a statement published in the newspaper Ultimas Noticias. The ministry urged Venezuelans to refrain from trying the drink, saying it is “considered harmful to the health.”
Yeah. Right.
Chavez’ government posturing? Who would have thunk it?
I know, it stretches all credibility, but …
“Chavez’ government posturing?”
Gosh a politician trying to gain popularity. Oh yes this is obviously a socialist attack on the entire free world!It is so more ethical for the US to force the EU to ban food labels containing the phrase “No GM ingredients”.
I’m sure Plachimada only said the things they did to attack the wonderful modern day Free Market no regulation politcs.
However Coke is one of the best cleaning products you can buy. One use I have made of it is cleaning out a horn to turn into a drinking horn. Coke works better than any ‘proper’ cleaning product. No wonder dentists and other doctors moan about it.
Certainly pols posture. That this appears to be largely a case of the Chavez government trying to score points by socking it to the US isn’t surprising, just annoying.
And I concur that US policy re GM labeling is self-serving. I think EU concerns over such things are greatly overblown, but the US actions aren’t based on science, they are based on agribusiness interests.
To your last point, if Chavez were actually interested in the health of what his people eat and drink, he wouldn’t just get rid of Coke Zero, but the full Coke line. And most other sodas. And, for that matter, alcohol. This seems to be more a matter of publicity than public health.