tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/soda-86407/articlesSoda – The Conversation2023-08-14T12:23:52Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2101112023-08-14T12:23:52Z2023-08-14T12:23:52ZThe bubbly chemistry behind carbonated beverages<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541552/original/file-20230807-27-wejs3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C58%2C4323%2C2823&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Manufacturers inject carbon dioxide into beverages to make them fizzy. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/little-bubbles-royalty-free-image/1304532799?phrase=carbonated+beverages&adppopup=true">Jenny Dettrick/Moment via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many people love the refreshing effervescence of a soda, champagne, beer or sparkling water. When you take a sip, the gas bubbles in the beverage burst, and the <a href="https://www.livescience.com/32492-why-does-soda-fizz.html">released gas</a> tickles your nose. But have you ever wondered how carbonation actually works? </p>
<p>I’m a <a href="https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=sZBqM3AAAAAJ&hl=en">professor who teaches classes in chemistry and fermentation</a> and a carbonated beverage enthusiast and home brewer myself. While the basic process of carbonation is relatively simple, a variety of factors – from temperature to surface tension – can affect the taste and quality of beverages.</p>
<h2>Dissolving carbon dioxide</h2>
<p>Carbonation involves dissolving the colorless and odorless carbon dioxide – CO₂ – gas into a liquid. When carbon dioxide is added to a sealed bottle or can containing water, the pressure in the bottle or can increases, and the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-816938-4.00001-X">carbon dioxide dissolves</a> into the liquid. </p>
<p>The CO₂ above the liquid and the CO₂ dissolved in the liquid <a href="http://butane.chem.uiuc.edu/pshapley/GenChem1/L23/3.html">reach chemical equilibrium</a>. Chemical equilibrium essentially means the rate that CO₂ dissolves into the liquid is equal to the rate that CO₂ is released from the liquid. It’s based on the amounts of CO₂ both in the air and in the liquid. </p>
<p>Some of the dissolved CO₂ reacts with the water to form carbonic acid, which has a chemical formula of H₂CO₃. So once some of the dissolved CO₂ converts to H₂CO₃, more CO₂ from the air above can dissolve into the liquid and reestablish chemical equilibrium.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xVLF-69j3Z8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Carbonation happens when CO₂ is forced into a can or bottle, where it dissolves into the liquid.</span></figcaption>
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<p>When you open a bottle or can, the pressure above the carbonated liquid drops to match the pressure outside of the bottle or can. The pressure release results in a hissing sound, and you see bubbles rising in the liquid as the H₂CO₃ converts back to CO₂ and that gas <a href="https://www.acs.org/education/whatischemistry/adventures-in-chemistry/secret-science-stuff/soda-pop.html">escapes to the surface</a>. The carbonic acid in the beverage is what makes it <a href="https://letstalkscience.ca/educational-resources/stem-explained/chemistry-pop">taste a little sour</a>.</p>
<h2>A colder drink is a bubblier one</h2>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541550/original/file-20230807-25-or804m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A close-up of a soda, showing many tiny bubbles" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541550/original/file-20230807-25-or804m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541550/original/file-20230807-25-or804m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541550/original/file-20230807-25-or804m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541550/original/file-20230807-25-or804m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541550/original/file-20230807-25-or804m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541550/original/file-20230807-25-or804m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541550/original/file-20230807-25-or804m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The bubbles in carbonated beverages are filled with CO₂ gas moving from an area of high CO₂ concentration to an area of low CO₂ concentration.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/close-up-soda-condensation-bubbles-royalty-free-image/1301221148?phrase=Fizz+sparkling+Cola+water&adppopup=true">Jonathan Knowles/DigitalVision via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Another important factor influencing carbonation is temperature. Most gases, including carbon dioxide, do not dissolve well in liquids as the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/Henrys-law">temperature of the liquid rises</a>. That’s why <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bring-science-home-carbonation-time/">carbonated drinks go flat</a> if you leave them out at room temperature. </p>
<p>Conversely, if you place your favorite carbonated beverage in the refrigerator and allow it to get cold, more dissolved carbon dioxide will stay in the beverage while it’s still sealed. When you open the chilled bottle or can, the <a href="https://www.acs.org/education/whatischemistry/adventures-in-chemistry/secret-science-stuff/soda-pop.html">liquid is more bubbly</a> because there was more dissolved carbon dioxide in the cold beverage. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VU_44XFRCnE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The temperature of the liquid affects how the CO₂ molecules dissolved in the beverage behave once the beverage is opened.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Surface tension and fizziness</h2>
<p>One final important factor for carbonation is the surface tension of the liquid. A liquid’s surface tension is determined by how strongly the liquid’s <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-does-a-shaken-soda-fi/">molecules interact with each other</a>. For most beverages, those molecules are water molecules, but diet soft drinks have artificial sweeteners dissolved in them. These sweeteners can weaken the interactions between the water molecules, creating a lower surface tension. A lower surface tension means the carbon dioxide bubbles <a href="https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/did-you-know/why-diet-coke-so-fizzy">form faster and last longer</a>. </p>
<p>This is why it takes slightly longer to be served a Diet Coke on ice, a problem you might notice on a plane. The lower surface tension from the artificial sweetener means there’s more fizz, and for longer, compared with other soft drinks. The flight attendants then have to <a href="https://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/blogs/diet-coke-takes-longer-for-flight-attendants-to-serve-on-airplanes-bubbles">wait for the bubbles in the cup to break</a> before they can fill the cup with more Diet Coke. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">CO₂ bubbles form on the surface of the candy, which falls to the bottom of the bottle and pushes the fizzing liquid out the top. The lower surface tension of diet soda means more bubbles that last longer.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Surface tension is also why Diet Coke works so well in the <a href="https://www.acs.org/education/whatischemistry/adventures-in-chemistry/experiments/mentos-diet-coke.html#">famous Mentos experiment</a>, during which you drop Mentos candies into 2-liter Diet Coke bottles. The candy helps to weaken the interactions between the water molecules and the CO₂ molecules, lowering the surface tension and allowing for an easier release of CO₂ molecules. A bubbling “geyser” of Diet Coke rises fast above the 2-liter bottle as the CO₂ molecules quickly form on the candy’s surfaces and force the Diet Coke out of the bottle. </p>
<h2>Getting the bubbles into a beverage</h2>
<p>In an effort to make water similar to that from mineral springs, the carbonation process was invented by Joseph Priestley in England in the 1760s and commercialized by Jacob Schweppe – recognize the name? – <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/10/the-great-soda-water-shake-up/380932/">in Switzerland in the 1780s</a>. Priestley reacted chalk with sulfuric acid, producing CO₂, and he hung a water-filled container over the reaction to <a href="https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/history/origins-soda-water">infuse the water with CO₂</a>. </p>
<p>Today, most commercial beers, soft drinks, seltzers and sparkling waters are created by “forced” carbonation. This is when manufacturers directly inject carbon dioxide into the beverage <a href="https://beersmith.com/blog/2015/02/11/carbonation-options-for-your-home-brewed-beer/">under high carbon dioxide pressures</a>. </p>
<p>A second common way to introduce carbon dioxide into a liquid is by <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/fermentation">fermentation</a>. Champagne manufacturers and some small <a href="https://homebrewacademy.com/bottle-conditioning/">home beer brewers</a> follow this method by sealing a sugar source and live yeast into their bottles. The yeast produce alcohol and carbon dioxide, and this carbon dioxide increases the pressure in the bottle, resulting in <a href="https://beersmith.com/blog/2015/02/11/carbonation-options-for-your-home-brewed-beer/">carbonated champagne and beer</a>. But this process is not as controlled and can result in <a href="https://beercreation.com/how-do-i-stop-exploding-bottles-the-home-brewers-nightmare/">exploding bottles</a>.</p>
