You are probably thinking to yourself "But aren't naked juices labeled non-GMO and all natural"? Why, yes, they are. But the truth is that they are not natural and, in fact, some of the ingredients have been associated with the development of cancer.
Now I know that you're probably wondering how this happened. I mean it seems pretty shady with the chemicals, the improper labeling and all that advertising that makes you believe they are so healthy. But the answer is actually quite simple...
It happened because Pepsi knowingly mislabeled about the natural products in Naked. Not only did they use synthetic vitamins (probably because the pasteurization and the irradiation kills most of the natural vitamins), but some of the other ingredients are by-products of formaldehyde and a proprietary synthetic digestion-resistant fiber produced by Archer Daniels Midland and developed by a Japanese chemical company. These ingredients aren't currently regulated by the FDA because they are on the FDA's GRAS (generally recognized as safe) list. So, that's safe, right? {rolls eyes}
The FDA recently has been removing items on the GRAS list and other countries have been banning items which are on our GRAS list. It is my opinion that the USA doesn't have proper labeling laws for natural or GMO free products. In the US, companies can pretty much put anything they want on the box without having to go through testing like they do for USDA organic labels or the non-GMO project labels (which is optional and cost the seller money). When they put claims on the box, then we have to believe that they are telling the truth. In terms of food labeling and restrictions, we are far behind our friends in Australia, Japan, Germany, Ireland, Austria, Hungry, Bulgaria, Greece, France, Italy, Russia, New Zealand, Norway, and Switzerland.
I think it's time we caught up.
And, this may be a little off topic considering that we are talking about Naked and Pepsi, but I want to give a little shot out to the French President for being so awesome and standing up for his people and what's right when it comes to GMO crops. Way to go, Mr. French President!
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| Optional testing for companies to verify non-GMO products. Trust THIS label! |
And because we don't have people in our government like the French President, Francois Hollande, to stand up for us, Pepsi was able to put potential carcinogens into Naked Juice and labeled it so the health minded people in the world would buy it.
In fact, they included 11 unnatural chemicals into their Naked Juice, including GMO soy when they have clearly labeled as "non-GMO" and as "all natural". In fact, The Naked Lawsuit was brought by a consumer (not the government) because she recognize the problem. I love you, Gina Parks. You are my hero!
I don't know about you, but that makes me mad! How can a company put GMO ingredients and synthetic ingredients which are formulated from a known carcinogen into a beverage and just label it how they want. This is more of a reason that we need mandated government labeling of GMO and natural products! If we can't trust companies to be honest to us, then they have to be accountable to someone!
Because of this "incident" Pepsi has paid a measly $9 million dollars and has agreed to pull the labeling "all natural" and off the bottles, but not "non-GMO" even though there are GMO products!!!! They said that they will have the non-GMO Project label in the coming years. That's an improvement, but they should have been doing it all along.
Just take a look at Pepsi's Naked Facebook website-- This is their official statement:
"Naked juice and smoothies will continue to be labeled "non-GMO," and until there is more detailed regulatory guidance around the word “natural” —we’ve chosen not to use “All Natural” on our packaging. To ensure that our consumers most concerned about that issue can feel even more confident about Naked products, we plan to enlist an independent, third-party to confirm our non-GMO status across the entire Naked brand portfolio. From our ingredients to our practices, we always strive to do the right things."
They make it seem like it's their choice rather than due to a lawsuit. They can still use non-GMO because there is less restrictions for that label than all natural. It's ridiculous! Pepsi is still being dishonest and yet claiming to do the right thing. I can't wait to see about this non-GMO testing!!
And Pepsi is paying out to the consumers. If you have proof of Naked purchases then you can received up to $75 and if you do NOT have proof of purchase you can still receive $45 from Pepsi for their mislabeling. Does that seem like something they'd do out of the kindness of their heart?
If you want claim your $45 or $75 from Pepsi then go to www.NakedJuiceClass.com and fill out the form! You have until Dec 2013 to file.
