12.05.12
Dr Pepper Snapple Group will discontinue its 7UP Antioxidant line amid a lawsuit filed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) that indicates health claims are misleading and illegal.
According to CSPI, packaging states, “There’s never been a more delicious way to cherry pick your antioxidant!” However, the antioxidant claim is both misleading, since it gives the impression the antioxidants come from the pictured healthful fruits, and also illegal since FDA regulations prohibit fortifying nutritionally worthless snack foods and beverages with nutrients.
“Non-diet varieties of 7UP, like other sugary drinks, promote obesity, diabetes, tooth decay and other serious health problems, and no amount of antioxidants could begin to reduce those risks,” said Michael Jacobson CSPI’s executive director. “Adding an antioxidant to a soda is like adding menthol to a cigarette—neither does anything to make an unhealthy product healthy.”
Despite the pictures of cherries, blackberries, cranberries, raspberries, and pomegranates on various 7UP labels, the drinks contain no fruit or juice of any kind. 7UP Cherry Antioxidant contains water, high-fructose corn syrup, citric acid, potassium benzoate, and the controversial dye Red 40. The Mixed Berry and Pomegranate varieties also contain Blue 1 dye. One 12-oz. serving contains nine teaspoons (38 grams) of sugars and 140 calories. The diet versions replace the high-fructose corn syrup with artificial sweeteners aspartame and acesulfame potassium.
In all six products, the added antioxidant is a small amount of vitamin E in the form of vitamin E acetate or d-alpha tocopherol acetate. But the purported health benefits of antioxidants are suggested by studies involving the consumption of whole fruits and vegetables, not artificially fortified foods, according to CSPI.
According to CSPI, packaging states, “There’s never been a more delicious way to cherry pick your antioxidant!” However, the antioxidant claim is both misleading, since it gives the impression the antioxidants come from the pictured healthful fruits, and also illegal since FDA regulations prohibit fortifying nutritionally worthless snack foods and beverages with nutrients.
“Non-diet varieties of 7UP, like other sugary drinks, promote obesity, diabetes, tooth decay and other serious health problems, and no amount of antioxidants could begin to reduce those risks,” said Michael Jacobson CSPI’s executive director. “Adding an antioxidant to a soda is like adding menthol to a cigarette—neither does anything to make an unhealthy product healthy.”
Despite the pictures of cherries, blackberries, cranberries, raspberries, and pomegranates on various 7UP labels, the drinks contain no fruit or juice of any kind. 7UP Cherry Antioxidant contains water, high-fructose corn syrup, citric acid, potassium benzoate, and the controversial dye Red 40. The Mixed Berry and Pomegranate varieties also contain Blue 1 dye. One 12-oz. serving contains nine teaspoons (38 grams) of sugars and 140 calories. The diet versions replace the high-fructose corn syrup with artificial sweeteners aspartame and acesulfame potassium.
In all six products, the added antioxidant is a small amount of vitamin E in the form of vitamin E acetate or d-alpha tocopherol acetate. But the purported health benefits of antioxidants are suggested by studies involving the consumption of whole fruits and vegetables, not artificially fortified foods, according to CSPI.
