Study Links Coke, Pepsi to Pancreatic Cancer

Posted February 8th, 2010 by theStockMasters in Financial News

We reprint this article because this report confirms numerous other studies. Note, it is not attacking "diet" cokes, but, cokes that are sweetened with sugars derived from corn. So, consider this, in spite of loud and well financed protests from Coke and Pepsi, studies do show that these drinks have a link to pancreatic cancer.

According to WebMD today, a new study finds that drinking as little as two soft drinks a week appears to nearly double the risk of getting pancreatic cancer. Will the study have any affect on PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) or Coca-Cola ( NASDAQ:COKE) shares?

Why the link with sugary sodas? Mueller says they are not certain. "What we believe is the sugar in the soft drinks is increasing the insulin level in the body, which we think contributes to pancreatic cancer cell growth. That increase in insulin is what may be leading to the development of the cancer."

As you would expect, the beverage industry protested the results. ''The study has a lot of weaknesses in it," Richard Adamson, PhD, scientific consultant for the American Beverage Association in Washington, D.C., said.

One example, he says, are the small numbers of pancreatic cancer cases. He points out that of the 140 cases, 110 of those people did not drink sodas, while 12 had less than two servings a week, and 18 had two or more servings a week.

''It has a small number of pancreatic cancer cases compared to the population studied," he tells WebMD.

Other studies have found no link, he tells WebMD.

But in truth a long pattern of medical studies have suggested negative health effects from Coke and Pepsi. These have ranged to various forms of cancer to obesity and diabetes.

Also as expected, industry groups tried to discredit the medical study. In a statement attributed to Adamson, the American Beverage Association pointed to a 2008 study finding no such link. Typical business practices in the USA, are to hire, encourage, cite or finance studies to offset negative research. This provides "coverage" in the case of legal suits.

Susan Mayne, PhD, associate director of the Yale Cancer Center and professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health, called the study results ''intriguing" in a statement but cautioned that the study finding was based on a relatively small number of cases and does not prove cause and effect. She is an editorial board member of the journal. The study was funded by the National Cancer Institute.

THE STUDY CONFIRMS OTHER STUDIES. FINDINGS SHOW A RELATIONSHIP OF ADDED SUGARS IN THE DIET AND PANCREATIC CANCER RISK. "FINDINGS AND THOSE OF THE PRESENT DAY STUDY ARE QUITE CONSISTENT" Dr. Laurence Kolonel, Cancer Research Center, U of Hawaii

Even though the new study has limitations, the findings do echo those of previous studies, says Laurence N. Kolonel, MD, PhD, a researcher at the Cancer Research Center and professor of public health at the University of Hawaii, Honolulu. With his colleagues, he evaluated the association between added sugars in the diet and pancreatic cancer risk, publishing the findings in 2007. “In our study, we found a positive association between high intake of fructose and pancreatic cancer,” he tells WebMD. “Since high-fructose corn syrup is the main sweetener in non-diet soft drinks, our findings and those of the present study are quite consistent.”