<p>Larger brewers often capture CO₂ produced during a fermentation process and pump that gas into the tanks that contain beer to carbonate the beer. This is normally a controlled process that allows for <a href="https://www.mammothbeer.com/blogs/news/how-brewers-carbonate-beer">known amounts of carbon dioxide</a> to be introduced into the beverages for outstanding consistency. </p>
<p>Carbonation is a marriage between physics and chemistry – one that transforms ordinary liquids into effervescent treats. The next time you drink a carbonated beverage, take a moment to appreciate the science behind those dancing bubbles.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210111/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael W. Crowder receives funding from the National Institutes of Health to conduct research on antibiotic resistance and from Sazerac Corp and MineXAI to conduct research on the characterization of bourbon. </span></em></p>Ever wonder how soda manufacturers get the bubbles and fizz inside the can? A chemist explains some of the science behind the carbonation process. Hint − it involves carbon.Michael W. Crowder, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Miami UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1927422022-10-27T19:26:41Z2022-10-27T19:26:41ZHow taxing sugary drinks reinforces weight stigma<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491565/original/file-20221025-246-osvds4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C98%2C2972%2C2090&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Newfoundland and Labrador has implemented a tax of 20 cents per litre on sugary drinks.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Jenny Kane)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/how-taxing-sugary-drinks-reinforces-weight-stigma" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Newfoundland and Labrador made history in September as the first Canadian province to <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/rethink-your-drink-campaign-1.6548570">implement a sugar-sweetened beverage tax</a>. Sugar-sweetened beverage taxes also exist outside of Canada, including in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/s1368980016003086">Mexico, Philadelphia, Penn. and the United Kingdom</a>. In Newfoundland and Labrador the tax amounts to <a href="https://www.gov.nl.ca/budget/2021/what-you-need-to-know/promoting-a-healthier-newfoundland-and-labrador">20 cents per litre</a> of sugar-sweetened beverage.</p>
<p>Sugar-sweetened beverage taxation is supported by many global and national health organizations, such as the <a href="https://www.who.int/europe/publications/i/item/WHO-EURO-2022-5721-45486-65112">World Health Organization</a>, <a href="https://www.diabetes.ca/advocacy---policies/our-policy-positions/sugar---diabetes">Diabetes Canada</a> and the <a href="https://www.heartandstroke.ca/-/media/pdf-files/canada/position-statement/liquidcandy-factsheet-en.ashx?la=en&hash=E21D8E5A8708FD82915931DEC2C768361D130CC7">Heart and Stroke Foundation</a>. Taxes are a popular public health policy because of associations between sugary beverage consumption and <a href="https://doi.org/10.2337/dc10-1079">Type 2 diabetes</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.113.058362">weight gain</a>. </p>
<p>Sugar-sweetened beverage taxes are excise taxes, or flat taxes, which also make them regressive taxes. This type of taxation has real potential to have <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-sin-tax-on-sugary-drinks-unfairly-targets-indigenous-communities-instead-of-improving-health-155108">harmful effects on equity</a> as lower-income populations will pay a higher proportion of their income through this tax. Previous critiques of sugar-sweetened beverage taxation also include the <a href="https://vocm.com/2022/09/06/opposition-fielding-questions-on-new-sugar-tax/">potential harm to small business</a> and First Nations communities.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-sin-tax-on-sugary-drinks-unfairly-targets-indigenous-communities-instead-of-improving-health-155108">A sin tax on sugary drinks unfairly targets Indigenous communities instead of improving health</a>
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<h2>Weight stigma</h2>
<p>Notably absent from this list of harms is the potential of sugar-sweetened beverage taxation to create or exacerbate stigma, including weight stigma. Weight stigma in health policies has received global attention and there are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-0803-x">many calls to action</a> to end <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(19)30186-0">weight-stigmatizing policies</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Overweight parents walking outdoors with their child" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491963/original/file-20221026-21-c74v42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491963/original/file-20221026-21-c74v42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491963/original/file-20221026-21-c74v42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491963/original/file-20221026-21-c74v42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491963/original/file-20221026-21-c74v42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491963/original/file-20221026-21-c74v42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491963/original/file-20221026-21-c74v42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Weight stigma includes stereotypes of laziness and stupidity, which are not supported by evidence.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<p>Stigma occurs, in part, when a label — such as “obesity” — is associated with negative stereotypes, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.27.1.363">leading to discrimination and loss of status</a>. Weight stigma includes stereotypes of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037//0278-6133.22.1.68">laziness and stupidity</a>. It can lead to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/oby.2008.636">discrimination in health-care and workplace settings</a>. </p>
<p>Weight stigma has negative effects on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cob.12264">mental</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.13511">physical health</a>, including <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803105">health-care avoidance</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2020.101383">disordered eating</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-10565-7">self exclusion from sport and exercise</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.13511">stress</a>. Contrary to what many people think, <a href="https://doi.org/10.2105%2FAJPH.2009.159491">stigma is not an effective strategy for weight loss</a>. </p>
<p>Even before Newfoundland and Labrador declared its intentions with sugar-sweetened beverage taxation, significant interest in Canada and globally led us to explore attitudes and acceptability of a tax in our province of Manitoba. We conducted an <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/1993/36863">interview-based study</a> with residents of many different locations, including a middle-to-upper class, liberal neighbourhood in the provincial capital, Winnipeg. </p>
<p>Our participants from this location were white, food secure and primarily highly educated. In our analysis, we specifically sought out instances of weight stigma in the interview transcripts. </p>
<h2>Stigmatizing messages</h2>
<p>We were interested in the language participants used because people absorb the messages they hear and the images they see. They may push back, change or repeat these messages. </p>
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<img alt="A hand pouring sugar out of a soda can" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491753/original/file-20221025-18-2ajurj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491753/original/file-20221025-18-2ajurj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491753/original/file-20221025-18-2ajurj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491753/original/file-20221025-18-2ajurj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491753/original/file-20221025-18-2ajurj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491753/original/file-20221025-18-2ajurj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491753/original/file-20221025-18-2ajurj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">People absorb the messages they hear and the images they see.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<p>In our analysis of the interviews, we found that many participants repeated weight-stigmatizing messages when discussing sugar-sweetened beverages. A more overt way this occurred was through the judgement of higher-weight individuals who were buying or consuming sugar-sweetened beverages. </p>
<p>Weight stigma also occurred in more covert or subtle ways. For example, some participants talked about their “disgust” and other negative emotions associated with their weight and others’ weight. Many participants also spoke of their “responsibility” to lose weight or to protect their children from becoming overweight by not consuming sugar-sweetened beverages and juice. </p>
