Give me a break!!

You might be wondering why this title for my blog. Seriously when I read the following headline in metro I couldn’t come up with a better title. It said “Health Canada OK’s addition of caffeine to non -cola soft drinks”. Health Canada has recently announced that it is going to approve the use of caffeine as a food additive in all carbonated soft drinks, not just cola type beverages. Beverage companies can now add synthetic caffeine to non-cola soft drinks in concentration no higher than 150 parts per million. Based on an extensive scientific review which has been conducted, Health Canada feels 150 parts per million poses no health risk, as long as consumers do not exceed the recommended maximum daily intake of caffeine.
To read the article in metro, follow the link below

http://www.metronews.ca/ottawa/live/article/482392--health-canada-oks-addition-of-caffeine-to-non-cola-soft-drinks

I was curious to see people’s response in CBC news website, to know what they thought about Health Canada’s new recommendation. As one person argues, is the addition of caffeine to create a healthier product or to simply respond to urging of the industry? He suspects if adding caffeine in soft drinks, does make it a healthier option. I totally agree with that person’s viewpoints, as I feel that if there are no benefits associated with its addition, then why it should be added in the first place. Moreover what I don’t understand is why Health Canada wants to give consumers the guarantee that 150 parts per million will cause no risk. I mean I understand that they are concerned about our health. However what is the point of adding caffeine, if it has no added benefit even if there is no harm associated with its addition. On one hand, Health Canada is also saying that overconsumption of caffeine causes insomnia, irritability, dehydration, nervousness and insomnia.

Here is the link to CBC article on the same issue

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2010/03/19/caffeine-sodas-healthcanada.html?ref=rss

I have a feeling that the addition of caffeine in non-cola soft drinks by Health Canada, is only going to make it sound like a nice option. We are aware of the problems associated with consumption of sugary beverages among children such as obesity. With such a move from Health Canada, parents are only going to think that sugary drinks are not a bad choice for their kids. On one hand, there are efforts being taken to address the potential dangers of sugary drinks. One such health promotion campaign is the ‘Re-think your drink campaign’ which we discussed in our seminar on Feb 23rd, 2010. Their goal is to encourage learning about sugar in everyday beverages and to persuade consumers to make healthier beverage choices such as milk and water. Kulpreet in her blog on “Taxes on Pop” said how Pepsi Co has come up with a new health promotion strategy to stop selling its sugary drinks in primary/secondary schools around the world by 2012 and offer a full-range of low calorie beverages. To read Kulpreet’s interesting blog on “Taxes on pop” follow the link below

http://nutritionpool.blogspot.com/2010/03/taxes-on-pop.html

Kulpreet feels that it is a great way to educate children on making healthy lifestyle choices. Although I am impressed with the move taken by Pepsi Co, but I feel that Health Canada’s recent announcement on the addition of caffeine in non-cola soft drinks has only made matters worse. Although 150 parts per million (ppm) is less than the amount added to cola beverages which is 200 ppm but it is only going to give an impression that Health Canada is encouraging the consumption of these beverages.

It indeed would have been better if Health Canada regulated the addition of sugar in these non-cola beverages instead of adding caffeine. My whole point of writing this blog is not to criticize Health Canada as it may sound. Rather I only feel that we need to look at the big picture, and see if we can reduce the incidence of obesity, instead of wasting the time on making these recommendations.