Colas Now at War Over Diet Drinks

In April of this year, the group U.S. Right to Know sent letters to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requesting they ban diet soda companies from using the word “diet” in their name or advertising. They did so by citing various reports showing that contrary to what many people have believed for decades, artificial sweeteners cause people to gain weight rather than lose it.

In Right to Know’s request to the FDA, they asked for a warning letter be sent to Diet Pepsi and Diet Coke letting them know they are misbranded under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act Section 403 “for use of the term ‘diet’ as being false and misleading.” The FDA’s response was they are too busy currently, but may look at the issue at a later time.

In the letter to the FTC, Right to know said, “In this situation, … the use of the term “diet” in the brands of the two soft drinks, first, is a claim drinking the soft drink will promote weight loss. That claim is false. Second, reasonable consumers understand and believe that drinking these soft drinks will assist in weight loss. Third, that understanding and belief clearly influences their purchasing decisions. For these reasons, the claim is deceptive under and within the meaning of Section 5.” But, the FTC responded last month reporting they had completed their review of the request and would not take any action at the present.

U.S. Right to Know co-director, Gary Ruskin was disappointed with the results from both agencies, closing his comments by stating, “I do believe that ‘diet’ soda will go down in U.S. history as one of the greatest consumer frauds ever.”

For now Coca-Cola and Pepsi may have won the battle, and Right to Know may come across at the moment as a bunch of crusaders without a hope of winning. History, however, shows many examples when time changed the views of people on many issues, i.e., electric cars and global warming. So it may be in the best interests of the diet soda industry to start looking at new ways to formulate their products for future possibilities...or else public opinion may get too far ahead for them to catch up.

Roman Temkin is an entrepreneur from NYC.