<p>Weight dissatisfaction is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/291371">harmful to one’s health</a>. Disgust also has justice implications for public health. Being disgusted by someone <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09581596.2014.885115">makes them seem less than human. It can contribute to blaming people</a> for conditions caused by multiple biological and social factors and can reinforce prejudice. </p>
<p>Participants also described higher weight individuals as a “burden” on the health-care system and that a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages would help offset these perceived costs. While this myth of obesity bankrupting the health-care system is pervasive, research suggests otherwise. In Manitoba, the health service usage for <a href="http://mchp-appserv.cpe.umanitoba.ca/reference/MCHP-Obesity_Report_WEB.pdf">individuals classified as overweight was found to be similar to those classified as normal weight</a>. Health-care usage was only marginally higher for individuals classified as obese. </p>
<h2>Policies and stigma</h2>
<p>Hearing these comments repeated in our interviews indicated to us how pervasive and widespread weight stigma was in participants’ attitudes toward sugar-sweetened beverage intake. Most importantly, these beliefs informed support or acceptability of sugar-sweetened beverage taxation. </p>
<p>This finding echoes <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.09.023">existing research suggesting reciprocal processes</a> between stigma at inter- and intra-personal levels and policies. This indicates that interpersonal stigma may contribute to the creation of stigmatizing policies and that stigmatizing policies may in turn legitimize and worsen existing stigma. </p>
<p>Our specific research population was chosen because it was a good representation of the dominant social group in Canada — a white, middle-to-upper class, highly educated segment of the population. This dominant population is also likely to be similar to many policymakers, further supporting the perspectives of this group within Canadian policies. </p>
<p>Our findings demonstrate how weight-stigmatizing comments were used in support of sugar-sweetened beverage taxation. Weight stigma has <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-anti-fat-bias-in-health-care-endangers-lives-115888?">serious health consequences</a>. If Canadian <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/corporate/publications/chief-public-health-officer-reports-state-public-health-canada/addressing-stigma-toward-more-inclusive-health-system.html">public health professionals</a> are committed to tackling weight stigma in health policies, we need to reconsider our support for this policy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192742/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anne Katherine Anderson Waugh received Canada Graduate Scholarship-Masters funding from CIHR. She has also received funding from the University of Manitoba, Faculty of Graduate Studies. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrea Bombak receives funding from New Brunswick Health Research Foundation, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and Banting Discovery Award. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Natalie Diane Riediger receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Canadian Celiac Association, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, University of Manitoba, Mitacs, and Universities Canada. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Patty Thille currently receives funding from Research Manitoba. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kerstin Roger does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Taxation of sugar-sweetened drinks is not only inequitable, but also has the potential to create or perpetuate weight stigma, which has negative effects on mental and physical health.Anne Katherine Anderson Waugh, Research Coordinator, Department of Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, University of ManitobaAndrea Bombak, Associate professor, Department of Sociology, University of New BrunswickKerstin Roger, Full Professor, Department of Community Health Sciences, University of ManitobaNatalie Diane Riediger, Assistant Professor of Nutritional Epidemiology, University of ManitobaPatty Thille, Assistant Professor in Physical Therapy, University of ManitobaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1586832021-05-14T12:45:52Z2021-05-14T12:45:52ZUsing captured CO₂ in everyday products could help fight climate change, but will consumers want them?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400654/original/file-20210513-14-1w8n84i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C33%2C5615%2C3699&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Consumer decisions could play a critical role in dealing with climate change. A study gauging perceptions was published May 13, 2021. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/plasticware-royalty-free-image/157684042">FotographiaBasica via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Would you drink carbonated beverages made with carbon dioxide captured from the smokestack of a factory or power plant? </p>
<p>How would you feel if that captured carbon dioxide were in your child’s toys, or in the concrete under your house?</p>
<p>The technology to capture climate-warming carbon dioxide emissions from smokestacks, and even from the air around us, already exists; so too does the technology to use this carbon dioxide to make products like plastics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/bendable-concrete-and-other-co2-infused-cement-mixes-could-dramatically-cut-global-emissions-152544">concrete</a>, carbonated drinks and even <a href="https://www.lanzatech.com/">fuel for aircraft and automobiles</a>. </p>
<p>That combination – known as carbon capture and utilization – could take up <a href="https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/150624">billions of tons of carbon dioxide emissions</a> if the technologies were adopted across a range of sectors worldwide. </p>
<p>But for that to happen, the public will have to accept these new products. Will they? That’s a question we have been exploring <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=7SBLujMAAAAJ&hl=en">as engineers</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=EcnJeAsAAAAJ&hl=en">who work on carbon capture technologies</a> and as <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=14vWTQcAAAAJ&hl=en">social</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=oNPz5m0AAAAJ&hl=en">psychologists</a>.</p>
<h2>One key to success: CCU adds economic value</h2>
<p>Studies show that to stabilize the climate by 2050, the world will have to do more than just stop greenhouse emissions. <a href="https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2021/03/science-academies-of-g-7-nations-call-for-action-to-reach-net-zero-emissions-reverse-declines-in-biodiversity-and-improve-data-sharing-to-prepare-for-future-health-emergencies">It also will have to remove huge amounts</a> <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/chapter/spm/">of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere</a>. Trees, soils and oceans naturally store some carbon dioxide, but human activities produce <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1710465114">about five times</a> more than nature can handle. </p>
<p>That’s why technologies that can reuse carbon dioxide to avoid fossil fuel use – or even better, lock it away in long-lived products like cement – are essential.</p>
<p>The key to carbon capture and utilitization’s potential is that these products have economic value. That value can give companies the incentive to deploy the technology at the global scale necessary to slow climate change.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395405/original/file-20210416-20-1155ilu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395405/original/file-20210416-20-1155ilu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395405/original/file-20210416-20-1155ilu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395405/original/file-20210416-20-1155ilu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395405/original/file-20210416-20-1155ilu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395405/original/file-20210416-20-1155ilu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395405/original/file-20210416-20-1155ilu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Carbon capture technology is used to stop emissions at the source, particularly in industries like steel and cement production that have high emissions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Svante</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Carbon capture technology itself isn’t new. Initially, captured carbon dioxide was used to force oil and gas out of old wells. Once emissions are captured, typically from an industrial smokestack via a complex chemical filter, they can be pumped deep underground and stored in depleted oil reservoirs or porous rock formations. That keeps the carbon dioxide from reaching the atmosphere, where it can contribute to climate change. </p>
<p>But storing carbon dioxide in the ground doesn’t create a new product. The absence of an economic return – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2014.03.007">coupled with concerns about storing carbon dioxide underground</a> have slowed the adoption of the technology in most countries.</p>
<h2>How do people feel about carbon dioxide-based products?</h2>
<p>For many products made with captured carbon dioxide, success will depend on whether the public accepts them.</p>
