Undisclosed Beverage Industry Secrets that May Affect Your Health!

Nowadays, Americans consume over twenty-one percent of their daily calories from beverages alone. That number has nearly doubled from thirty years ago. The beverage industry is rejoicing in the increasing number of sales and higher consumption of tasty drinks, but what about your health? Do you know how many calories are in your favorite drink? And what about masked harmful chemicals affecting your body? According to Yahoo Health, there are six beverage offenders to watch out for when consuming your favorite drink. The beverage industry does not disclose these facts when marketing their popular drink products.

Before you drink, watch out for hidden forms of sugar in your drink! Take Baskin-Robbins shakes for example, one shake contain over seven various forms of sugar, partially hydrogenated oil, artificial butter flavor, vanillin, salt, thickeners, colors, preservatives… who puts these ingredients in a shake? Baskin Robbins does!

Secondly, dairy providers have found a hormone given to cows causes cancer. The hormone rbST is given to cows to help increase milk output, but is not necessary, especially at the expense of increased risk of cancer.

For coffee producers, the biggest secret is that one average latte is worse than a double scoop ice cream cone with regard to sugar content and calorie content.

Although 7up claims to be “natural,” 7up uses a centrifuge to crush corn and obtain the high fructose corn syrup used in the drink. High fructose corn syrup is one of the worst forms of sugar to digest and difficult to burn off; therefore, how can 7up call itself “natural?”

Sodas are culprit to hiding that some aluminum cans are lined with a toxic plastic. When drinking a soda, consumers expect to reap the consequences of bad decisions to consume too much sugar. They may need to work out to burn extra calories, but how can a consumer avoid toxins in the plastic used to line some cans? I would want to know before buying a product if the packaging was hazardous to my health! Please, line the cans with something else! The chemical, BPA, is being evaluated by the USDA, but nothing has changed as of yet.

Finally, juice companies claim to be 100 percent juice, yet many of these juice drinks are not real fruit but merely concentrate or what I would call a “juice-flavored” drink blend. The juice companies mix apple juice with a small portion of other fruits to get the juice flavor labeled on the bottle like pomegranate or blueberry.

Are there other products out there that may be masking their true natural through careful marketing and product names? Yes, of course! I always try to at least read the label of food products I buy so I can avoid the worst fat culprits like high fructose corn syrup. Making small moves in the right direction and avoiding additional calories will make a big difference to your health in the long run.