Coca-Cola to FDA: Update your policies to allow firms to fortify healthy carbonated beverages
Coca-Cola shouts to the Food and Drug Administration: policy changes so that the company can promote healthy carbonated drinks
Coca-Cola Co’s quarterly revenue and profit has topped Wall Street expectations as investments to cater to changing consumer tastes paid off with higher sales of its sugar-free sodas and vitamin waters.
The Coca-Cola Company’s quarterly revenue and profit exceeded Wall Street expectations. The company’s investment to cater to consumers’ changing tastes has paid off, and sales of sugar-free soda and vitamin water have increased.
The world’s biggest beverage maker, like rival PepsiCo Inc, has been building a portfolio of non-carbonated drinks and doubling down on its investments in enhanced waters such as electrolyte-filled smartwater.
The world’s largest beverage manufacturer has been investing in non-carbonated beverages like its rival Pepsi, and has doubled its investment in fortified water, such as smartwater filled with electrolytes.
Coke also paid $5.1 billion for the world’s second-largest coffee chain Costa earlier this year and took a stake in Kobe Bryant-backed sports drink BodyArmor in a bid to court a younger demographic that prefers sipping lattes over gulping big sodas.
Earlier this year, Coca-Cola also acquired Costa, the world’s second-largest coffee chain brand, for US$5.1 billion. In a bid, it obtained a stake in the sports drink BodyArmor invested by Kobe. The purpose is to attract sips and unwillingness to drink latte. Young group gulping soda.
But Coke has encountered some trouble in this struggle to become healthy.
But Coca-Cola encountered some obstacles in its efforts to launch healthy drinks.
Under the so-called’jelly bean rule,’ firms are discouraged from adding vitamins to foods of minimal nutritional value so that marketers cannot present junk foods as healthy options. But the policy should be updated when it comes to carbonated beverages, says Coca- Cola.
The so-called “fudge regulations” stipulate that companies cannot add vitamins to foods with extremely low nutritional value to prevent marketers from promoting junk food as a healthy choice. But Coca-Cola said that for carbonated drinks, this policy should be changed.
In comments to the FDA on its nutrition innovation strategy, the soft drinks giant urged the FDA to “update the fortification policy, which was codified in 1980, to reflect changes in consumers’ dietary patterns and innovation in the marketplace.”
The soft drink giant emphasized its nutritional innovation strategy to the Food and Drug Administration, urging the Food and Drug Administration to “modify the preventive policy implemented in 1980 to adapt to consumer dietary patterns and changes in market innovation.”
The FDA “does not encourage indiscriminate addition of nutrients to foods, nor does it consider it appropriate to fortify fresh produce; meat, poultry, or fish products; sugars; or snack foods such as candies and carbonated beverages.”
The Food and Drug Administration “does not encourage random addition of nutrients to food, nor does it approve artificial fortification of various foods; these foods include snacks such as meat, poultry or fish products, cane sugar, candy and carbonated drinks.”
While this is all eminently reasonable, argues Coca-Cola, it “damages our ability to innovate with new carbonated water, tea and juice beverages…”
Coca-Cola argues that although these are obviously reasonable, they “limit our ability to innovate in new sodas, teas and juice drinks.”
This isn’t about fortifying sugary sodas…
We are not simply fortifying the nutrition in sugary soda…
“To be clear,” added Coca-Cola, “We do not intend for our comments to imply we are seeking the opportunity to fortify traditional sodas. Our request is for allowing the fortification of some sparkling beverages, not the random fortification of snack foods , or foods and beverages with significant amounts of added sugar…”
Coca-Cola added: “To be clear, we don’t want people to say that we are taking the opportunity to sell traditional sodas. We are requesting a relaxation of the policy on some sparkling drinks, not just snacks or foods and drinks with a lot of added sugar.”
One way to make products more enjoyable is to “simply add carbonation to a water, to a juice or tea,” said the company.
Our method to enhance the taste of beverages is to “just add carbonated compounds to water, juice or tea.”
These types of beverages can be beneficial options in a person’s diet, so it is recommended that FDA recognize that the simple addition of carbonation should not prohibit the sale of a product under the fortification guidelines.”
These types of beverages can be healthy choices for people’s diet, so we recommend that the Food and Drug Administration recognize one point: Your food fortification guidelines should not prohibit the sale of a food just because it is carbonated.
The FDA should also consider expanding the use of antioxidant claims [which are currently only permitted on substances such as vitamins C and E for which there is an established daily value] to compounds with “substantiated antioxidant activity that do not have an established recommended DV, “Added Coca-Cola.
Coca-Cola added that the Food and Drug Administration should also consider relaxing the requirements for the use of antioxidants (currently only substances such as vitamin C and vitamin E are allowed to be used because they are required for daily nutrition); Oxidative activity but not a compound required for daily nutrition.
“As nutrition science evolves, it is important to allow flexibility to a broader variety of claims which would promote consumption of beneficial compounds.”
“With the development of nutrition, it is important to flexibly expand the types of needs, so as to promote the consumption of beneficial compounds.”