And if you need another reason to despise Pepsi... they are testing and possibly using aborted baby cells as flavor enhancers. I don't care how you feel about abortion, but that's just nasty.I don't trust Pepsi. If they can lie to us by putting ingredients that they know may be damaging our health without any feelings of responsibility to the people, what else are they capable of? I'm not interested in supporting a company who only cares about their own profits at the risk to our health. If they can lie about this, then what else are they lying about?
I think we need to make a statement to Pepsi and any company who is doing the same kind of practice that when they lie to us then we stop using their products. Then they will know that they will lose that thing that is most precious to them (money) when they hurt their consumers. Let's definitely ban Naked Juice, but think about this...
Naked is only a small, small part of Pepsi. If we want to make them an example, then the entire company needs to take a hit to get the message. Let's give the power back to the people! It will be plain to the government that they need to step in and make sure foods are properly labeled. So, friends, will you join me?
Let's Boycott All Of Pepsi's Brands:
- 7-Up
- Aunt Jemima
- Aquafina
- Brisk
- Cap'n Crunch
- Cracker Jack
- Dole
- Elma Chips
- Frito-Lay Chips (sunchips, doritos, tostitos, lay's, cheetos, funyons.. etc)
- Gatorade
- Hickory Sticks
- IZZE
- Life
- Lipton
- Mother's
- Mountain Dew
- Muller Yogurt
- Naked
- Near East
- Pepsi
- Propel
- Quakers
- Rice-A-Roni
- RockStar Engery Drink
- Sabra
- Seattle's Best Coffee
- Sierra-Mist
- SmartFood
- Sobe
- StarBucks Ice Coffee, Frappacinno, and Double Shot
- Tazo
- Tropicana
- Walkers Chips (UK)
This also includes their Restaurant chains: Pizza Hut, KFC, and Taco Bell.
Pepsi also conveniently made a shopping list naming many of their products that you can find here: Pepsi Products If you want you can print it out and take it to the store with you so you can avoid all things Pepsi!
Pepsi also conveniently made a shopping list naming many of their products that you can find here: Pepsi Products If you want you can print it out and take it to the store with you so you can avoid all things Pepsi!
Now that's MY Naked Truth! As Gandhi said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world". I may be the only one, but I hope that you join me wherever you are. Together, we can change the world.
God, I sound like a John Lennon song.
If you're with me please sign this petition letting Pepsi's President know that you are boycotting their products: Boycott Pepsi. Or just boycott them. They'll get the picture. ;)God, I sound like a John Lennon song.
If you're interested in boycotting GMO products in general check out this handy poster:
Pepsi isn't the first to be dishonest and they will probably not be the last. Kellogg and Kashi (twice), Trader Joe's, Wholefoods, and Target are all in the spotlight for misguiding consumers and placing unsafe ingredients into their food products. Stand up! Let them know we won't allow it. Let's make Pepsi an example.
Sources: Natural News, Top Class Action, Pepsi and Fetal Cells, NY Times, Prevention.com, Organic Consumer Association, Haverzine. Cancer.gov American Cancer Society, ResearchStudy, Research Study
Let me just say ,YOU'RE AWESOME! AS a fellow nurse I share your passion for health. However, I've been so ignorant and naïve toward ingredients in foods we eat everyday! Your blog is a great eye opener. I'm behind you 100%!
ReplyDeleteThank you!! What you've shared really means a lot to me! I'm so happy that you found the information useful! And, I think, the nursing education often ignores a lot of what preventive health can really do and what that really means. It's really something people want and you can be a big part of it! It's pretty exciting stuff :) Thank you again for your support!
DeleteIve actually been drinking naked since the beginning if this year what you've posted has me very concerned with my health and even more so my children because I often share them with my children
ReplyDeleteCarolyn jasper @ shellyjasper mylifeismyblessing on facebook
It is so concerning what a lot of these big companies are putting in their products!! I was appalled when I read so many articles about what Naked (Pepsi) had done and how they were trying to PR themselves out of it. But it really is everywhere until there are better legal guidelines. You can write you government official and ask for better laws to protect you and your children!
