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Wednesday, June 18, 2008

New product Wednesday, at Dallas-area stores: Health Cola

by Teresa Gubbins

Healthy Cola, hnh. A cola that's healthy is kindof like what's the point.

Most people who drink soda on a regular basis would probably find a product like Health Cola to be pointless. If you drink soda regularly, you're not a health nut, and hey, it hasn't killed you so far. But natural-food sites like this might give you pause, by listing the many ways soda is awful -- from the phosphorus that sucks the calcium out of your bones to the weird stuff aspartame does to you.

Still, Health Cola is probably more for gourmet types who enjoy a novelty beverage. (For one thing, it costs about $1.65 per bottle.) It has no corn syrup, phosphoric acid, or preservatives. It's fortified with vitamin C and antioxidants -- specifically, a "plant antioxidant blend" taken from grape seeds and cocoa beans. But the coolest thing is that it uses cola nut extract, which is how cola was made after it was first conceived.

Put this next to a Coke and there'd be no confusion as to which was which. Health Cola is less aggressively fizzy and not as sweet. However, it does have a neat, nutty, cola-esque flavor of its own.

But the hardest thing for soda makers is getting shelf space. Coke and Pepsi, in the business of putting out a product that costs next-to-nothing to make, spend all their money protecting turf and ensuring that competitors don't get even a tiny toe-hold. This has been lesson learned by upstarts such as Virgin Cola, who tried twice to enter the U.S. market and got squashed both times. Health Cola isn't about to turn up by the kilo on supermarket shelves, but it is at Central Market and at the fabulous Market Street stores (though surprisingly, not listed as available at the Soda Gallery in Oak Cliff).

Staff
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Anonymous

twisteddog, says:

Cola. Kilo. Snort!

Anonymous

1 year, 5 months ago
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Pavel Lishin, says:

I'm betting it tastes like crap, too.

But maybe I'm just bitter because I've given up soda for the fourth time this year recently. I'm moderately sure this is harder than giving up smoking, if only because it's cheap and available everywhere.

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1 year, 5 months ago
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twisteddog, says:

Actually, it tastes like a better version of RC cola.

Anonymous

1 year, 5 months ago
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Mike Orren, says:

a better version of RC cola

Blasphemy. I got a Moon Pie that says that's impossible.

Staff

1 year, 5 months ago
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Joel Woiton, says:

Saw it at the store the other day. I'm not a big fan of any Colas (healthy or not), so I'm not sure if I'll try it.

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1 year, 5 months ago
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Kay, says:

Wow! It sounds good so far... First I gave up my Diet Coke because of aspertame, then I gave up Classic Coke because of HFCS. I miss my cokes....maybe THIS IS the answer? I sure hope so!

Anonymous

1 year, 5 months ago
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xdavidwattsx, says:

No such thing as "healthy" Cola.

And yeah, Moon Pies and RC Cola is CLASSIC!

Anonymous

1 year, 5 months ago
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alejandrolicea, says:

Is possible to have a NOT “guilty pleasure” and that is the purpose of Health Cola. This is why is Healthy …..

“It is well known that too much soda can increase the risk of diabetes” (1) HEALTH COLA HAS Natural Crystalline Fruict sugar, that the initial uptake of fructose is insulin-independent, and is classified as a low glycemic Index (Natural crystalline fructose Value GI~20, regular Glucose value GI 100, and the High Fructose Corn syrup GI 62) (2). “But when it comes to kidney problems, is there a difference between colas and other kinds of soda? Colas contain high levels of phosphoric acid, which has been linked to kidney stones and other renal problems.”(1) HEALTH COLA, DO NOT!! Contain phosphoric acid

We use real cola nuts and all natural ingredients. HEALTH COLA, DO NOT!! have Brominated vegetable oil (BVO)

"BVO is vegetable oil that has had atoms of the element bromine bonded to it. Brominated vegetable oil is used as an emulsifier in citrus-flavored soft drinks such as Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Powerade, Mello Yello, Pineapple and Orange Fanta, Sun Drop, Squirt and Fresca to help natural fat-soluble citrus flavors stay suspended in the drink and to produce a cloudy appearance.

