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Science Fair Project Exposes GlaxoSmithKline Lies
shadowspar writes "Despite claims made by GlaxoSmithKline that their Ribena soft drinks are high in Vitamin C, two New Zealand high school students found in their science fair research project that at least some formulations of the drink contained no detectable levels of the vitamin. As a result, GSK has been fined over $200,000 by the NZ Commerce Commission and ordered to run newspaper ads admitting that some of their drinks contain no Vitamin C."
To think companies will put out products that we consume into
our bodies that do not contain the ingredients listed on the
can. Not quite the pet food disaster that happened to animals,
but it is getting closer.
Like i tell others, until babies die from baby food, no one
will string the company owners up to the nearest tree.
I'm shocked!
"Slashdot. News for Nerds (two weeks after AP runs it and it appears on Yahoo's front page). Stuff that mattered."
Pwned :)
GSK Executives outsmarted by 14 year olds :)
http://www.rense.com/general79/wdx1.htm
It's nice sometimes when the stream of stories about how multinationals are reaming us is interrupted with one flavoured by just desserts.
Also, the comeuppance is doubly sweet when it's underdogs. And who's more of an underdog than an intelligent high school student with an avid interest in science?
In the movie version, there would be a B-plot about the nerds winning the hearts of two pretty girls through the process. Maybe the girls are interns at GSK. I don't know. Hire Charlie Kauffman.
These stories are free but worth money.
"and ordered to run newspaper ads admitting that some of their drinks contain no Vitamin C" This is far more damaging to them than a 200k fine. Its like virtually stick them in the stocks and publically embarassing them. I wish more laws resulted in this for companies rather than simple fines.
http://www.rense.com/general79/wdx1.htm
thinking its a healthy alternative. Thats like thinking Coca Cola Zero is a healthy alternative to regular cola. No suger no, but still the same shit and even worse, Aspartime. Well, I think of it as Darwins Law in the consumer space.
http://www.rense.com/general79/wdx1.htm
...that Country Time Lemonade contains no trace of lemons.
Yes, I see now that they're girls. I missed that. My Fark-brain filtered it out as some advert for a calendar girls site.
These stories are free but worth money.
I would've gotten away with it if it hadn't been for those meddling kids.
increases obesity (stroke, heart disease) and risk of diabetes. aspartame's real and clear dangers to your health are exactly what? the ideal is to stop drinking soft drinks altogether, we both agree to that. but if humpty dumpty is going to have a soft drink no matter what, and wants to choose between regular coke and coca cola zero, i'd rather he be drinking coca cola zero and avoid the sugar. in other words, yes, coca cola zero is a healthy alternative to regular coke. really. and i have no problem with coca cola marketing it this way. nor would anyone else without some bizarre chip on their shoulder. and no, i am not a shill for the coca cola bottling company. i'm a shill for common sense
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
I heard an interview with one of the girls. When they first tried to contact the company, they were stonewalled so they started contacting other people and the next thing they knew was they were on the international news.
For a company to ignore even fourteen year olds and hope they will just go away is really dumb. Better to deal with the problem before it gets big.
Anyway, what I understood the company to have said was something like: "The berries that this product is made from have more vitamin C than orange juice." The problem being, of course, that none of the vitamin C made it into the product.
There's this new drink called Orange Juice that claims to have even more Vitamin C. Scientists call it a break through in food science. There was a point were food scientist stopped producing useful foods like orange juice, peanut butter, and cornflakes, and started making consumers feel better about eating crap. I think it occurred about when the US became the fattest nation on Earth. PS. I like to think of Coke Zero as a tastier Diet Coke rather than a healthier Coke Classic. None of them are good for you, but two have fewer calories.
They've been selling Ribena for decades under the advertising that it was high in vitamin C. Hell, my grandma used to tell us to drink it. So unless this is a new zealand local recipe thats at fault, i'm sorry, but an inconsequential fine and an apology in a newspaper in a country of 4.1m people really isn't enough - they've been deceiving the purchasing public in several countries for a long time.
Rumours also abound over the amount of cocaine in 'coke'. There may be no mountains or dew in Mountain Dew and no pepper in Dr Pepper. The manufacturers of the French beverage Pschitt were unavailable for comment.
PS: Visit the Pschitt site - the intro's a riot!
