(NaturalNews) Though you may still be able to find a few 7Up Antioxidant beverages online, the drinks have all but evaporated from store shelves after parent company Dr. Pepper Snapple announced their discontinuance last November. The announcement came the same day that the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) filed a lawsuit saying the drink's claims were misleading because they gave the impression that the antioxidants come from fruits pictured on the labels rather than small amounts of added synthetic vitamin E the drinks actually contained.
"Non-diet varieties of 7UP, like other sugary drinks, promote obesity, diabetes, tooth decay, and other serious health problems, and no amount of antioxidants could begin to reduce those risks," CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson said. "Adding an antioxidant to a soda is like adding menthol to a cigarette -- neither does anything to make an unhealthy product healthy."
7Up Cherry Antioxidant, Mixed Berry Antioxidant, and Pomegranate Antioxidant were launched in 2009. Despite pictures of the various fruits on the 7Up labels, the drinks contained no fruit or juice. An example was Antioxidant Cherry 7Up, with prominent images of healthy cherries on the labels and in ads. One ad played further on the cherry theme by saying the drink is "A Delicious Way to Cherry Pick Your Antioxidants."
At first glance, consumers might have taken a look at the 7Up drink and wondered what could be so bad about a fruit soft drink that has no caffeine, contains "natural flavors" and antioxidants too. A close look at the label tells a much different story than the one 7Up "cherry picked" for consumers.
Besides containing no actual cherries, Antioxidant Cherry 7Up's "antioxidant" claim is based on a tiny amount of d-alpha Tocopherol Acetate, a synthetic vitamin E form made from petroleum products. The average serving size provides a mere 10 percent of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of vitamin E.
The RDA of natural vitamin E is a mere 22 International Units (IU) per day (the most commonly recommended amount of vitamin E for adults is 400 to 800 IU per day). The synthetic vitamin E 7Up uses is 33 percent less bioavailable than natural Vitamin E.
In addition to the synthetic vitamin E, Antioxidant Cherry 7Up also includes carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup (from GMO corn, of course), citric acid, "natural flavors," potassium benzoate, and red dye #40.
The dangers of high fructose corn syrup have been well chronicled and the evidence of the dangers of GMO corn continues to mount. Although eight ounces is listed by 7Up as a normal serving size, the size most commonly sold in today's world of ever-increasing soft drink sizes is the 20 ounce bottle. The high fructose corn syrup content of a 20 ounce bottle of 7Up is equivalent to 15 teaspoons of sugar. Dietary guidelines recommend that added sugars be limited to about eight teaspoons per day based on an average 2,000-calorie diet.
Red dye #40, which is also known as Red 40, has been proven to produce toxic psychological and behavior results such as extreme hyperactivity, extreme mood swings and psychotic behavior. Red Dye #40 is made from petroleum and it's chemical name is quite the mouthful: 6-hydroxy-5-(2-methoxy-5-methyl-4-sulfophenylazo)-2-naphtalenesulfonic acid sodium salt.
When combined, citric acid and potassium benzoate can create benzene, a toxic chemical compound which is a known carcinogen that has been specifically linked to leukemia.
With the diet version of Antioxidant 7Up, it got even "better." Instead of the using Splenda as they do in regular Diet 7Up, Diet Antioxidant Cherry 7Up used Aspartame.