<p>Two of us recently conducted <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-021-03110-3">one of the first large-scale studies</a> to examine public perception of carbon dioxide-based products in the U.S. to find out. We asked over 2,000 survey participants if they would be willing to consume or use various carbon dioxide-based products, including carbonated beverages, plastic food storage containers, furniture made with foam or plastic, and shatterproof glass. </p>
<p>We found that most people knew little about carbon capture and use. However, 69% were open to the idea after learning how it worked and how it helped reduce the emissions contributing to climate change.</p>
<p><iframe id="soRKb" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/soRKb/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395557/original/file-20210417-13-1f3fcmx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395557/original/file-20210417-13-1f3fcmx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395557/original/file-20210417-13-1f3fcmx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395557/original/file-20210417-13-1f3fcmx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395557/original/file-20210417-13-1f3fcmx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395557/original/file-20210417-13-1f3fcmx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395557/original/file-20210417-13-1f3fcmx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Participants in the survey were shown illustrations explaining carbon dixoide-based products.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lauren Lutzke/University of Southern California</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>There was one exception when we asked about different types of products people might be willing to use: Fewer people – only 56% – were open to the idea of using captured carbon dioxide in carbonated beverages. </p>
<p>Safety was a concern for many people in the survey. One-third didn’t know if these products might pose a health risk, and others thought they would. It’s important to understand that products made with captured carbon dioxide are subject to the same <a href="https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=184.1240">safety regulations</a> as traditional materials used in food and consumer products. This includes filtering out unwanted pollutants in the flue gas before using the carbon dioxide in carbonated beverages or plastics. </p>
<p>When carbon dioxide is used as a raw material, it becomes chemically stable once it is used to create a product, meaning carbon dixoide used to create plastic will not turn back into a gas on its own.</p>
<p>What people may not realize is that the majority of carbon dioxide currently used nationwide is already a fossil fuel byproduct from the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/rrapier/2020/06/06/estimating-the-carbon-footprint-of-hydrogen-production/?sh=517d415f24bd">steam-methane reforming process</a>. This carbon dioxide is used widely for purposes that include making dry ice, performing certain medical procedures and carbonating your favorite soda. </p>
<p>Overall, we found that people were open to using these products, and that trend crossed all ages, levels of education and political ideologies.</p>
<p><iframe id="ImbHl" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/ImbHl/4/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Carbon capture and use already has <a href="https://www.thirdway.org/memo/getting-serious-about-direct-air-capture">bipartisan support</a> in Washington, and the Department of Energy is funding research in carbon management. Bipartisan consumer support could quickly expand its use, creating another way to keep carbon emissions out of the air.</p>
<p>Over <a href="https://www.globalco2initiative.org/evaluation/">77 million tons of carbon dioxide</a> was captured worldwide in 2020, but use of that carbon dioxide lags behind. One use that is quickly expanding is <a href="https://theconversation.com/bendable-concrete-and-other-co2-infused-cement-mixes-could-dramatically-cut-global-emissions-152544">using carbon dioxide to cure, or harden, concrete</a>. A company called CarbonCure, for example, has permanently stored over <a href="https://www.carboncure.com/">90,000 tons</a> of captured carbon dioxide in concrete to date. </p>
<p>Recently, <a href="https://www.lanzatech.com/2021/04/21/unilever-lanzatech-and-india-glycols-ltd-launch-worlds-first-laundry-capsule-in-market-made-from-industrial-carbon-emissions/">Unilever and partners</a> piloted replacing fossil-based ethanol with carbon dioxide-based ethanol for manufacturing laundry detergent, significantly reducing the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286234884_Life_Cycle_Assessments_of_LanzaTech_Ethanol_Production_Anticipated_Greenhouse_Gas_Emissions_for_Cellulosic_and_Waste_Gas_Feedstocks">associated ethanol emissions</a>. Both are cost-competitive methods to capture and use carbon dioxide, and they demonstrate why carbon capture and use could be the most market-friendly way to remove carbon dioxide on a large scale.</p>
<h2>How innovators can improve public perception</h2>
<p>Some emerging technologies could help address the perceived risks of ingesting carbon captured from industrial emissions. </p>
<p>For example, a Coca-Cola subsidiary is piloting a project in which <a href="https://www.greenbiz.com/article/coca-cola-bottler-experiments-turning-emissions-effervescence">carbon dioxide is captured directly from ambient air using direct air carbon capture technology</a> and then used in drinks. Although it’s currently expensive, the costs of direct air carbon capture are expected to fall as it is used more widely, and its use could reduce people’s concerns about health risks.</p>
<p>The most important steps may be educating the public about the process and the value of carbon dioxide-based products. Companies can alleviate concerns by being open about how they use carbon dioxide, why their products are safe and the benefits they hold for the climate.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158683/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lucca Henrion works as a research fellow in the Global CO2 Initiative at the University of Michigan. He is a volunteer with the Open Air Collective.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joe Árvai receives funding from The National Science Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lauren Lutzke previously received funding from the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise, and the Global CO2 Initiative, both at the University of Michigan.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Volker Sick receives funding from the US Department of Energy, NRC Canada, and the University of Michigan. </span></em></p>A large-scale survey asked people exactly that. One use of recycled carbon dioxide stood out.Lucca Henrion, Research Fellow at the Global CO2 Initiative, University of MichiganJoe Árvai, Dana and David Dornsife Professor of Psychology and Director of the Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and SciencesLauren Lutzke, PhD student, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and SciencesVolker Sick, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor; DTE Energy Professor of Advanced Energy Research; and Director, Global CO2 Initiative, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1551082021-02-21T12:05:53Z2021-02-21T12:05:53ZA sin tax on sugary drinks unfairly targets Indigenous communities instead of improving health<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385316/original/file-20210219-15-2hg8nd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=99%2C46%2C3941%2C3122&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A water bottle sits on the table in front of Chief and NDP candidate Rudy Turtle during a visit by NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh on Oct. 5, 2019 on the Grassy Narrows First Nation, where industrial mercury poisoning in its water system has seriously affected the health of the community.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>“Sin taxes” are a tried, <a href="https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/do-sin-taxes-really-change-consumer-behavior/">although not necessarily true</a>, strategy for reducing harm connected to alcohol and tobacco. Calls for a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages are supported by a large body of evidence linking weight gain and Type 2 diabetes, to excess consumption of these drinks. <a href="https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/260253/WHO-NMH-PND-16.5Rev.1-eng.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">This response is supported by the World Health Organization</a>, among others, <a href="https://www.heartandstroke.ca/-/media/pdf-files/canada/media-centre/the-health-and-economic-impact-of-a-sugary-drink-tax-in-canada-summary.ashx">to offset negative health and economic effects</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://greenparty.mb.ca/news/manitoba-greens-sugar-tax-proposal-would-save-36-million-in-health-care-costs/">idea of taxing sugar-sweetened beverages</a> has <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/liberals-ontario-soda-tax-proposal-federal-election-campaign-katie-simpson-1.5136724">caught the attention of political leaders</a> <a href="https://www.fin.gov.nt.ca/en/services/have-your-say-proposed-nwt-sugar-sweetened-drinks-tax">in Canada</a>, too. However, this paternalistic “we know best” approach ignores the most obvious needs and rights of Indigenous Peoples. Rather than seeing the harms of colonization to Indigenous Peoples, governments are fixating on how to tax the Coke in their hands. </p>
