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Green Coca Cola Life With Stevia but still a lot of sugar
The lemonades group Coca Cola has now launched "Coca Cola Life" after a "Light" and a "Zero" version. The new variant, sweetened with stevia extract and presented in a green design, is intended to suggest naturalness to the consumer. Consumer advocates call the drink a "sugar bomb".
Cola in the green design
The lemonade company Coca Cola has been working for a better image for some time now. Only recently did he launch a lactose-free milk in the US. In Germany, after "Coca Cola Light" and "Coca Cola Zero" now another variant in the supermarket shelves: "Coca Cola Life". In South America, this version has been sold for years, in this country, it has been heavily advertised for months. With its green design and the indication that the version is sweetened with stevia extract, the consumer should apparently be given a more natural and supposedly healthier alternative to classic cola. Consumer advocates warn against being fooled by the label and call the new product a "sugar bomb".
According to consumer advocates Stevia Cola should still contain a lot of sugar. Image: Yuri Samsonov / fotolia Stevia instead of aspartame
The consumer center of Lower Saxony has taken a closer look at various trend drinks in a market check and came to the conclusion that despite the healthy image that is given to these drinks through advertising or green labels, these are no healthier or significantly lower in sugar than other soft drinks. Not even the new "Coca Cola Life", which, unlike the "light versions" of the group, is no longer sweetened with aspartame but with stevia extract. "Even a single bottle of 0.5 liter green cola with the vegetable sweetener Stevia exceeds the WHO recommended amount of sugar per day, "write the Lower Saxony consumer advocates in a press release.
A bottle contains eleven cubes of sugar
According to the consumer center, "Coca Cola Life" in addition to Stevia also contains eleven cubes of sugar (34 grams) per 0.5 liter bottle. The maximum daily intake recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) is 25 grams for women and 30 grams for men. "Those who only enjoy a bottle of Coca-Cola-Life already exceed that amount. This sugar bomb is anything but healthy, "said Anneke von Reeken, nutrition expert of the consumer center of Lower Saxony. In addition, it is alarming that the soft drinks are often drunk especially by young people. For example, for a 12-year-old, the recommended daily amount of sugar is only 22.5 grams.
Promotions should not be believed
"Consumers should not believe advertising claims from manufacturers and product packaging," the experts write in their statement. The amount of sugar is not concealed by the manufacturer and that the cola is healthier, is not claimed, but the presentation suggests this. The consumer center of Lower Saxony again demanded the introduction of the nutritional value signal. "Foods that are given a good image via advertising could quickly be exposed by a red traffic light."
200 times sweeter than sugar
The stevia plant, originally from Paraguay, has been cultivated in South America for two centuries. The plant-derived stevia extract is 200 times sweeter than sugar and calorie-free. In Germany, the plant extract was approved as food in 2011. Since then, stevia has been found as a sugar substitute in Germany not only in beverages, but also in other foods such as yoghurts. In natural medicine, the medicinal plant "Stevia Rebaudiana" is used among other things for heartburn or to reduce high blood pressure. However, experts of the German Diabetes Aid have pointed out in the past that the dangers of an overdose of Stevia are still unclear. (Ad)