if you drink cola, you support genocide-

[dysfunctional press]

it's the gum arabic, stupid...

as of today, i will no longer drink/eat or purchase anything that contains gum arabic.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/30/AR2007053002157.html

http://www.ymlp.com/pubarchive_show_message_iframe.php?stopkillercoke+235

[rug]

1. And if you drink Sprite, you don't?

[kimmerspixelated]

2. I'm not a cola drinker

for reasons just like those, but I had heard that the Coca-Cola company actually uses Coke as their main cleaning substance, like for the tire rims on the trucks! Pretty potent stuff!

[Swamp Rat]

4. I've used it to clean 'glue bugs' off the front of my car.

I wouldn't drink it.

[ccpup]

13. okay, I know this isn't

a Caption This Thread, but I can't help myself:

"Wow! Those ARE heavy!"

My apologies. It was really beyond my control.

[NYCGirl]

6. Snopes:

http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/acid.asp

[glowing]

3. Most of the things we buy today are purchasing slave labor or

supporting genocide.

[kimmerspixelated]

8. I try to buy fair trade/equal exchange coffee and tea

whenever I can. At least it makes you feel like you are supporting something good.

[glowing]

9. That's the key--it makes you feel like you are doing good to justify

your needs.

[uppityperson]

5. all soft drinks, probably other stuff too

"I want you to know that the gum arabic which runs all the soft drinks all over the world, including the United States, mainly 80 percent is imported from my country," the ambassador said after raising a bottle of Coca-Cola.

[MistressOverdone]

7. Awesome!

Finally something I do correctly as a liberal Dem (you know..I have Walmart and SUV issues). I don't drink soft drinks of any kind!

[hughee99]

10. Supporting genocide, it's not just for Cola drinkers anymore...

Gum Arabic uses (from Wikipedia).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gum_arabic

"... it remains an important ingredient in soft drink syrups, "hard" gummy candies like gumdrops, and in marshmallows. As the name implies, gum arabic is also found in chewing gums, where it acts as one of the many factors that result in the texture of the gum. For artists it is the traditional binder used in watercolor paint, and was used in photography for gum printing. Pharmaceuticals and cosmetics also use the gum, and it is used as a binder in pyrotechnic compositions. It is an important ingredient in shoe polish. It is also used often as a lickable adhesive on postage stamps and cigarette papers. Printers employ it to stop oxidation of aluminum printing plates in the interval between processing of the plate and its use on a printing press."

[Colobo]

14. So pretty much everything has gum arabic

[burrowowl]

25. Yup!

Even paints, etc.

[in_cog_ni_to]

11. I drink iced tea with lemon, no sugar...and water. I hate pop. Beer's good too and an occasional

Manhattan on the rocks with a little extra cherry juice and sweet vermouth. :smoke::hippie:

[unpossibles]

12. as an alternative, we've been drinking carbonated water with flavored syrups

when we want a soft drink. It's less sweet too and doesn't coat your teeth.

[onenote]

16. You sure that your flavored syrups don't have gum arabic?

Its used for a lot more than just Coke and other soft drinks. A partial list:

Candies (such as gum drops)
Marshmallows
Fireworks
Water colors
Pharmaceuticals
Cosmetics
Shoe Polish

[KamaAina]

17. Fireworks. Oh boy. Just in time for the Fourth.

When they're used to celebrate freedom. :(

[Jed Dilligan]

21. Unless it's under "Natural Flavor"

there is none in mine.

[Colobo]

15. I'm a Coke person.

[gollygee]

18. OK so my husband drinks Coke and I looked at a bottle

the ingredients are: carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, phosphoric acid, natural flavors, caffeine.

Don't get me started on HFCS - that stuff is poison I swear and I wish he'd stop drinking this crap, but I don't see this particular ingredient listed.

I will watch the labels of things i buy though and avoid that.

[dysfunctional press]

22. it's part of the 'natural flavors'...read the articles.

nt

[gollygee]

29. I passed that on to my husand and he hit google

and tells me that Coke gets the gum arabic they use from Chad or something. Anyway, he gave me this link: http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3232434&page=1 It sounds like it's mainly used in garbage anyway, and even if they aren't getting the gum arabic there they are contributing to its value.

He did say he shouldn't be drinking it regardless so maybe he'll at least cut back, I don't know.

If I see it listed in an ingredient somewhere I won't buy it, and I don't personally buy pop anyway. I can't keep my husband from buying it, but he reads DU so perhaps he will choose to not buy it himself.

[Perky]

24. Hallelujah

I sm s cokr Frinker tooo and ...welll non-coke drinkers will never understand.

heehee

[seemslikeadream]

19. you won't be too happy without that computer or cell phone then

COLTAN

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=985740&mesg_id=985741


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1947980&mesg_id=1948130

[My Good Babushka]

20. Just about everything we buy and use

comes from someone being taken advantage of somewhere. I think it's going to take a massive political commitment and worker organization to overcome our current problems. The boycott of a handful of consumers is not going to do it.

[fed-up]

23. BINGO- nt

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

26. I'm A Coca Cola Addict. Morning, Noon And Night. Ain't Gonna Change.

Ain't no one takin my coke away! LOL

[NYC Liberal]

27. I'm drinking it right now, as a matter of fact! lol

I should probably stop just for the fact that it can't be good for me.

Oh well.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

28. Oh I'm Sure That It Ain't, But What Can Ya Do? LOL

For years now the first thing I do after I smoke my morning cig is take a sip of coke. On the car ride to work, couple sips of coke. Then it's on to coffee till noon, then buy a bottle of coke and I'm off again sippin. Get home, take swigs of my 2 liter bottle of coke about every 15 minutes or so, till bedtime. Then start it all over again.

[NYC Liberal]

30. Well I'm glad I'm not the only one. I was starting to worry!

I get the 12-packs of the stuff rather than bottles, because the bottles go flat faster. With cans I can just drink one at a time.

Is it bad that I found a code at fatwallet.com for a free 20-oz bottle of Coke and actually entered it? I just got an email saying that it shipped today.

[onenote]

31. two a day habit here

[NYC Liberal]

32. What size?

[onenote]

34. 12 oz cans

Bottles get warm faster.

[Colobo]

35. I won't give up my Coke either.

[NaturalHigh]

33. Not drinking cola...

Well, rarely drinking cola anyway, is one of the few things I do that is actually good for me.

[KamaAina]

36. I just examined a 2-liter bottle of one of the major national brands of cola

and it did not list gum arabic as an ingredient, unless they're hiding it under "natural flavors" or something.

The Wiki article says that gum arabic is an ingredient in soft drink syrups. It may be that only fountain drinks contain the Sudanese sludge. Let's hope so.

[jmowreader]

37. You're giving up books?

Also newspapers, magazines, junk mail (not a bad idea)...basically, anything printed.