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From PepsiCo to Taco Bell, Dirty Soda Is Taking Over
Utah-based drink chain Swig coined “dirty soda” back in 2010. Fifteen years later, the trend is fueling innovation everywhere from PepsiCo to McDonald’s, infusing the sluggish beverage category with new life.
“Dirty soda” drinks use pop as a base, followed by flavored syrups, cream or other ingredients. While Swig claims credit — and the trademark — for dirty soda, TikTok videos and the reality TV show “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” have helped the trend spread far and wide, outpacing even the soda chain’s speedy expansion.
Now, consumers can find it nearly everywhere, from grocery store aisles to fast-food chains.
In a few weeks, Pepsi plans to unveil two ready-to-drink dirty soda-inspired beverages at the National Association of Convenience Stores trade show in Chicago. The new drinks, the Dirty Dew and the Mug Floats Vanilla Howler, follow on the heels of the Pepsi Wild Cherry & Cream flavor, which hit shelves earlier this year.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for people like us, like PepsiCo, and for consumers to experience soda in a new way — and in some ways, an old way,” Pepsi Beverages North America Chief Marketing Officer Mark Kirkham told CNBC, comparing the rise of dirty soda to root beer floats and the soda shops of yore.
Pesticides on Your Plate – New Study Warns of Need to Better Understand Health Effects
Eating plenty of fruits and veggies is recommended as key to a healthy diet, but new research underscores how consuming family favorites such as strawberries, peaches, spinach and kale commonly comes with side of pesticide residues that could be harming your health.
Using data sets generated by U.S. government researchers, a team that includes scientists from the Environmental Working Group and the Brown University School of Public Health said in the study released Wednesday that they found the foods that had the highest pesticide loads included spinach, kale, strawberries, potatoes, nectarines, peaches, apples and raisins.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says that fruits and vegetables “provide essential vitamins and minerals, fiber, and other substances important for good health.” “Eating fruits and vegetables as part of a healthy eating plan may reduce the risk of some types of cancer and chronic diseases,” the agency states on its website.
But the new study, published in the International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, looked at the relationship between consumption of pesticide-contaminated foods and levels of pesticides showing up in human urine, and warns that consuming certain pesticide-laden foods leads to higher levels of pesticides found in the human serums. Better tracking of the potential health impacts is needed, the study states.
Sugary Drinks May Fuel Colorectal Cancer Spread
Sugary drinks have been linked to health conditions including obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease — and they could also be fueling cancer spread in advanced colorectal cancer. Researchers from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, who found the glucose-fructose mix in most sugary drinks directly contributes to metastasis in preclinical models of the cancer.
Metastasis — the spread of cancer cells from their original site to another part of the body — is the leading cause of death among patients with colorectal cancer and happens at the advanced stage.
“To fully understand the danger of sugary drinks, we needed to see whether they can make existing cancers more aggressive and spread faster, not just whether they increase the risk of getting cancer in the first place,” Jihye Yun, assistant professor of genetics at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, told Newsweek. “Importantly, cancers at early and late stages are not the same — they differ in their gene mutations, metabolism and overall biology.”
Walmart Plans to Remove Artificial Colors and Other Food Additives From Store Brands by 2027
Walmart said Wednesday that it plans to remove synthetic food dyes and 30 other ingredients, including some preservatives, artificial sweeteners and fat substitutes, from its store brands sold in the United States by January 2027. The move announced by the the nation’s largest retailer amounts to an acknowledgment that American consumers and the U.S. government under President Donald Trump are paying attention to what goes into packaged foods. Walmart said its goal would affect about 1,000 products, including salty snacks, baked goods, power drinks, salad dressings and frosting.
Several of the ingredients on Walmart’s removal list, however, already are banned, not widely used or have not been used in the U.S. food supply for decades. Others were included despite no known problems or have been targeted by the Trump administration for review and possible elimination as an approved food additive, according to food safety experts.
Still, the action represents a “sweeping declaration and a considerable response to consumer demand and sentiment” for fewer additives in food, said Brian Ronholm, director of food policy for the advocacy arm of Consumer Reports. “This is a good and well-thought-out list and represents a very positive step, especially considering the reach their private label brands have in U.S. households,” Ronholm said in a statement.
Tyson Foods to Pay $85 Million in Largest Pork Price-Fixing Settlement
Tyson Foods agreed to pay $85 million to settle a lawsuit by consumers who accused the largest U.S. meat company of conspiring with rivals to inflate pork prices by limiting supply in the $20 billion U.S. market. The preliminary class action settlement disclosed on Wednesday is the largest in more than seven years of antitrust litigation by the consumers against pork producers, surpassing Smithfield Foods’ $75 million settlement in 2022.
It would boost consumers’ overall recovery to $208 million, including settlements with Brazil’s JBS, Hormel Foods and other defendants. Tyson, based in Springdale, Arkansas, is the last publicly traded company to settle. Its settlement requires approval by U.S. District Judge John Tunheim in Minneapolis. Tyson did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Lawyers for the consumers did not immediately respond to similar requests.
Triumph Foods and data provider Agri Stats remain defendants. Dozens of supermarket chains including Kroger, restaurant chains including McDonald’s, food producers and food distributors have also sued over pork prices. Plaintiffs said the alleged conspiracy ran from 2009 to 2018, and was intended to increase the defendants’ profits, as well as prices.
