Cancer Risk from 1,000 Cans of Cola a Day (KO, PEP)

Photo of Paul Ausick
By Paul Ausick Updated Published

Invalid Image
A consumer group called Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) claims that the food coloring that gives colas their distinctive coloring has been found to be carcinogenic in animals. The substance is 4-methylimidazole (4-MI), and has been found in “high levels” in products from both Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) and Pepsico Inc. (NYSE: PEP).

The group petitioned the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ban the substance in February 2011, but the agency has not yet done so. Bloomberg News cites an FDA email saying:

A consumer would have to drink more than a thousand cans of soda in a day to match the doses administered in studies that showed links to cancer in rodents.

Pepsico is switching to a caramel-coloring additive in California that the company claims contains far less of the potentially harmful substance.

The CSPI press release is available here.

Photo of Paul Ausick
About the Author Paul Ausick →

Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.

He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.

Continue Reading

Top Gaining Stocks

HPE Vol: 153,197,465
ENPH Vol: 8,360,053
GLW Vol: 18,152,646
APTV Vol: 6,761,325

Top Losing Stocks

TTD Vol: 21,905,513
INTU Vol: 7,383,018
CTRA Vol: 73,319,495
CBOE Vol: 5,000,011
HP
HPQ Vol: 29,259,826