DeleteThis is crazy! I just tried naked for the first time and my head and chest started hurting and my friend told me to stop drinking it because it made him sick. That is what prompted me to look on the website to see if there has been any notification of side effects of drinking this and I came across this information. I have shared with everyone at work. Thank you
ReplyDeleteWow! I'm so sorry that happened to you and your friend! There hasn't been a lot of publicity about the problems with Naked Juice which is just crazy because it's been proven in court! It's a shame because what happened to you could have easily been prevented! You should definitely sign up for the monetary compensation from Naked Co. for your illness at www.NakedJuiceClass.com. I hope you're feeling better now!
DeleteThis is the most uneducated link I've seen regarding this topic - I'm glad you only have 13 people visit the site everyday because it's terrible when the blind lead the blind. You simply copied and pasted what 100 other sites have and added that "I don't know about you, but that makes me mad!".
ReplyDeleteI'm truly sorry to hear that your local store didn't burn all Naked products they have in inventory because you claimed they should - how foolish of them. Do they not have any clue as to who you are??? Blasphemous!!!!
I still have yet to see an unnatural ingredient in any of these fantastic sentences you poorly pieced together. I've spent years working on the R&D side of many packaged goods companies and the amount of testing and certificating is insane. The labeling laws are very open indeed...but that simply impacts that body copy on the label (text) - not what goes inside of it.
Maybe I missed it...but I'm assuming I did not. Please show me what ingredients are unnatural instead of going on a conspiracy theory rant...
Hopefully your poor readers have their own opinions...
I debated deleting your comment because you're rude and that's my rule, but I'll let it slide so I can make a point. First, if you insult me or my readers again I will delete your comments. My readers do have wonderful minds. We have RESPECTFUL conversations about all sorts of topics. Please don't insult them. Don't insult me either or my intelligence-- I suppose your an adult so you can ask nicely about things.
DeleteOur definition of "natural" is obviously different. I don't consider "calcium pantothenate (synthetically produced from formaldehyde)" and "Fibersol-2 (a proprietary synthetic digestion-resistant fiber produced by Archer Daniels Midland and developed by a Japanese chemical company)" natural. Ca-Pantothenate and Fibersol-2 are part of the FDA's "GRAS" ingredients (generally considered as safe). That doesn't sound like A TON of testing has actually been done if you know anything about GRAS. It's based the idea of safety on experience with foods that people eat a significant amount. Since 1997 GRAS hasn't required testing, so they aren't even regulated by the FDA. If you say that GRAS is safe, then why did BVO and partially hydrogenated oil get taken off the list? All 700 of the GRAS items should be tested. There are so many food additives allowed in the US that are banned in other countries like food coloring, azodicarbonamide, olestra, rGBH and rBST. If you look at their research, then you have to wonder why we still allow it in our diets.
Back to Naked-- in some of their juices they have soy, which the majority is GMO (round-up ready crop). That's not natural and there is research coming out about the harmfulness of GMO soy-- it's been linked to sterility, birth defects, infant deaths, organ disruption.. and so on.
And then there are using synthetic equivalents of vitamins when it claims to be all natural and from fruits. It's deceptive and you can't trust someone who is outright lying to you. I suppose that they inject vitamins into the drink because the destroy the real vitamins through pasteurizing and irradiation. I'd like to see the bioavailablity of the vitamins in Naked. It's a processed beverage and it doesn't use organic or non-GMO ingredients-- if they did, they don't bother telling us so it's unlikely.
My readers and myself are looking for a NATURAL way of life that doesn't include chemicals and synthetic ingredients. Perhaps you believe that it doesn't matter that labeling laws are very open, but it completely does impact what can go into our foods (like GMO corn and soy, antibiotics, synthetic ingredients) and the types of sugars that are used.
What is natural about Naked is the 60g of fructose via the fruit. Even if you wanted to just talk about that on the basis of safety then Naked loses-- it's to safe. The recommend daily intake of sugar is about half of one bottle of Naked Juice. It's basically sugar water with some synthetic ingredients and a few vitamins and it markets itself as a healthy alternative and it's NOT. People think it's a great way to lose weight and it's the opposite! It will help you gain weight.
