Earlier this week, the Center For Science In The Public Interest petitioned the FDA to ban two forms of caramel coloring, claiming that the ammonia and sulfites used in the creation of the products results in allegedly carcinogenic chemicals making their way into the resulting food and drink. Consumerist reached out to Coca-Cola and Pepsi to get their side of the story, but were instead passed on to the American Beverage Association, which offered its own version of things. [More]
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Gallery Of Generic Dr. Peppers
By 1.4.11
Naming a generic version of Dr. Pepper requires a special dose of imagination of the supermarket brand specialist not required by other fizzy drinks. You can’t just get away with “Cola” or “Orange.” There are innumerable variations and several websites have cropped up to document and catalog them. Check out postmyportfolio.com/Generic_Dr_Pepper.htm and Dr Kenton’s Generic Dr Peppers Page to get a pretty comprehensive overview. I think my favorite version is “Dr. Radical.” [More]
Pepsi Has The Balls To Say What Coke Won't: HFCS Doesn't Taste Exactly The Same As Sugar
By 10.26.10
A few weeks back, Coca-Cola informed us that there is no distinguishable difference in taste between Coke made with High-Fructose Corn Syrup and Coke made with cane sugar. But when we asked the people at Pepsi the same question, they had a very different answer. [More]
New York City Tries To Stop People From Using Food Stamps On Soda
By 10.7.10
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg doesn’t want people getting fat off of government aid, so he’s trying to make soda and other sugary drinks ineligible for Food Stamp purchases. [More]
More People Buying Mexican Coca Cola
By 9.21.10
Perhaps it’s the glass bottles. Or it could be the lack of high fructose corn syrup. Maybe it just tastes better. Whatever the reason, a growing number of folks on the north side of the Rio Grande are drinking Coca Cola bottled in Mexico. [More]
Boston Jumping On Anti-Soda Ban-Wagon
By 9.20.10
Life may soon be a little less sweet for city employees in Boston, as officials consider the idea of curbing — or even completely cutting — sales of sugary drinks on city-owned property. [More]
War Declares War On Pepsi Over Song Used In TV Spot
By 9.3.10
War’s 1975 hit song “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” is all about hugging it out and making nice, but don’t tell that four of the band’s original members, who have filed a suit against Pepsi, alleging the beverage company didn’t get proper permission to use the tune in their currently running TV spots for Pepsi Max. [More]
Just Because That Dr. Pepper Has Retro Packaging Doesn't Mean It's Got Real Sugar In It
By 7.29.10
A few weeks back, we wrote about how Dr. Pepper is celebrating its 125th birthday with retro packaging and a real-sugar formula. However, a number of Consumerist readers have written in to complain that they purchased what they thought was real-sugar Dr. Pepper, only to find out it was the same old HFCS-containing soda in old packaging. [More]
BJ's Sold Me 32 Oz. Drink In 30 Oz. Cup
By 7.19.10
Looks like the shrink ray has hit the fountain sodas at Consumerist reader Quake’s local BJ’s Wholesale Club, reducing the normal 32 oz. cup to 30 ounces. Only problem is — no one told the customers or whoever is responsible for the sign that still says “32 ounces.” [More]
Coke Gets The Blood Stains Out
By 7.8.10
Coca-cola is a magical elixir that can do so many things, like clean blood stains from fabric! [More]
Why Are My Pepsi Bottles Suddenly Impossible To Open?
By 3.24.10
It’s Soda Bottle Complaint Week here at The Consumerist. Today’s complaint is against Pepsi two-liter bottles and Mott’s apple juice bottles, which Anthony thinks are far too difficult to open. He has to use pliers. Is he the only one? [More]
Science Says High-Fructose Corn Syrup Is Pretty Much The Worst Thing Ever
By 3.24.10
Those spoilsport researchers at Princeton are off spreading the word that sweet, delicious high-fructose corn syrup is as bad for your diet as Taylor Swift music is for your soul. The substance, found in soda, cookies, salad dressing and pretty much everything else that tastes good, is worse for you than fat or sucrose. [More]
Grocery Shrink Ray: Secret Weapon In The War On Obesity?
By 3.18.10
Consumerists, I think we’ve been wrong about this Grocery Shrink Ray thing all along. We’ve long believed that companies deploy the Grocery Shrink Ray to imperceptibly decrease the amount of product in a package without customers noticing. But maybe–just maybe–there’s a higher purpose. Maybe they’re trying to save us from consuming a precious few calories and use social engineering to get us to snack less over time until at some point we’re hardly snacking at all. Consider this exhibit: the shrinking Double Gulp cups at Chris’s local 7-11 in Maryland. [More]
New Coke Bottles Made From Sugar Cane, Soda Still Made From Corn
By 1.27.10
At a time when everyone is fretting about their “carbon footprint,” it’s nice to see that Coca-Cola has decided to to reduce the amount of petroleum used to make their bottles by using some plant-based plastic. But not just any plant: the bottles will be made from mono-ethylene glycol derived from sugar cane. [More]
Scientists Say Half Of All Soda Fountains Harbor Fecal Bacteria
By 1.7.10
If you were looking for a reason other than the ridiculous price markup to avoid soda fountains, microbiologists from Hollins University — publishing in the International Journal of Food Microbiology — have got it for you: There’s poo-related bacteria in half of them, the Huffington Post reports, citing blogger Tom Laskawy. [More]
Shrink Ray Renders Mini Coke Cans Even More Mini
By 12.30.09
Sure, you can call Coke’s new 7.5-ounce mini can an exciting new marketing ploy, giving customers a nice, even, guilt-free 90-calorie gulp of soda. But reader Josh sees the change for what it is: a fancied-up version of the Grocery Shrink Ray. And not even his wife can convince him to buy them anymore. [More]
Whew: Coke Products Return To Costco On Monday
By 12.11.09
The nightmare is over for Americans who use warehouse club Costco to fuel their copious Coke habits. The retailer and Coca-Cola have settled their price differences, and Coca-Cola beverages will return to Costco stores on Monday. [More]
Check Your Math When Accepting Substitutions
By 12.7.09
Brooke says she stopped Pizza Hut from short-changing her on soda on a late night pizza run. Her plight demonstrates that it’s handy to keep your algebra skills sharp. [More]
