My mother always insisted on a healthy well balanced diet. Just like the moms on TV, we ate Frosted Flakes, and Pop Tarts, (I flaked off the crust which I couldn’t abide) and then I downed it with Tang or Carnation Instant Breakfast (I liked chocolate fudge) it all was served with wholesome 100% milk. I had a good 1960’s mom. Like many typical Americans at dinner we broke out the Coke or Pepsi to wash down the pork chops, Hamburger Helper, Frozen Fish Sticks (Fridays) or Swanson TV Turkey dinners with the scalding hot applesauce and that little cake that was soft as mud inside, because the gravy boiled over. Long story short, I consumed an awful lot of soda in my day. It was like gasoline.
Now as per the University of Minnesota who conducted a study of 60,000 people in Singapore, ( I guess no one in Minneapolis was available) a study that was conducted for 14 years, that people who consume two or more sugary soft drinks a week have a much higher risk of pancreatic cancer. Sugar may be to blame, but people who regularly drink sugared sodas often have other poor health habits.
Researchers found that regular soft drink consumers were 87 percent more likely to develop pancreatic cancer, even after accounting for factors like age, obesity, diabetes and cigarette smoking. The study only applies to consumption of regular soda, not diet soft drinks or fruit juices. Pancreatic cancer survival rates are thus one of the lowest among cancers survival rates, with less than 5% of those diagnosed with the disease reaching the 5 year survival mark. Complete remissions are extremely rare. According to the American Cancer Society, Pancreatic Cancer is the 4th leading cause for cancer deaths in the US each year.
Just this last month alone, pancreatic cancer took the lives of Robert Moshbacher (former US Commerce Secretary) Pernell Roberts, (Former actor Bonanza & Trapper John) Robert Dana (former US Poet Laureate). And that just the last few weeks! Yikes!
Can you imagine what’s going on at the corporate headquarters at Coke and Pepsi? This may not be a surprise to the American public, we all had that nerdy science teacher in high school who placed a steak in a tub of Coca-Cola, and a week later the soda had dissolved it. Yuck! We loved it?
Coke and Pepsi are quintessential American icons, loved globally; add/take billions of dollars into the economy. There are three things that define our nation, the American flag, the Statue of Liberty and the Coca-Cola logo. (Okay, Mickey Mouse runs a close fourth.)
Will this study be the undoing of the soft drink industry the way that the Surgeon Generals Office’s reports on the harmfulness of smoking did back in the 60’s and 70’s for the tobacco industry? Is this déjà vu? I’m not suggesting that the soft drink industry has been stifling information, but we’re all aware that over recent years they’ve be repositioning themselves within the industry by developing/acquiring non-carbonated drink and other food items, preferably for a rainy day.
Well it looks like it’s gonna’ pour liters!