So if you think naked is 100% safe, then good for you as long as you're educated about what you're doing. Education and questioning the norms of are important because if people never did there would never be any change. Our food laws need to change. We need GMO-labeling and we need manufacturers to stop using so much sugar. We need honest labels and we have the right to know what we're consuming. Naked has failed us and there isn't much it can do to regain my trust, but I do have beef with Pepsi and their Pro-Monstanto movement. If it's so safe, they shouldn't care about labeling. However, I will concede that my standards for "safety" are a bit higher than most peoples, including the FDA.
great Information Thanks!!!
Deletecalcium pantothenate is vitamin b5.
Deleteformaldehyde is used in a ton of different organic synthesis reactions because it's highly reactive. Once it reacts with something, it loses everything about it that made it carcinogenic (aka reactive) in the first place. Molecules derive their effects from their shape and from the order in which the bonds are connected--there's no magical "bad-ness" that carries through.
We can and should have discussions about what "all natural" and other labels mean, but please do your readers a favor by checking with someone who understands chemistry before making claims or throwing chemicals out there as "bad".
I am aware that it B5, but the point is that Naked has been so highly processed that it lost it's nutritional value and has to be supplemented with synthetic vitamins. In this case it was made made due to reactions with formaldehyde. Plant based vitamins are better absorbed by the body than synthetic ones so it would stand to reason, that something that is actually natural would be better than something processes and fortified.
DeleteNaked should have disclosed that information. I feel like what they did was deceitful and I agree that the labeling laws do need to be looked at.
You are correct that I am not a chemist, but I do have some basic understanding of chemistry. Correct me if I'm wrong but although formaldehyde is highly reactive, it is mostly bound when consumed and therefore that bound portion will exit the body. However, there are some unbound particles which can cause a problem if consumed in high amounts. But it is used in foods and cosmetics enough that we are exposed to quite a bit of formaldehyde by-products. My concern is since it's being used so frequently and in so many products-- could it cause problem? There really aren't any studies to address that from what I know. If you have studies, I'd love to see them.
There is a reason why the European Union has banded formaldehyde even for livestock. Based on how many food items the FDA still has approved, I'm fair more likely to side with the EU and be cautious than to eat something until I know for 100% that it's going to give me cancer.
If I'm wrong-- please correct me, but could you send me research documentation to support what you're saying?
I know more about formaldehyde in vaccines because I'm allergic to formaldehyde-- I get dermatitis and asthma symptoms when I come in contact with it. But this is more about the ethics of the company and how they are trying to pass a product to a group of people by labeling it something that it isn't. I don't really think that can be disputed. Pepsi has a history of using cheap products, to lower production costs and to increase profits. I don't exactly trust them to keep the consumers health and safety in mind.
omg thank you poster!!!!! because this author is an idiot, yes they did false advertising, okay you should be mad at that, but don't write that it can cause cancer!!!! Hec,k no one till this day knows exactly how cancer is generated, and second learn some chemistry before going on tangent. Like the poster said yes they use the break down version of formaldehyde, but all you read/see is the world "formaldehyde" and then you went to wikipedia like all the other websites and saw poison....seriously if you are going to write about the chemical influence of something, take some courses and get a scientific published paper before making many believe false data. Idiot.
DeleteYou shouldn't call people idiots without looking at the facts and making assumptions.
DeleteThe American CANCER Association (which I would assume is a better cancer authority than you are) stated "It has been estimated that as much as one-third of all cancer deaths in the US are related to diet and activity factors." So, yes, cancer can be caused by what we put into your bodies which has been proven.
Cancer.gov says, "Although the short-term health effects of formaldehyde exposure are well known, less is known about its potential long-term health effects. In 1980, laboratory studies showed that exposure to formaldehyde could cause cancer in rats. This finding raised the question of whether formaldehyde exposure could also cause cancer in humans. In 1987, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classified formaldehyde as a probable human carcinogen".
