Soft Drinks

The Center for Science in the Public Interest believes that many states might be able to close gaps in their budgets by placing a tax on soda and other sugary drinks. The health advocacy group released a study this week that estimates budget-strapped states -- including California -- could generate a combined $10 billion a year by levying a tax of 7 cents per 12-ounce can of Coke or other beverage. Currently, 25 states impose special taxes on sugary drinks. The group, which is lobbying for such taxes and has suggested a national excise tax on sugared drinks, said raising the price of the beverages would reduce consumption.

In one commercial, Arab pop star Nancy Ajram hands bottles of Coca-Cola to a young couple quarreling, and instantly, the two lovers make up as colorful hearts and flowers flood out from the bottles. In another, Haifa Wehbe, a model-turned-singer and Arab world sex symbol, turns heads as she walks confidently through a film set in a blue, figure-hugging dress, putting her cool can of Pepsi up against the face of a sweating technician.

Coca-Cola Co. agreed to distribute Hansen Natural Corp.'s Monster -- the bestselling energy drink in the U.S. -- in Europe, Canada and some U.S. states. Coca-Cola will expand Monster internationally and boost sales of the drink beyond the more than a quarter of the U.S. energy drink market Hansen already controls. The deal also widens Coca-Cola's lead over PepsiCo Inc. in energy drink sales.

One study shows that milk can help people lose weight. Another shows that tomato juice might prevent cancer, and a third shows benefits to fizzy sodas. But consumers should take those studies with a grain of salt, researchers reported last week. In a report published Wednesday by the Public Library of Science online journal PLoS Medicine, researchers reviewed 111 studies on soft drinks, juice and milk that were published between 1999 and 2003.

An energy drink called Cocaine has been pulled from stores nationwide amid concerns about its name, the company that produces it said. Clegg Ivey, a partner in Redux Beverages of Las Vegas, said the company planned to sell the drink under a new name. The Food and Drug Administration issued a warning letter last month that said Redux was illegally marketing the drink as a street drug alternative and a dietary supplement.

Drinking as little as one can of soda a day -- regular or diet -- is associated with a 48% increased risk of metabolic syndrome, a key predecessor of heart disease and diabetes, according to results released Monday. Researchers knew that drinking regular sodas contributed to the risk of metabolic syndrome, but this is the first finding implicating diet sodas, according to results published online in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Assn.

Citrus-flavored sodas often have a higher caffeine content than the most popular colas, a study published in the Journal of Food Science found. The study by Auburn University food researchers Leonard Bell and Ken-Hong Chou measured caffeine content in 12-ounce sodas that ranged from 4.9 milligrams for a store brand of cola to 74 milligrams in Coca-Cola Co.'s Vault Zero, a citrus drink.

london -- Cadbury Schweppes appeared to end months of speculation about the future of its U.S. beverage business, announcing Wednesday that it would spin off the maker of Snapple and Dr Pepper rather than sell it. Cadbury said it would issue shares to its own shareholders and list the business, Americas Beverages, on the New York Stock Exchange after faltering credit markets made a sale difficult.

GET READY for the next mass-tort crusade: protecting our kids from the ravages of Big Cola. According to news reports, a group of lawyers is gearing up to file lawsuits that will seek to blame Coke, Pepsi and others for obesity, tooth decay and other childhood health ailments. An article in the Boston Globe Magazine has called it part of a "national legal movement to make soft drinks the next tobacco." Instead of tar and nicotine, we'll be hearing about corn sweeteners and caffeine; maybe Dr.

Mexico lost its appeal against a World Trade Organization ruling that its system of taxes on soft drinks sweetened with anything other than cane sugar syrup violated trade rules. The WTO's appeals panel upheld the findings of a trade panel backing the United States, which argued that the system, including a distribution tax, discriminated against other sweeteners such as beet sugar and high-fructose corn syrup.