<p>Imposing a sugary beverage tax on Indigenous consumers would <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2018/08/10/do-sin-taxes-work">be unethical</a>, contravene tax law and undermine Indigenous rights to self-determination. Even the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/indigenous-forced-labour-sugar-beet-farms-1.4165272">production of sugar in Canada</a> has exploited Indigenous people, who were used essentially as forced labour. </p>
<h2>Health and mental health gaps</h2>
<p>The connection between lack of employment, education and family supports, to poorer health outcomes <a href="https://www.wellesleyinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Full-Report-FPSCT-Updated.pdf">is well documented</a>. For Indigenous peoples, who often occupy the worst end of wellness measures, this is directly connected to the legacy of colonization. </p>
<p>Moreover, the health gap is profound and getting worse. <a href="http://mchp-appserv.cpe.umanitoba.ca/reference/FN_Report_web.pdf">The Manitoba Centre for Health Policy</a> found the life expectancy gap between First Nations persons and all other Manitobans has widened to 11 years from eight years since 2002. </p>
<p>It comes as no surprise then that Indigenous Peoples also experience diabetes at much higher rates. In Canada, treating diabetes <a href="https://www.diabetes.ca/media-room/press-releases/new-data-shows-diabetes-rates-and-economic-burden-on-families-continue-to-rise-in-ontario--">costs upwards of $30 billion per year</a>. It seems unlikely that a tax on sugary drinks can set this crisis right.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Close-up of an Indigenous woman with grey hair in a blue shirt" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385307/original/file-20210219-21-kmf6x0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=238%2C8%2C2757%2C1985&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385307/original/file-20210219-21-kmf6x0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385307/original/file-20210219-21-kmf6x0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385307/original/file-20210219-21-kmf6x0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385307/original/file-20210219-21-kmf6x0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385307/original/file-20210219-21-kmf6x0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385307/original/file-20210219-21-kmf6x0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Laura Green, a resident of Shoal Lake 40 First Nation, was photographed while speaking about water and access issues in her community on Feb. 25, 2015. The boil water advisory at Shoal Lake 40 has lasted more than two decades, beginning in 1997.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Similarly, for those struggling with addiction, eating disorders or other challenges, adding more tax provides no support for better “lifestyle choices.” There is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106447">evidence linking adverse childhood experiences</a> and trauma to higher intake of sugar-sweetened beverages both in childhood and later in life, as well as <a href="http://doi.org/10.3390/nu12051485">calls to include sugar-sweetened drinks within addiction models</a>, including for survivors of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2020.106176">childhood maltreatment</a> who disproportionately use food to cope.</p>
<p>Indigenous Peoples are also more likely to live with <a href="https://www.fnha.ca/what-we-do/mental-wellness-and-substance-use">mental illness and addiction</a>, largely due to <a href="http://www.nccah-ccnsa.ca/Publications/Lists/Publications/Attachments/142/2015-04-28-AguiarHalseth-RPT-IntergenTraumaHistory-EN-Web.pdf">intergenerational trauma</a>. This raises ethical questions about taxing addiction or behaviours associated with trauma, particularly in light of its colonial roots.</p>
<h2>Taxes, food and water</h2>
<p>One obvious problem with taxing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption by First Nations persons is their <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/aboriginal-peoples/indians.html">tax-exempt status</a> for all purchases made on reserves. There is no Canadian tax scheme that can avoid this exemption, thus a tax on sugary beverages has no impact on those who are at highest risk for Type 2 diabetes. With the growing presence of <a href="https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/what-are-urban-reserves">urban reserves</a> in many Canadian cities, buying tax-exempt sugar-sweetened beverages is increasingly easy. </p>
<p>Taxation also doesn’t address <a href="https://theconversation.com/canadas-food-guide-is-easy-to-follow-if-youre-wealthy-or-middle-class-114963">underlying issues of food insecurity</a>, prevalent in communities with high Indigenous populations. In urban areas, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12937-019-0488-5">2015 Canadian Community Health Survey</a> found Indigenous populations to have the highest intake of sugar-sweetened beverages of any racial or ethnic group. This often reflects a <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17238818">lack of healthy and affordable food in neighbourhoods</a> with large Indigenous populations.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/mining-push-continues-despite-water-crisis-in-neskantaga-first-nation-and-ontarios-ring-of-fire-150522">Mining push continues despite water crisis in Neskantaga First Nation and Ontario’s Ring of Fire</a>
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<p>Canada’s historic approach to resource development and wildlife management has been to ignore the needs and rights of Indigenous communities. Industry was allowed to pollute water bodies, <a href="https://pulitzercenter.org/projects/generations-activism-grassy-narrows-first-nations-fight-clean-water">including with mercury</a>, and destroy food sources relied upon by Indigenous Peoples. For <a href="https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.181617">northern</a>, <a href="http://www.fnfnes.ca/docs/FNFNES_draft_technical_report_Nov_2__2019.pdf">rural, remote</a> and <a href="https://proof.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Household-Food-Insecurity-in-Canada-2017-2018-Full-Reportpdf.pdf">urban populations</a>, food insecurity continues to be a problem. Increasing food prices wouldn’t fix this.</p>
<p>A tax on sugar-sweetened beverages implies that Indigenous Peoples can either make better food choices, or choose to pay the tax. Yet <a href="https://canadians.org/fn-water">safe drinking water</a> and <a href="https://www.rcinet.ca/eye-on-the-arctic/2019/03/29/canada-nutrition-north-food-security-iqaluit-grocery-price/">affordable food</a> are not within reach of many Indigenous Peoples. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/water-crisis-in-first-nations-communities-runs-deeper-than-long-term-drinking-water-advisories-148977">Water crisis in First Nations communities runs deeper than long-term drinking water advisories</a>
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<p>The disconnect here is how taxing sugary drinks will help reduce diabetes and other health problems for this group. There is a serious credibility gap when governments demand consumers pay extra when choices are limited, and then promise tax revenue will be used to benefit their health. Despite promises by the federal government to fix all boil water advisories in five years, <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/7497223/indigenous-services-minister-says-trudeau-government-wont-end-boil-water-advisories-by-march-2021/">it failed to deliver</a> on this basic human right. </p>
<h2>Shifting responsibility</h2>
<p>The solution, it seems, shifts responsibility for wellness from addressing inequality, to imposing a sugar-sweetened beverage tax on those most affected by poverty and lack of clean water, and for whom <a href="https://theconversation.com/joyce-echaquans-death-how-a-decolonizing-approach-could-help-tackle-racism-in-health-care-148517">racism in health care</a> is a daily reality. By framing the “problem” just the right way, the “solution” is easy to sell to a nation struggling to accept responsibility for the continuing harms of colonization.</p>
<p>As a young nation, Canada signed Treaty agreements to share land and resources. Instead of honouring those promises, Canada enacted the <a href="https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/the_indian_act/"><em>Indian Act</em></a>, essentially stripping First Nations of even the most basic human rights. Since then, Canadian governments have rarely acted in the best interests of Indigenous Peoples. </p>