Health effects of BVO in soda is that long after consumption of BVO, traces remain in the body fat.[citation needed] Bromine is a halogen and displaces iodine, which may depress thyroid function" (3)

(1) Retrieved January 28, 2008 from: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/22/hea... Anahad O’Connor. Really?: The Claim: Too much cola can cause kidney problems. The new York times, Fitness & Nutrition, January 22,2008 (2) Tate & Lyle 2005. Crystalline Fructose New Directions in fructose. Pg.8,9. Product Pamphlet 2008 (3) Retrieved January 28, 2008 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brominat...

Anonymous

1 year, 5 months ago
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xdavidwattsx, says:

Uh, it's still got 35g of sugar and 140 empty calories per bottle, homeslice.

If the marketing approach is "it's less evil than Coke or Pepsi", well...what isn't?

Don't believe the hype.

Anonymous

1 year, 5 months ago
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Kay, says:

The sugar is NOT the problem here. Apparently, this "health" product is just another product getting around the term HFCS by calling it something else -- it is worse in that it actually increases the amount of HFCS. ( see citation )

Boo-Hiss on calling this a Health Cola!!! Nope, won't be buying this after all!!!

[citation] http://www.thefitshack.com/2007/03/28...

Anonymous

1 year, 5 months ago
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Kay, says:

Don't forget the ARSENIC, HEAVY METAL, LEAD and other yummies in Crystalline Fructose:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystall...

Anonymous

1 year, 5 months ago
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Scott Doyle, says:

Maybe if they called it "Getting Laid Cola", they might have survived.

Healthy cola is an oxymoron as far as I'm concerned (as I drinks muh coke).

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1 year, 5 months ago
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Kay, says:

LEAD Scott Doyle ...Heavy Metal and LEAD....not LAID.

Of course I can see where it could be confusing, depending on what part of the South y'all might be from..."lead" could be pronounced "lay-id".

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1 year, 5 months ago
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Rick Yost, says:

We don't give up stupid things. We buy them.

Sodas at one point were sold out of the back of horse-drawn wagons as healthy elixirs of life.
Instead of disregarding them as useless ages ago, we took them to the height of acceptance as the perfect beverage for American children to get fat from.

I wonder about the future of my own species sometimes.

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1 year, 5 months ago
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Scott Doyle, says:

Obviously it's a fat one, Rick.

Kay, I was referencing this line of the article: This has been lesson learned by upstarts such as Virgin Cola, who tried twice to enter the U.S. market and got squashed both times.

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1 year, 5 months ago
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Kay, says:

LOL Scott Doyle, Jus' couldn' help myself on that one. ;o)

BTW Wondered how you knew this early that the "healthy cola" wasn't gonna be a success...

Anonymous

1 year, 5 months ago
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jtmbls, says:

He's an evil genius.

Anonymous

1 year, 5 months ago
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Scott Doyle, says:

To be fair, Getting Laid Cola would probably have a better shot than Health Cola just the same.

New product idea: Sweet Sexteen Cola. Morning-after pill mixed with some tasty high fructose corn syrup, and <a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-teenmoms_07met.ART.North.Edition1.46a3647.html">teen pregnancy</a> may be a thing of the past!

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1 year, 5 months ago
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Pavel Lishin, says:

I support this.

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1 year, 5 months ago
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Mike Orren, says:

Allison V. Smith told us that this was the best drink in the world:

http://www.topochico.com/

Staff

1 year, 5 months ago
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Kay, says:

Maybe she LIKES drinking Lead and Arsenic?

I like "Arsenic and Old Lace", but I don't wish to consume either one.

Anonymous

1 year, 5 months ago
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James Scott, says:

Tried it last night. It had a familiar taste, and it took me the whole bottle to figure out what it tasted like. If you ever had cheap snow-cones when you were a kid and tried the 'cola' flavored, this was exactly what it tasted like. Not really like "Coke", but not really like a true cola either. Anyway, it tasted pretty good - if a little more fruity than expected, and didn't leave a crappy aftertaste like I think most popular sodas do these days (disclaimer - I gave up sodas for the most part about 2 years ago). Just my extremely belated $.02.