Coke Comes Clean on Calories

by Melissa Joulwan (Subscribe to Melissa Joulwan's posts)
Oct 2nd 2009 9:00AM

The front of your refreshing beverage will soon include a chilling fact: The number of calories in a single serving and in the whole container.

Coca-Cola Co. recently announced that it will begin including calorie information on the front of almost all of its product packages, including soft drinks, flavored waters, energy drinks, fruit drinks and juices. The new product labels are expected to hit U.S. store shelves later this year; the new labels are already being used in Europe and Australia.

Coke says they're the first beverage company to provide this front-of-the-container information to consumers. "Now more than ever, people expect facts about the product they consume to be both readily available and visible," said Muhtar Kent, Coke's chairman and CEO, in a press release.

Fast food and beverage companies have been under fire recently as threats of a soft drink tax swirled in the Senate, and a California state senator is about to put soda on trial.

Michael Jacobson, executive director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said the labeling is a "public relations" move, but that it could help change consumer behavior.

"It's a useful step," Jacobson told USA Today. "But listing calories on the front of a Coke is like putting lipstick on a pig. Coca-Cola is basically ... liquid candy."

Perhaps the best way to enjoy a cold Coke Classic is to split one with a friend.

And watch out for sugar-free soft drinks, too! Artificial sweeteners might be blocking your weight loss success.

Source

Comments (37)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Chris 10-02-2009 @ 11:32AM

Are people so lazy and/or inept that they can't read the current label and count or estimate calories? All the information is right there already.

Sonia 10-02-2009 @ 9:33PM

I think it's mostly people who are just lying to themselves about calorie consumption. Overweight people grossly underestimate their amount of intake.

Goldy 10-03-2009 @ 10:40PM

Coke is it! I love an ice cold Coke every now and then. "Everything in moderation" should be the second Golden Rule!

FRiC 10-02-2009 @ 9:36PM

The information might be there for the USA/Europe, but not the rest of the world. When a large corporation announces something like this, it could affect their worldwide product line. Good move I say.

Steve 10-03-2009 @ 9:13PM

Coke is no different than other US foods that we as US citizens consume. Take a look at high fructose corn syrup. For the responder that says it is the fault of the overweight consumer, i believe advertising has alot to do with what we eat as Americans. Not too long ago we ate to survive. Now we eat to feel good about ourselves, to find comfort, to find solace in our lives, and yes, because the commercials tell us to do so at their restaurant. We are overweight as a society for many reasons. Some are medical. Some are ridiculous. Some overweight people have a real problem with life in general. I can,t believe the you have a problem with the individual who is overweight. We aren,t all perfect like you.

safeandnontoxic 10-04-2009 @ 1:00AM

No an overweight person eats to feel good about themselves and guess what, that is why they are overweight. I eat to live, not live to eat. Bill was right.

color 10-03-2009 @ 9:03PM

hello more TAX who cares about calories

JUDY 10-03-2009 @ 9:29PM

It is fine to list the calories for anyone who might be interested, but let's face it, when you want a Coke........you don't care how many calories are in it, you are going to drink it. Artificial sweetners are so dangerous I don't like to eat or drink anything that has it in it.
Have a Coke, enjoy.

carson44603 10-03-2009 @ 9:35PM

Good point, but more like eat better; not less.

Buzzby 10-03-2009 @ 9:36PM

Why doesn't Coca Cola make their products with REAL sugar, like Mexico does??? If you ever have a chance to try a Coke made in Mexico, you will see how much better that product is. American Coke is made with fructose corn syrup. That's why it tastes sickly sweet. America stopped using real sugar back in the 70s when there was a sugar shortage. They never went back to "the real thing". Trust me, Mexican Coke is SOOOOO much better tasting than the syrupy sweet Coke we have in America.

cmy3demons 10-03-2009 @ 10:22PM

Pepsi has had Mountian Dew Throwback and Pepsi Throwback for a few months now. I grabbed a 'Throwback' Dew on accident and was surprised at how it tasted, better? My hubby, a Mt Dew junkie went hmm wow also.There's already enough 'diet' stuff out and if you can't read and calculate properly, then maybe you shouldn't have any money to begin with. Diet drinks don't work for me, they make my kidneys hurt so bad I can barely walk. I'm assuming they are in there screaming "HELLO!! THIS IS CRAP AND ISN'T REAL!"

Learn portion control and how to diet properly. NO MORE NEW TAXES!!

Olivia 10-03-2009 @ 10:53PM

Buzzyby...I agree totally, I am 1/2 Belizean and when we go visiting I look forward to having a REAL coke out of a thick glass bottle. The flavor is so much better in Central and South Americas.

KW195209 10-04-2009 @ 12:25AM

Oh my, you are one of a kind. Mexican Coke is awful!

dr 10-04-2009 @ 3:36AM

because much of the worlds goverment is not controlled by industry like ours is in the USA. Europe and Mexico have known for a long time HFCS is poison and refuse to let Coke and Pepsi sell their products in their countries with HFCS. It must be real sugar, its the law.

esrv043 10-03-2009 @ 9:59PM

Color, you're right the whole tax thing has not a damn thing to do with "health". That was one of Clinton's last gifts to the state of Arkansas before he got elected President; a "Soft Drink Tax" was imposed in 1992 when everywhere else you could get a 16 oz. Coke for 60 to 75 cents, in Arkansas they were 85 to 99 cents. It was done to keep from raising their sales tax from 5%.

Buzzby, I agree, I live in Texas, so it's not hard to find Mexican Coke, it still comes in glass bottles. Much better!

Cherie 10-03-2009 @ 10:07PM

It's the High Fructose Corn Syrup that's the villain here. Coke needs to go back to real cane sugar. HFCS is not only awful nutritionally, it also tastes bad.

Mark Russell 10-03-2009 @ 10:12PM

Some of the labeling on soda is not consistent. The 12-oz can is considered "one serving" and has a certain amount of calories. The 20-oz bottle is 2.5 servings but most people drink the whole thing for lunch or so. Now they have the new 99 cent cans at 7-11 and they are also "one serving" but they are 16-ounces. And they have those little bitty 8-0z cans in the 6-packs that are "one servng". A little consistency would be nice, and the true calorie count for the package if it is meant to be consumed as one drink.

Cindy 10-03-2009 @ 10:38PM

Bring back C2!!!

d stamey 10-07-2009 @ 9:56AM

No new taxes on Coca Cola products. Consumers are able to make personal choices. The tax is not going to make individuals less fat!

noMOREtv4u 10-03-2009 @ 11:08PM

Coke is trying to get the jump on Pepsi products, which have more calories.

American soft drinks don' use sugar because we pay the highest sugar prices in the world. The sugar lobby keeps tariffs on sugar so high that American spend $2 billion on sugar more than they would if they paid world price -- and this ignores all the products that switched to high fructose corn syrup to avoid the expense.

Your tax dollars at work.