AT&ROFLMAO
Most of the stuff we eat these days is less actual "food" and more highly processed combinations of carbohydrates, vitamins and nutrients. High fructose corn syrup is horribly bad for you, yet it is usually the first ingredient in many beverages, syrups, etc. I've even seen it in KFC "honey" packets. In case you're wondering, honey is the third ingredient in their honey, behind the HFCSyrup and Sugar. Truth in advertising is nearly as false as truth in labelling, there being little in the former and none in the latter. And, from TFA, the GSK spinmaster stated "The fact some of our products had incorrect labelling is to us, unacceptable, and we sincerely regret any confusion caused to customers who feel they may have been misled." What utter horseshit. The fact that this ex post facto misrepresentation of what is obviously a premeditated marketing decision is allowed to be fobbed off as a mistake is, IMO, why diabetes (et al) is so rampant now. No (or little) accountability for misleading the public and making false health claims should not be tolerated, ever. If the purpose of government is to serve the welfare of the people, this should be high on the list of priorities. Instead, a $200K fine is the response. If anyone has figures on what the profit would have been from this false claim, I'd be interested in seeing it. The fine should be more than their profits, that way it would actually serve as a deterrant, not just to GSK but to every other company. Sorry for the rant.
Does anyone remember the episode of Seinfeld were the low fat yogurt wasn't low fat at all and the characters kept gaining weight. I say we put the Soup Nazi in charge of the FDA. He'd clean things up.
1) eat organic, im lucky to live in a place where the BIG chain stores have a policy of over half of their stock is organic and fair trade. 2) grow and or make you own Ever notice how peoples teeth in so called 3rd world / developing countries are better than the west. Until that is when America invades then Coca Cola and the cigerette companies get in there as part of "restructuring" and "development" then their health goes to pot.
http://www.rense.com/general79/wdx1.htm
Ascorbic acid costs literally pennies; you can pick up a pound of the stuff retail at less than 15 dollars, and we're talking 7 milligrams in each bottle. What the heck were they thinking?
I can assure you, the best way to get rid of dragons is to have one of your own.
Better not let those kids near our Slurm factory! "It's highly addictive!"
free glaxo kline samples!
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
Article 1: the pair says the corrective advertising is a positive result.
"I think it's good that they at least admitted it and didn't try and say we were still wrong," Jenny [Suo] says.
Article 2: The two girls said they were pleased with the sentence, but thought the company should have been ordered to run TV ads as well, they told the New Zealand Herald.
Kids and parents are more likely to see television ads, [Jenny] Suo said.
I imagine if you read another 3 or 4 articles, various other details will come together.
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
But testing for vitamin C is not exactly cutting edge science.
What is in fact amazing about this story is that nobody has ever checked it before, you would expect food safety regulators to actually enforce the mandatorry labels by checking that what is inside them, is inside them.
Not that I ever heard of the drink, is this because the drink is not actually allowed in places were the goverment DOES check the contents of food products?
Why hasn't the NZ goverment found this out before, we know why the US goverment hasn't, but I didn't think NZ was as corrupt, sorry, properly concerned with the interest of big business to let this slide for so long.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Jail time should be automatic for lying.
The new Ribena-C (minus C)
Sugar does not cause diabetes:
i abetes
http://www.google.com/search?q=does+sugar+cause+d
You could say that sugar causes diabetes in the same way that cigarette lighters cause lung cancer.
of these kids and we need to really need to get our sorry asses in gear and stress more sciences in school. We really will be saved by our youth.
Si vis pacem, para bellum! For evil to succeed good men need only do nothing!
Well, what will they do when they run out of her? Go back to putting in vitamin C, I guess.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
Ever notice how peoples teeth in so called 3rd world / developing countries are better than the west.
HA! I don't think you've ever been in a 3rd world country! Some people in less prosperous counties have very good genetics but their tooth quality fades VERY quickly due to lack of fluoride supplementation and lack of funds for quality dental care as well as lack of good dentists. Organic food is GOOD for you and it probably will keep you healthier in the long run but don't confuse this with good dental hygiene and tooth quality.