You want a scientific study. I'll give you three that state formaldehyde has some cancer-causing properties:
1) "Health protective actions on many economically important yet carcinogenic chemicals, including: arsenic, asbestos, benzene, 1,3-butadiene, formaldehyde, methylene chloride, phthalates, tobacco usage, trichloroethylene [TCE], and others." (Melnicl, Ward, Huff, 2013)
2) "Formaldehyde, a known carcinogen that disrupts miRNA expression profiles" (Rager) "
3) Formaldehyde (FA), a ubiquitous environmental contaminant, has been classified as a carcinogen to humans. Although it is known that immune cells are sensitive to FA, so far little is known about how it's affecting the activity of human NK cells. It is concluded that human NK cell is sensitive to FA, 800 μM may be a critical concentration of FA inhibiting the activity of human NK cell. (Li, Mei, Huyan, Xie, Che, Yang, Zhang, Huang., 2013)
Some advice: If you're going to call someone an idiot then you should probably research the topic you're talking about BEFORE you make some claims. If my information is wrong, then I'd like to be shown why-- not insulted with assumption about what kind of dirt bag I am.
I am a nurse so I do have a science background with some chemistry knowledge and I am getting a master's degree. I'm not just some uneducated bimbo who is writing things without looking for information. I respect my readers and I want them to live healthier lives. I wouldn't feed them some propaganda that I didn't research and that I didn't' believe in.
I will block you if you post a disrespectful comment again regardless of how scientific your information happens to be.
"Anonymous February 26" is totally ignorant. I am convinced that this person is an employee of either the Naked Juice company or Pepsico. Great article that people should be aware of. Keep up the GOOD work!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the support, Lin! I appreciate it! :)
DeleteI hope you've watched the documentary "Food Inc." because it's very enlightening as well as the book "Fast Food Nation". It touches on how one company (ahem PEPSI) can actually be the owner of many major food products. Subsiding is everything to these major food companies. Anyways, I'm curious if Bolthouse farms fruit smoothies are containing the same ingredients as Naked. A long time ago I did drink naked (I thought it was healthy) and switched to Bolthouse because it was cheaper and the ingredients were better. Man I hope they aren't! The US is so screwy with the mislabeling and being sooo behind with natural ingredients and just natural hormone-free and non-gmo crap it's insane. So much for being the best country ever. (It isn't to me!) But that's my rant! The alternative would be to make your own fruit juices with a juicer but we can't even trust that our fruits and vegetables are safe anymore. Even if we grow them ourselves we run a risk sometimes. I would love to know what juices you buy at the grocery store (if any) because there's got to be an alternative! Oh and I hate that PEPSI owns majority of the products I love! At least they don't own a wine company, right? haha
ReplyDeleteShelby I LOVED Food INC! Soooo good!! I'm definitely going to have to get "Fast Food Nation". It sounds great! I love that stuff like that! Thanks for the recommendation.
DeleteI did the same thing, Shelby. I bought Bolthouse Farms for a while and I really don't know if they practice the same tactics as Naked or if they are better. However, I stopped using them when I found out they were being bought in 2012 by Campbell. I just typically don't trust any of those major food corps, but that's my paranoia!
And you're always welcome to rant on my website! :) America definitely has room for improvement that's for sure! It's crazy how many chemicals we are exposed to every day. I read an article that average American women are exposed to over 100 chemicals in just their morning routines! It makes me wonder about our high rates of cancer and other disease.
Have you looked into any local co-ops, Shelby? I found a great farm to table supply who delivers organic food to my house every week. Farmer's Markets often are cheaper than produce at the grocery stores, too (at least where I live). If they aren't, then you can always go later in the day and you can usually talk them down! {wink}
I make my own smoothies and I really like doing it! I will use organic fruit and veggies (both fresh and frozen) and it's great because it's a lot simpler than I thought it would be. I should probably post smoothie recipes. Hmmm..
And by the way, I'm having a vitamix giveaway starting on April 10-- so you should definitely sign up! It comes with some great organic juice mixes that contain over 20+ servings of fruits and veggies with lots and lots of antioxidants. It's a really cool product and it would be perfect to make smoothies! :)
Hahaha-- OMG-- I just read that last part! WINE!! hahahaha!!! Nope, we are SAFE!! Thank God!!!