Originally published September 12 2005
Coca-Cola de Mexico launches 20 new "health" beverages
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Coca-Cola de Mexico has launched 20 new health drinks in Mexico, where diabetes has become the No. 1 killer, however the soft drink company has said the move is a multi-million business strategy, not a health strategy, since more Mexican consumers are shopping for healthier, non-carbonated beverages.
Coca-Cola Co. has launched 20 new health drinks in Mexico in what analysts say is an effort to fight rivals and also fend off growing medical worries about links between soft drinks and diabetes.
"The non-carbonated drinks segment has grown approximately 20 percent in the last three years and that is obviously a huge opportunity for us to grow in," Jorge Casimiro, the company's Latin American communications director, told Reuters.
But analysts said the marketing strategy aims to fend off growing low-priced soft drink competition and a Mexican public increasingly looking for healthy beverages rather than traditional fizzy soft drinks to quench their thirsts.
"Diabetes is the main cause of death in Mexico and there is an increasing awareness about drinking healthy products," said Mauricio Brocado, an analyst with Actinver brokerage.
An eight-year study by the Harvard School of Public Health recently linked frequent consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages to diabetes in women.
The World Health Organization reckons the cost of diabetes in Mexico to be $12 billion per year and rising, as incidence of the disease expands.
Coca-Cola de Mexico, analysts said, is including health-oriented drinks in its portfolio, such as Ciel Dasani, Minute Maid and Spacio Leve, because of the threat of lower consumption of products including Coke.
Coca-Cola's Casimiro said the American Diabetes Association has said foods and beverages containing sugar can be consumed by diabetics and that the U.S Department of Health and Human Services has said there is no evidence that sugar intake is linked to diabetes.
Coke has 13 bottling affiliate companies in Mexico, the largest being Coca-Cola Femsa (KOF.N: Quote, Profile, Research) (KOFL.MX: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's No. 2 Coke bottler and the biggest in Latin America.
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