Yes and most of your toothpaste contains flouride (amongst other nasties), nasty stuff that. I use what alot of people there use, natural solutions, they do clean their teeth you know, except with NATURAL ingredients found in the environment there. You think your smarter than nature? Im not.
http://www.rense.com/general79/wdx1.htm
1. Make a product. 2. Lie to consumers by making false claims. 3. Make millions/billions in revenue and profits. 4. Executives laugh at the fine imposed and gladly pay $200,000 fine. 5. Pull product off shelves. 6. Profit! 7. Goto line 1 next quarter!
Sugar also doesn't cause obesity - eating more calories than you use causes obesity. You are scaremongering with your comments. Sugar is not the root of all evil. It may well be a statistical contributor to the illnesses you cite, but it definitely doesn't contribute anywhere near as much as "lifestyle" choice. Want to cut your risk of heart disease, strokes and diabetes? Get off your fat arse and do some exercise.
I wouldn't count TOO much on nature; human's natural lifespan seems to be "long enough to reproduce and raise children", with a high infant mortality rate (and a correspondingly high pregnancy rate too). Civilization is good for some things....
Neither article says how they did it. I'm assuming they did a simple titration, like undergraduate General Chemistry teaches?
It's not trolling to point out that this was news at least 10 days ago. The Age in Melbourne last updated their story on May 21, though Google indexed it there on the 20th.
Mod parent +2 Apology.
You keep nagging on using Organic/Natural supplementation, but you're completely missing the point. I never said you SHOULD NOT use supplementation. The point I'm making is that people in 3rd world countries hardly get ANY supplementation regardless whether Organic or synthetic and they don't get quality dental care. I worked in the medical field so I'm familiar in this field. You haven't come forward with your source of information and supporting data to prove otherwise.
For those who read the article,
The students *didn't* take their findings to the press. They turned their findings into the Commerce Commission who launched an investigation.
This is one of my favorites:
o de=171
http://www.brachs.com/products/product.asp?base_c
Brach's sells candy as a health food because they used some Vitamin C to add tartness. I actually saw a package in the store a few months ago with big writing saying "Vitamin C!", "NO FAT!".
Thanks for the site recommendation. It is indeed quite amusing and not just the intro. Go on in and look around. The site is mostly in French but there are menu options on the main page for "Pschitt Yourself", "Pschitt Attitude" and "My Pschitt."
Surely those are intentionally done in English because of the obvious effect.
Wait... Fluoride isn't natural? Fluoride is a pretty common rock, it shows up about everywhere... Some water is even naturally fluoridated... Imagine that.
A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. -edward abbey
OP shouldn't complain unless he submitted the story 10 days ago and had it rejected.
ClutterMe.com - easiest site creation on the Net. Just click and type.
as in, the most common source of excess calories in the average person's diet is the trigger for insulin resistance when it happens, which is: the vast majority of the cases
therefore, you can say: sugar causes diabetes. fact
you want to be overly legal about it, and think you have a point to make
a proper analogy to this retarded conversation would be you saying that tobacco doesn't cause lung cancer
huh?
your point would be: tobacco, ignited and inhaled through the lungs over a period of time, increases your risk of lung cancer
oh, ok!
that would be the full force of your amazing insight that sugar doesn't causes diabetes
zzz
any other brilliant observations you want to make for us today?
truly, we couldn't live without your dramatic over literal analyzing
(snicker)
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
It's Ascorbic Acid. Litmus paper would readily indicate it's presence. If they found the drink to be neutral pH, then someone with better equipment can actually verify the amount in the drink. Pretty simple.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
Just look at the GSK work in Africa. They are basically giving away Globorix in a PR campaign to win entry to that market. I seriously doubt such a company would not waste time suing children.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
I live a couple of miles away from the factory where, to the best of my knowledge, the entire world supply of Ribena comes from. If everyone stops buying it, the whole area will be plunged into poverty and despair, and I might be able to afford to buy a small hovel in the corner of a field somewhere.
1) Drink Ribena as your only source of Vitamin C
2) get scurvy
3) PROFIT!!!!