<p>Today, Canada is considering <a href="https://parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/43-2/bill/C-15/first-reading">Bill C-15</a> to adopt minimum standards of Indigenous rights as set out in the <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/11/UNDRIP_E_web.pdf">United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples</a>. This includes the right to self determination. Rather than taxing sugar-sweetened beverages, a better solution is to end paternalism and to provide real choices by confronting inequality and racism.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155108/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Myra J Tait receives funding from Canadian Institutes of Health Research.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Natalie Diane Riediger receives funding from Canadian Institutes of Health Research. </span></em></p>A tax on sugar-sweetened beverages may be intended to improve health, but for Indigenous consumers, such a tax would be unethical, contravene tax law and undermine Indigenous rights.Myra J Tait, Assistant Professor, Governance, Law and Management, Athabasca UniversityNatalie Diane Riediger, Assistant Professor of Nutritional Epidemiology, University of ManitobaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1501512020-11-23T13:18:12Z2020-11-23T13:18:12ZThe rise and fall of Tab – after surviving the sweetener scares, the iconic diet soda gets canned<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370404/original/file-20201119-21-lu4xns.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Before there was Diet Coke, there was Tab.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/cans-of-diet-cola-tab-brand-soft-drink-produced-by-the-coca-news-photo/595289606?adppopup=true">Ramin Talaie/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Tab, the Coca-Cola company’s original diet soda brand, is headed to the soda graveyard, joining retired brands such as <a href="https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/x0MAAOSwbWhdZzLu/s-l400.jpg">Like</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/georgeginis/status/1307440469090078722">Leed</a> and <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/690161122/1970s-lime-crush-limette-metal-pop-top">Limette</a>.</p>
<p>Coca-Cola has announced that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/16/business/coca-cola-tab.html">it is discontinuing Tab after 57 years on the market</a>, and fans of the drink will have until the end of December to purchase their last can of nostalgia.</p>
<p>From the beginning, Tab’s story has been one of perseverance. The brand survived initial low sales, the artificial sweetener scares of the 1960s and 1970s, lukewarm enthusiasm for the product at the corporate level and intermittent consumer availability to become – for a brief period – the most popular diet soda in America. Then, of course, Diet Coke came along.</p>
<p>While it never regained its lofty status as the top diet soda, loyal Tab fans kept the brand alive.</p>
<h2>Meant for diabetics, downed by dieters</h2>
<p>While some might think Tab was the first diet soda, that honor actually belongs to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSHfJ1tgzbQ">a beverage called No-Cal</a>, which was developed by beverage industry pioneer Hyman Kirsch in 1952. Kirsch wanted to create a soda for diabetics and people with cardiovascular problems, <a href="https://www.saveur.com/artificial-sweeteners/">so he used cyclamate</a>, which was discovered in 1937 by a graduate student working at a University of Illinois chemistry lab after he licked some of the substance and found that it tasted sweet. About 30 times sweeter than sugar, cyclamate isn’t metabolized, making it ideal for people who need to avoid sugar.</p>
<p>But from the start, No-Cal was popular with a different type of consumer: dieters. Actress Kim Novak became <a href="https://i2.wp.com/baybottles.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/KH-1956.jpg?resize=768%2C929&ssl=1">the brand’s slim celebrity spokesperson</a>. Canada Dry followed soon after with a line of diet sodas called Glamor, <a href="http://lileks.com/bleats/archive/15/0915/0902/product/2.jpg">marketing it to women trying to lose weight</a>.</p>
<p>Diet soda really took off with <a href="https://healthfully.com/diet-rite-cola-ingredients-6270941.html">the introduction of Diet-Rite Cola</a> by the Royal Crown Cola company in 1958. Like No-Cal, Diet-Rite initially targeted diabetics and was often placed in the over-the-counter medicine section of grocers. But it soon became clear that the real market was dieters. By 1960, <a href="https://www.drinkstuff-sa.co.za/the-bittersweet-sexist-history-of-marketing-diet-soda/">Diet-Rite was the fourth-best-selling soft drink in the country</a>, trailing only Coca-Cola, Pepsi and 7 Up. </p>
<h2>Soda giants caught flat-footed</h2>
<p>Coca-Cola and Pepsi, finding themselves behind the ball, scrambled to come up with their own diet soda offerings. </p>
<p>Coca-Cola’s foray into the diet cola market – <a href="https://www.metv.com/stories/in-the-1970s-coca-cola-also-tried-to-expand-its-diet-soda-with-a-variety-of-tab-flavors">dubbed Project Alpha</a> – was an ambitious one. It wanted to come up with a soda that tasted good, had a proper mouthfeel – sugar adds not only sweetness <a href="https://www.mydrinkbeverages.com/challenges-faced-in-creating-sugar-free-beverages">but also viscosity</a> – and was attractive to women, the presumptive market. It also needed a catchy name.</p>
<p>For the name, Coke executives had one directive: Even though its taste was engineered to mimic Coke’s, it couldn’t be called Diet Coke. Because most early diet sodas didn’t taste that great, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1537-4726.2004.00115.x">strategists warned</a> against associating their brands with drinks that might taint their tremendous value.</p>
<p>So an early IBM mainframe computer generated <a href="https://soda.fandom.com/wiki/Tab">more than 600 candidates</a> with the parameters that the name be three or four letters and not offensive in any foreign language.</p>
<p>Tabb, which was eventually shortened to Tab, eventually won the battle of market testing. Stylized as “TaB,” it was introduced to the world <a href="https://clickamericana.com/topics/food-drink/20-years-tab-diet-cola-vintage-ads">in a series of ads</a> with the tagline “How can just one calorie taste so good?”</p>
<p>For a company that ordinarily has such excellent marketing instincts, Coca-Cola wasn’t sure how to fit Tab into its portfolio. Bottlers resisted the product, fearing it would undercut their profitable sugar-based sodas. By the end of its first year, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1537-4726.2004.00115.x">it had only 10% of the diet soda market</a>, an unusual predicament for a brand backed by the No. 1 soda company in the world.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DJL4yQn_7qQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Coca-Cola wasn’t subtle about targeting dieting women.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Later in the 1960s, Coca-Cola introduced the grapefruit-flavored diet soda Fresca, <a href="https://www.coca-colacompany.com/news/fresca-lived-up-to-its-tagline-for-1967-new-york-debut">which was a much bigger hit</a> with consumers and further sidelined Tab.</p>
<h2>Emerging from the sweetener scares</h2>
<p>Artificial sweeteners were riding high in the 1960s as Americans wanted to enjoy their sweets without paying the caloric price. But danger was lurking in the form of the <a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/HRD-82-3">Delany Clause</a> in the Food Additives Amendment of 1958, which prohibits food additives that have been found to cause cancer. </p>
<p>In 1969, <a href="http://ilovetab.com/the-bitter-truth-about-a-sweetener-scare/">the Food and Drug Administration banned the sweetener cyclamate</a> after lab studies indicated that large doses of the sweetener led to bladder cancer in animals. While Tab contained two artificial sweeteners – saccharin and cyclamate – cyclamate was the more important of the two. Saccharin is 300 to 400 times sweeter than sugar, but in high concentrations it gives products a bitter, metallic aftertaste. However, when it’s combined with cyclamate, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chembiol.2017.08.004">bitterness goes away</a>.</p>
<p>After the cyclamate ban, Tab was forced to reformulate and ended up deciding to use saccharine as its primary sweetener. Then in a second blow, follow-up research on potential health problems associated with artificial sweeteners focused on saccharin, leading the FDA to require warning labels on products using the sweetener. </p>
<p>Despite these obstacles, Tab <a href="https://www.mashed.com/263185/the-real-reason-coke-just-discontinued-tab/">still ended up becoming the bestselling diet cola of the 1970s and 1980s</a>. People, it seems, were willing to turn a blind eye to potential health problems as long as they were able to continue to get their diet soda. And Tab, for a brief period, was apparently the favorite of the bunch.</p>
<p>In 1982, Tab was reformulated yet again to include Nutrasweet, <a href="https://foodinsight.org/everything-you-need-to-know-about-aspartame/">also known as aspartame</a>. But Tab drinkers <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/10/garden/tab-soda-drinkers-miss-familiar-taste.html">protested the change to the drink’s flavor profile</a>, and the company dropped aspartame from the recipe.</p>
<h2>Enter: Diet Coke</h2>
<p>After Pepsi entered the diet cola market with Patio, it rebranded the product as “Diet Pepsi” within a year. Consumers embraced the new drink and a string of celebrity endorsers only enhanced its popularity. </p>
<p>This lesson was lost on Coca-Cola, which didn’t bring a diet drink using the Coca-Cola name onto the market until 1982, when it introduced Diet Coke.</p>
<p>Contrary to the company’s original fears, <a href="https://www.beveragehistory.com/2018/01/history-of-diet-coke.html">Diet Coke was an immediate hit</a>. Even though the flavor of the new beverage was not a carbon copy of the sugar-sweetened version, customers took to it. And the main victim of Diet Coke was not the original Coke, but Tab. Over the years, Tab’s market share dwindled; by 2019, <a href="https://www.ingredientsnetwork.com/cocacola-to-discontinue-production-of-tab-soda-news085577.html">its sales made up only about 1% of the Coca-Cola portfolio</a>.</p>
