FUZE to confuse
Recently I have recommended FUZE Mixed Berry, a naturally flavored and naturally colored beverage from FUZE Beverage, LLC. My initial assumption was that FUZE is committed to offer Americans healthy drinks containing neither artificial colors nor other questionable food additives. Not quite so. When I took another look at the beverage line I have got a little confused. Look at the diagram of FUZE Slenderize pomegranate acai berry:
DyeDiet Doesn’t Buy It!
FUZE Slenderize: Risk and Nutrition
Based on the Nutrition Facts its TWO main ingredients are:
- Water and
- 5% of apple juice concentrate
So the beverage is water with some apple juice and less than 0.5% of other ingredients. There is nothing wrong with that. But consider these questionable additives below (red segments in the diagram):
- Sucralose, an artificial sweetener, chlorinated sugar. This is one of the worst sweeteners you don’t want to be exposed to, especially in a long run.
- Acesulfame potassium, one more artificial sweetener foreign to human nature. Read article Acesulfame Potassium Dangers; CSPI opinion: to avoid;
- Chromium picolinate, a questionable chromium supplement. It is currently recognized as not immediately toxic. Read the Statement of the Mutagenicity.
There is NO scientific indications that we may benefit from taking chromium supplements. Therefore what these supplements definitely do offer is potential health risks, especially as to children.
The European Food Safety Authority Panel concluded that the use of chromium (III) picolinate, as a source of chromium, is of no safety concern provided that the amount of supplemental chromium does not exceed the level of 250 μg/day (that is 0.25 mg); the value set by the World Health Organization. See the document EFSA Opinion on Chromium Picolinate.
In the situations like this we better follow Precautionary Principle which implies that “there is a social responsibility to protect the public from exposure to harm, when scientific investigation has found a plausible risk. These protections can be relaxed only if further scientific findings emerge that provide sound evidence that no harm will result.”
Note, this is typical for many other lines of beverages when LOW or ZERO calorie versions are likely to pose HIGH RISK. Also please note that sweet taste without sugar is CONFUSING for our body in a number of ways; read interesting article as PDF file (Adobe reader needed) A Role of Sweet Taste.
Often Zero Calorie = High food additive risk
Indeed, FUZE Slenderize offers 20 calories per bottle (serving), unnecessary foreign food additive risk DDFI = 21/17 ~ 1.2 and poor nutritional value of DDNF = 17/37 ~ 0.5. In addition, Garcinia cambogia rind extract is far from being innocent because hepatotoxicity (liver toxicity) from weight-loss supplements which contain extracts of Garcinia cambogia has been reported. See the document Garcinia Cambogia Extact Concerns.
From another hand, FUZE Orange Mango is a different story! I am confused but happy:
DyeDiet Recommended
Fuze Orange Mango: Risk and Nutrition
The risk diagram is mostly green! You will get 190 calories per bottle, ZERO foreign additive risk, DDFI = 0/30 = 0 and very good nutritional value of DDNF = 30/11 ~ 2.7. Main ingredients are: Water, 45 g of Sugars, Crystalline fructose, Orange juice concentrate and Mango puree. Each of the rest is “less than 0.5%” and they are not dangerous! I realize that many of us do not want or cannot drink sugary drinks. Well, there is always price to pay: sugar substitutes are not innocent too especially if consumed regularly for a long time. So the solutions are simple:
- Only pure water is our natural drink (zero calorie, by the way);
- Drink anything else occasionally and in moderation.
Hope this helps you to enjoy healthier choices for yourself and your children!
Category: DyeDiet RECOMMENDED, Soft drinks
Subscribe
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it.
Comments (1)
Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed
Sites That Link to this Post