Some water is naturally filled with rotting vegetable matter and fecal contaminants too, does that mean you want to drink it?
are miniscule compared to the ill effects of excess sugar
therefore, yes, coca cola zero is a healthy ALTERNATIVE to regular coca cola
i said, ALTERNATIVE
is coca cola zero healthy? of course not. this is what i said, if you had taken thte time to read my whole 10 second comment:
"the ideal is to stop drinking soft drinks altogether, we both agree to that. but if humpty dumpty is going to have a soft drink no matter what, and wants to choose between regular coke and coca cola zero, i'd rather he be drinking coca cola zero and avoid the sugar"
if humpty dumpty has a sweet tooth, i am well and happy for him to reach for coca cola zero than regular coca cola, that's my point. that's the beginning of point, that's the end of my point. and even so, i say it would be superior frr him to avoid soft drinks altogether
therefore, the entirety of your diatribe is completely off base, as it doesn't react to what i actually said. you didn't mentally parse the difference between "healthy, period" and "healthy alternative" before going off on your tangent. please read my actual comment next time, then respond, rather than respond with a half-perception of what someone said and paint them as saying something that they never actually said. i, in fact, said that which already agrees with your entire diatribe:
"the ideal is to stop drinking soft drinks altogether"
that's what i wrote. so i actually agree with you
therefore: kindly actually READ what someone wrote next time, then hit submit
otherwise, you look like a hysterical nitwit
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
I'm afraid i don't find your earlier comment very "insightful", particularly in view of this latest addition. It seems that what you're actually saying is that you can feel better about your sedentary lifestyle if you drink aspartame based drinks rather than sugar based ones. And possibly improve your risk factors slightly too. But thats about as insightful as suggesting that walking down the middle of a freeway "with the flow of traffic" is safer than going "against the flow of traffic". Its true, but it wilfully ignores the real risk.
Oh, and this thread is not about marathon runners. Nor even about health freaks. Its about the benefits of a sensible lifestyle. And how in the context of such a lifestyle the choice "sugar or aspartame?" is about as important as "red tie or green tie?".
The quality of moderation has been on the decline as of late. Like the guy above who pointed this out, he was modded "Offtopic." When an article is posted,
commenting about the article is on-topic EVEN when it's not commentary that you personally like. Anyone should be able to figure this out. It is so obvious I can't believe it has to be explained to anyone with mod points.
Mods also need to figure out that anyone who vehemently disagrees is not "Flamebait" unless their primary purpose is to insult. But if they are using something resembling facts and logic, even if they're not G-rated nice, it's not flamebait.
For this reason I am almost harsh when meta-moderating, which I do anytime the opportunity comes up. I am tired of this shit; shitty moderation is how you ruin a site like this and because it doesn't happen all at once and in-your-face but happens gradually over time, people don't see it this way.
I fully expect to be modded Offtopic or Troll or Flamebait for "daring" to (again) call bullshit when I see it. My Karma is sitting at "Excellent" so do your worst and prove me right.
It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. - Einstein
Quoth the maven:
If try to lose weight by any other means you'll be a hell of a lot more disappointed. Doesn't matter which way you look at it, if you want to lose weight you're going to have to burn it off. Or have it surgically removed. And assuming your maths is right, 45 mins running per day should see you lose 1 pound of fat per week, or 52 pounds of fat per year. I'd say that was a *very* discernible effect on weight loss. Especially if you couple it to a slight change in diet. And it would be a lot more effective than just starving yourself.
I agree completely with avoiding the calories in the first place, though.
Running for an hour is worth something like 800 calories.
So to lose one pound, you would have to run just under 4 1/2 hours.
So, 1 hours running etc per day = 800 calories * 5 days a week (say) = 4000 calories/week = 208,000 calories/year = 59.42lb/year. Negligible? Not to mention the weight loss due to elevated metabolic rate caused by higher levels of fitness and activity, the increased energy levels etc, etc..
This whole thread is a little absurd, so I had to chime in somewhere. Excercise will definitely have an effect on weight loss. For example, using your numbers, say you run an hour every day. At this rate, keeping your caloric intake constant, you will lose 1.5 pounds a week. This is a pretty healthy loss rate - most doctors will tell you not to lose more than 2 pounds per week. (Aside: I don't think you are likely to actually burn 800 calories for an hours run... probably less.) Note also that exercising will increase your metabolic rate for hours afterwards. Also, there are people who have a low caloric intake but still can't seem to lose weight. For these people it would probably be dangerous to eat less -- the best option here is exercise. So it's true you don't HAVE to exercise to lose weight, but you're going to be better off if you do.