<p>Yet the drink managed to retain some passionate devotees, even as rumors of its impending doom circulated on and off over the years. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tab-shortage-sparks-panic-2018-10">A Tab shortage in 2018</a> caused self-described Tab-aholics to stockpile their favorite beverage, and petitions to save the drink were circulated and sent to the company. </p>
<p>They couldn’t stop the inevitable. Coca-Cola is trying to cut underperforming brands, and even modern ones like Odwalla juice and regional sodas like Delaware Punch <a href="https://www.today.com/food/coca-cola-will-stop-selling-tab-end-2020-t195035">are poised to fall prey to the cost-cutting guillotine</a>. The company says more than half of the 500 brands it currently markets <a href="https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2020/10/23/coca-cola-company-200-drinks-coke-brands-being-cancelled-list/">will disappear in the near future</a>.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Tab lovers might have less time than they think to load up; serious Tab fans <a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/news/2020/10/16/coca-cola-discontinuing-tab-one-of-the-first-diet.html">have begun snapping up any six-packs</a> that might still be lurking on store shelves. </p>
<p>It won’t be long until the only cans left will be in the basements of Tab-aholics.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150151/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeffrey Miller does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Tab was Coca-Cola’s first foray into the diet soda market. Though the brand went on to build and maintain a legion of devoted fans, its days are numbered.Jeffrey Miller, Associate Professor, Hospitality Management, Colorado State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1423452020-07-17T13:32:54Z2020-07-17T13:32:54ZPoorest Americans drink a lot more sugary drinks than the richest – which is why soda taxes could help reduce gaping health inequalities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348142/original/file-20200717-37-tjdn6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=219%2C78%2C5628%2C3410&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Soda contributes to obesity and other diseases. </span> </figcaption></figure><p>Many countries such as the <a href="https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/research/research-action/features/uk-sugar-tax-will-it-work">U.K.</a> and <a href="https://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-soda-tax-mexico-20161102-story.html">Mexico</a> and a handful of U.S. cities such as <a href="https://drexel.edu/now/archive/2020/February/Soda-Tax-and-Beverage-Consumption/">Philadelphia</a> and <a href="https://sftreasurer.org/business/taxes-fees/sugary-drinks-tax">San Francisco</a> have imposed soda taxes in an effort to fight rising obesity. </p>
<p>Lots of research shows a link between drinking sugary substances and a <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/data-statistics/sugar-sweetened-beverages-intake.html#:%7E:text=Frequently%20drinking%20sugar%2Dsweetened%20beverages,gout%2C%20a%20type%20of%20arthritis">whole host of negative health outcomes</a>, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, liver disease, tooth decay and gout. </p>
<p>As economists who study <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jay_Zagorsky">economic status</a> and <a href="http://www-personal.umd.umich.edu/%7Epksmith/research.htm">health</a>, we wanted to look at this from another perspective: Does how wealthy you are affect how much soda you consume? And could reducing sugary beverage consumption narrow the <a href="https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2017/01/new-report-identifies-root-causes-of-health-inequity-in-the-us-outlines-solutions-for-communities-to-advance-health-equity">double-digit life expectancy gap</a> between the richest and poorest Americans? </p>
<h2>Wealth and soda</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2020.100888">We analyzed data</a> for over 24,000 U.S. adults in two nationally representative random samples from the <a href="http://www.nlsinfo.org/">National Longitudinal Surveys</a>, which follow groups of people over a period of time, asking them hundreds of questions each year on a variety of topics like employment, health and attitudes. Some questions are asked every year, while others are included less frequently. </p>
<p>We looked at two groups of people. The first is referred to as the <a href="https://www.nlsinfo.org/content/cohorts/nlsy79">NLS 1979 cohort</a> and includes people born from 1957 to 1964. They were asked how often they consumed sugary drinks in the previous week every other year from 2008 to 2016, meaning the respondents were in their 40s and 50s when asked the question. </p>
<p>The second group is known as the <a href="https://www.nlsinfo.org/content/cohorts/nlsy97">NLS 1997 cohort</a> and includes people born from 1980 to 1984. They were asked the sugary drink question four times from 2009 to 2015, putting them in their 20s and 30s. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db122.htm">Prior studies</a> <a href="http://www.doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.111.018366">have found</a> that consumption of sugary drinks <a href="http://www.doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2012.09.016">tend to rise</a> as income falls. But few of them controlled for the range of other factors that could also matter, such as gender, race and ethnicity, education, cognitive skills and interest in health and nutrition. Moreover, none of them focused on wealth, which can offer unique insights on the issue. </p>
<p>Wealth represents an accumulation of resources rather than a regular flow of income. Newly graduated doctors have high income and low wealth, while retirees may have high wealth, but little income. The difference between income and wealth means they could affect consumption patterns differently. Wealth is distributed much more unequally. In addition, individuals may signal their membership in the upper economic echelons through the foods they consume.</p>
<p>[<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=experts">Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter and get expert takes on today’s news, every day.</a></em>]</p>
<p>We first looked at the share of respondents who reported drinking any sugar-sweetened beverages in the survey week by income and wealth deciles, which divides them into 10 equal groups depending on their income or wealth. </p>
<p>The number of sugar-sweetened beverages consumed generally falls as income rises. We found the same pattern when we looked at wealth, but the differences by wealth are more pronounced. Our analysis suggests that adults living in the richest 10% of families drink about 2.5 fewer sugary drinks a week than those in the poorest 10%. </p>
<p>This decline in sugary drink consumption as income and wealth rise holds up even after taking into account things like education, race, gender, cognitive abilities and interest in nutrition. </p>
<p>What’s the impact of 2.5 more sugar drinks a week? Rough calculations based on the typical sugar amounts in these drinks – <a href="https://sphhp.buffalo.edu/content/dam/sphhp/emergency-responder-human-performance/understanding-nutrition-labels.pdf">about 9.5 teaspoons</a> per 12-ounce can – suggest that it could result in <a href="https://www.livestrong.com/article/532975-how-to-calculate-how-many-calories-comes-from-sugar/">about 5.6 pounds of weight gain</a> over a year, assuming no increase in physical activity or decrease in consumption of calories from other sources.</p>
<p><iframe id="VBqlQ" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/VBqlQ/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>For richer or poorer</h2>
<p>We also wondered whether soda consumption might change as people gain or lose wealth or make more or less money. Would increases in economic status correlate with decreases in sugary drink consumption?</p>
<p>Over the four-year periods we could observe, changes in income and wealth, even large ones, were not correlated to changes in sugary drink intake. We did not observe that adults who had gotten richer tended to report a drop in the number of sugary drinks consumed.</p>
<p>One possible explanation is that while economic status shapes our early drinking habits, those habits don’t much change in adulthood. Another possible explanation is that four years is not enough time for noticeable changes in sugar-sweetened beverage consumption to happen.</p>
<p>Our finding that people who are wealthier or make more money consume fewer sugary drinks supports the idea that soda consumption contributes to <a href="https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2017/01/new-report-identifies-root-causes-of-health-inequity-in-the-us-outlines-solutions-for-communities-to-advance-health-equity">health inequities</a> along the economic distribution.</p>
<p>However, that doesn’t mean soda taxes are the best way to reduce these inequities. Since we find that sugary beverage consumption is higher for poorer Americans, these taxes can be regressive – meaning they fall more heavily on those with less income. On the other hand, if people with lower incomes respond to the higher prices caused by “soda taxes” by cutting consumption substantially, they can avoid the tax and improve their health. </p>