As to other comments in this thread, doctors might not really know what causes insulin resistance, but I wouldn't tempt fate by eating a bag of sugar a day. Still, I'd choose high fructose corn syrup over trans-fats.
Yes, I am totally smarter than nature. Nature wants me to sleep in the rain and be eaten by wild coyotes. By living in a house where the coyotes can't get me, I have effectively outsmarted nature. SMRT.
Friends from my military base have been deployed to MANY third world countries. Our medical squadron in particular is active in humanitarian relief, and you know what is the most requested operation in most of these villages? That's right, tooth extraction. They know that their teeth will fall out due to rotting at some point in time, so they actually request to have all of their teeth removed. This is true in both Central/South America and Africa. We don't dabble much in the eastern countries, but the true third world is in Africa and Latin America, and tooth quality is atrocious. Please don't spout your organic drabble all over the place. "Organic" foods (aren't almost all foods technically organic?) are nice and all, but when you have to feed a hunger-ridden nation, GE foods are the only ones that can feed the millions without. Without some of our synthetic compounds, the poor would be in much worse condition than they already are.
I came, I saw, She conquered.
It has what plants need!
Comment of the year
Ascorbic acid is not stable in solution. (particularly with other solutes present as in soft drinks or juices, carbonation in particular will be a problem). The majority of orange and apple juice distributors spike extra ascorbic acid into their juices to account for this in order to provide a significant percentage of the recommended daily intake (RDI) in a single serving.
So the question is, how long were these kids Ribena samples on the shelf before they purchased them? They might very well have had the advertised level of vitamin C when the left the plant. Note that the advertised ascorbic acid content is relatively low; 70 ppm. I can almost guarantee that levels this low will not survive more than a few months on the shelf, particularly in a carbonated solution. This could be the fault of the retailer or distributor, not the manufacturer.
The other salient questions are: What was their sample size? Did they test only one bottle of each flavour? What analytical method did they use? Were the samples protected from elevated temperatures? The standard iodometric titration for ascorbic acid is not so easy, usually classes of second year university analytical chemistry students only have about a 60% success rate in the determination of ascorbic acid in solution, at levels considerably higher than 70 ppm.
I doubt this story a great deal, it may be true, but too many questions are unanswered. I certainly hope that the regulatory agencies concerned performed their own study with a proper sample size and experienced analysts. Even professional and certified laboratories can be unreliable in their results, let alone a pair of high school students. I have participated in enough round-robin certifications, and developed enough FDA approved methods to know.
IF, they are indeed correct, these girls have a future in analytical chemistry, not law.
FTFAs
(article 1)
"They found Ribena did not contain the advertised level of vitamin C. GlaxoSmithKline didn't reply when the students approached the firm with their findings, so they took their results to a TV show.
Then the commerce commission got involved, leading GlaxoSmithKline to plead guilty to 15 advertising-related charges on Tuesday."
(article 2)
"After attempts to contact Ribena resulted in a brush-off, the duo went to Fair Go. As well as filming the story, the organisation told the girls to contact the Commerce Commission, which they did."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Go/
They took it to a 'investigative journalism' TV show first (aka 'The Press' - their motto is "If you've been ripped off, short-changed or given the runaround and nobody wants to know...we do!"), and then the TV people suggested that they take it to the CC.
Dont be a hater =)
That would be only becuase you washed in your own shit and prepared your food in the water you took a shit in. If you continue to go against nature it will fight back, just like all those smarter people living next to volcanoes in the danger areas and refuse to move. Just like all those living in deforested land and then mudslides. Yup, humans are way smarter than nature.
http://www.rense.com/general79/wdx1.htm
yes it is.
Where on slashdot's banner does it say, "Accurate, Timely and Not A Dupe?"
Sheesh.
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
where fats and sugars weren't addictive, we could just snap our fingers and all turn into hardbodies
but we don't live in that world
therefore, aspartame, with all of its evils, is an acceptable substitute
think of aspartame as methadone for the heroin that is called sugar
in a perfect world, no one would take methadone either, and just snap their fingers, and stop being heroin addicts
but we don't live in a perfect world, so you need to begin to accept the need for aspartame for the humpty dumpties in this world
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
that will kill you too
the aymara indians drink coca leaves as a mild nonaddictive stimulant tea
nicotine is an insecticide
aspirin in high enough doses will cause hemorrhage in many organ systems
in low doses, alcohol is good for the heart
etc., etc., etc.