<p>A <a href="http://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.119.042956">just-published study</a> suggests that some soda taxes may be more effective than others at changing drinking habits. Specifically, it found that taxes based on the quantity of sugar in a drink are more successful than those simply based on volume, which <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/22/health/soda-tax-sugar-content-wellness/index.html">are more common in the U.S.</a></p>
<p>So well-designed soda taxes can help reduce rich-poor health disparities, but we’ll need a range of strategies to achieve that goal.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/142345/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>But the taxes have to be well-designed to avoid being overly regressive and targeting the poor.Patricia Smith, Professor of Economics, University of MichiganJay L. Zagorsky, Senior Lecturer, Questrom School of Business, Boston UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1366702020-05-07T12:24:03Z2020-05-07T12:24:03ZIs seltzer water healthy?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332423/original/file-20200504-83769-lexbjj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=564%2C6%2C3710%2C2689&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Carbonation and flavors are all that go into most seltzers.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/glass-of-sparkling-water-on-table-royalty-free-image/157377709?adppopup=true">stockcam/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>My health conscious friends and colleagues tell me that they need an alternative to soda but plain water is too boring. They, like many people, are turning to sparkling water and flavored seltzer water.</p>
<p>Carbonated waters are being promoted as the low-calorie or <a href="https://healthyeating.sfgate.com/flavored-sparkling-water-calories-11000.html">zero-calorie alternative</a> to soda. In a 12-month period from August 2018 to August 2019, sales of sparkling water <a href="https://www.bevindustry.com/articles/92452-bottled-water-bubbles-over-with-growth">increased by 13%</a> compared to the previous year.</p>
<p>But is it really a healthy alternative? </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://www.fsnhp.msstate.edu/associate.php?id=193">registered dietitian nutritionist</a>, I get this question all the time. As with much of nutrition, the answer is not a clear yes or no. Researchers have studied sparkling water, though not extensively, for its effects on teeth, bones and digestion. Is it bad for you? Probably not. Is it good for you? Maybe. Is it better than soda? Definitely. </p>
<h2>Seltzer vs. soda</h2>
<p>Seltzer water is simply water infused with pressurized carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide creates the bubbles in fizzy water but also <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/02/the-sad-truth-about-seltzer/433947/">adds acidity to the beverages</a>. Manufacturers also infuse many of these seltzers with the ever mysterious “natural flavors.” These are usually just chemicals <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/what-does-natural-flavors-really-mean/2017/07/24/eccdc47e-67f7-11e7-a1d7-9a32c91c6f40_story.html">extracted from plants or animals</a> that add flavor without using sugar or adding many calories. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332059/original/file-20200501-42962-1qq9yhl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332059/original/file-20200501-42962-1qq9yhl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332059/original/file-20200501-42962-1qq9yhl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=738&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332059/original/file-20200501-42962-1qq9yhl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=738&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332059/original/file-20200501-42962-1qq9yhl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=738&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332059/original/file-20200501-42962-1qq9yhl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=927&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332059/original/file-20200501-42962-1qq9yhl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=927&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332059/original/file-20200501-42962-1qq9yhl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=927&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Soda, specifically cola with its caffeine and phosphoric acid, eats away at teeth and bone.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/fizzy-glass-of-cola-royalty-free-image/87984627?adppopup=true">Jack Andersen/Stone via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Soda, on the other hand, is carbonated water plus a sweetener such as cane sugar or high fructose corn syrup. Some sodas, in particular colas, also add phosphoric acid or citric acid for flavor and to act as a preservative as well as caffeine.</p>
<p>The most well-studied risk posed by seltzer and soda are their potential effect on teeth and bones. </p>
<p>In 2007, researchers soaked teeth in seltzer water for 30 minutes and found that the seltzer did start to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-263X.2006.00784.x">erode the enamel</a>. This isn’t great if you plan on soaking your teeth in seltzer or drink it all day. But researchers compared the erosive effects of seltzer to soda, coffee, energy drinks and diet cola and found seltzer to be the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adaj.2015.10.019">least harmful to teeth</a>. </p>
<p>While plain seltzer is better than more acidic sodas and coffee, in 2018, researchers looked at the potential risks of added artificial flavors in bottled water. They found that different additives produced varying levels of acidity, and like past studies, that acidity did cause <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18050578/">some enamel erosion</a>.</p>
<p>The bottom line is that both plain and flavored sparkling water could have effects on your teeth after long exposures. The farther you go from plain water – whether that is with carbonation or flavoring – the worse for your teeth. Experts recommend that you drink bubbly water while eating food and avoid swishing it around your mouth to avoid the effects of acidity on your teeth. </p>
<p>Another general concern people have about seltzer is that it <a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/does-carbonated-water-harm-bones">might cause osteoporosis</a> – a condition where bones get less dense and become fragile. </p>
<p>In 2006, a team of researchers investigated this idea in a study that looked at 2,500 people and compared cola drinkers to people who drink other carbonated drinks without caffeine or phosphoric acid. They found that people who regularly drank colas were <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/84.4.936">more likely to have some bone loss</a> compared to those who did not. The scientists thought that the people consuming colas were also less likely to consume foods and drinks which helped build bone. People who drank seltzer or other carbonated beverages aside from cola didn’t have any of the bone density loss.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332063/original/file-20200501-42913-710mv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332063/original/file-20200501-42913-710mv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332063/original/file-20200501-42913-710mv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332063/original/file-20200501-42913-710mv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332063/original/file-20200501-42913-710mv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332063/original/file-20200501-42913-710mv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332063/original/file-20200501-42913-710mv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332063/original/file-20200501-42913-710mv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many people make carbonated water at home and add their own flavors.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/line-of-antique-pouring-bottles-royalty-free-image/80114841?adppopup=true">LOOK Photography/UpperCut Images Getty Images Plus via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Unexpected benefits</h2>
<p>More recently, researchers have begun to investigate whether there are any potential health benefits of carbonated water, and there is some early but encouraging evidence. </p>
<p>Two small randomized controlled studies with elderly patients showed that drinking seltzer water <a href="https://doi.org/10.4040/jkan.2011.41.2.269">relieves constipation</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/00042737-200209000-00010">stomach pain</a> better than tap water. </p>
<p>So is fizzy water healthy? </p>
<p>Well, there isn’t much evidence that sparkling water is bad for you. If you are more likely to drink water when it is carbonated, there is not enough evidence to give it up. The acidity might harm your teeth if you drink a lot of it, but if the choice is between sugary, acidic soda and seltzer, choose the seltzer. </p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rahel Mathews does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Bubbly waters are becoming increasingly popular. While these carbonated, sometimes flavored beverages might cause slight harm to teeth, they are far better than soda. They might even be good for you.Rahel Mathews, Assistant Professor, Nutrition, Mississippi State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.