EVERY chemical is a poison
like any chemist will tell you: it's all about the dose, not the chemical
so none of us should take aspirin ever again because if you took a high dose it might cause your liver to hemorrhage?
that's your logic on aspartame
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
I learned the scientific method in an American highschool.
I don't know what the hell you're talking about.
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
heroin addicts would snap their fingers and sotp being addicted to heroin
and everyone would use condoms and AIDS would disappear
but we don't live in that world
one thing that exists in reality is called a sweet tooth: we crave sugar, we crave sweets. you may be able to just stop eating sweets, a lot of other people can't
and for them, we can have either a. your holier than thou scorn at their lack of willpower. or b. aspartame
think of aspartame as methadone for the heroin that is sugar, and accept that some humpty dumpties need it, and all of the evils of aspartame you describe is still less evil than continuing to consume sugar
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
What amazes me is how they found out the amount vitamin C in a product. I was pretty good in science when I was in Gr. 10, but I still have no idea how to find out the amount of vitamin C in a product.
Any ideas?
Orange Juice is also interesting since it contains Benzene, a known carcinogen. The longer you keep orange juice, the more benzene is formed. So orange juice is not completely beneficial.
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
Hmmm, so sweetened drinks are fine as long as the sweetener's not a sugar, then?
How exactly is the body supposed to calculate its insulin response if its taste buds keep giving it false positives to the presence of sugar?
Dunbal>>> "There is no medical evidence that it helps prevent or cure colds, etc."
t =get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0020168; also http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/ DSH/colds.html is a slightly less positive review that still agrees that duration can be reduced by supplementing ascorbic acid intake.
... cure colds" to me.
The BBC reported a year or more ago that the latest research suggests that supplements can reduce the duration of a cold once you've got it but don't do anything for prevention - my current use of Vit.C follows this, I take on orange juice and citrus fruit when I have a cold and occassionally even have tablets.
Member of the Finnish DOH and an epidemiology expert >>>"Duration of cold episodes that occurred during prophylaxis was significantly reduced in both children and adults. For children this represented an average reduction of 14% in symptom days, while in adults the reduction was 8%."
See http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?reques
That all sounds like it "helps
Note to self:
Do NOT drink bolivian aymara indian coca leaf tea.
It is actually his wang.
If you can read this, I forgot to post anonymously.
All GSK products should now be subject to license withdrawal until ingredients (and drug trial results) can be verified.
...? When are the Directors going to be struck off for corporate sponsored fraud?
A company that lies to billions of people about a simple supplement in a soft drink can't be trusted not to lie about healthcare products. This, assuming the same formulation in Britain, has directly affected me as I have taken Ribena believing it to be high in vitamin-C in order to reduce cold duration (in accordance with latest research).
So when does the UK government kick their arses
Really? Because I did read the article, and they did take it to the press:
They found Ribena did not contain the advertised level of vitamin C. GlaxoSmithKline didn't reply when the students approached the firm with their findings, so they took their results to a TV show.
Then the commerce commission got involved, leading GlaxoSmithKline to plead guilty to 15 advertising-related charges on Tuesday.
Dan East
Better known as 318230.
Vitamin C is destroyed when it is exposed to air. When fruit is turned into juice it is always exposed to air. Most fruit juices you buy from the supermarket that do have vitamin c, it is usually added to the juice just prior to bottling. So it is not entirely unexpected Ribena has little vitamin c content. However that does not make it right to mislead consumers. The Commerce Commission fined GlaxoSmithKline only $200k, basically to cover court costs etc, but let the consumers decide the real fine to GlaxoSmithKline by making them take out the advertisements. So it is up to you who are reading this to determine if you are going to fine GlaxoSmithKline by not purchasing their product. More alarming to me is that small bottles of sparkling Ribena contain very little if any vitamin C, but they do contain 11 teaspoons of sugar, which is 40% more than a bottle of Coke. This is what we all feed our children! Not any more.
They could have augmented the juice with Vitamin C for basically nothing. I'm really surprised they've let the brand name be destroyed to save a few pennies.
Sounds like a bureaucracy at it's finest.
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
Im 150KG you insensitive clod!
---
Double the Vitamin C! (since the first one had nothing its pretty cheap to double the amount)
---
A little surprised to see this appear under Cowboy Neal's byline on 31/3 as I submitted the story on the 27/3. But I gather we're both behind the times so I guess no harm done...
People who sanely diet and sanely exercise tend to have much more long term success than people who do either alone sanely or insanely.
Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
When an article is posted, commenting about the article is on-topic
He didn't comment about the article. He commented about when it was posted, which has nothing to do with the article itself. Comments about the site have nothing to do with this article.
If it ain't broke, it needs more features!
Oh, so now you're changing the debate from "aspartame is harmless" to "aspartame is better than nothing for those that can't control their cravings".
when did i say aspartame was harmless?
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
nothing is safe. aspartame is harmful. about as harmful as aspirin. which has plenty of valid uses. every single goddamn chemical you put in your body, from water to plutonium, has a dosage which isn't safe
what is true is that a bunch of hysterical nitwits overinflate the danger of aspartame. no, the alternative: continued consumption of sugar, that is more dangerous than anything about aspartame
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
is more dangerous than intake of aspartame
both are dangerous, but given a choice, aspartame is preferable to sugar, by orders of magnitude
i know you dislike mindlessly accepting what advertisers say, but that really has nothing to do with science or facts
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
The people who live next to volcanoes are smart. The soil is great for raising crops. The same applies to people who live in flood plains. The occasional natural disaster is a small price to pay for having plenty of food to eat.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
I like to think of Coke Zero as a drink that tastes exactly like regular Pepsi, but for some strange reason has a "Coke" label on it.
(Not that I'm complaining -- I like Pepsi reasonably well, and it's nice to have a zero-calorie version that tastes almost the same, even if for some reason it comes from the Coca Cola company instead of Pepsico.)
I doubt insulun response has any link to taste buds.
I wonder, on your comment. If testing for vitamin c is not cutting edge science, then how would I test for vitamin C ascorbic acid? And how does one differentiate between other acids that might exist in the drink?
Then on your "why has nobody tested". Ah a most interesting comment. We consumers stumble around fat, dumb, and happy. Other things that have not been tested. What about the melamine in dog/cat food wheat gluten? Does the USA have a low mad cow disease rate because no one looks? Why have honey bee colonies experienced mass die offs this Spring in the USA?
Thanks,
Jim
shoots itself repeatedly in the same foot, whether they notice they've got a problem or not, everybody else will notice.
Their PR damage is self-inflicted.
Tech Public Policy stuff
It looks to me that other than misuses of the rating process over personal dislike of content, I think the system is being gamed by astroturfers. Most of us have lives and can't spend several hours a day every day on slashdot... but if one can spend hours a day every day here, one gets to moderate a lot more often.
Who would have a financial interest in astroturfing the system? Hint: purchase decisions are actually made due to article posts and comments (the same reason why companies buy ads here).
Tech Public Policy stuff
Exactly, if you cannot patent it, its useless...
So your local scientist or doctor is a corporate whore , and doesnt care for your well being. Ask your doctor, "if you can cure every disease but you cannot patent it or be rich, will you?"
Me not being a doctor, I will say yes, screw the 4 trillion dollar industry, they can find other ways to make money, its a free market economy, if you market gets whiped out then
bad luck sonny, try another industry.
Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
You realize that this is running, not jogging, not power-walking, but full-tilt running. You have to be in pretty damn good shape to keep up a full-tilt run for 45min - 1hr.
So, exercise to improve other qualities of your life.
Manage diet to lose the weight.
And note, that I'm not advocating not exercising, I'm just opposing the common wisdom of "get off your lazy arse and move".
My twitter
Tolerate my tolerance or I won't tolerate you.
These stories are free but worth money.
This story in the NZ Herald today says that Ribena sales are falling sharply. This'll be a textbook case on how to kill a brand (and in NZ, Australia and I think the UK Ribena is a very strong brand going back decades).
Personally, I was always put off by the "Ribena Berries" ad on TV where the berries are all drinking Ribena. Which if you think about it is berry cannibalism. Disturbing indeed.