cookiesinheaven

The Coca-Cola Co. is looking to bolster its tea business and is considering acquisitions to improve its position, reports Reuters.
"Tea is a priority area," Chief Executive Neville Isdell told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum. "Tea is one area where we've seen our performance has not been as good as we would like it to be."

He declined to confirm or deny recent reports that Coca-Cola might buy or make an investment in Honest Beverages, the privately held maker of Honest Tea. "The honest answer is we look at everything, and when we decide that we are going to do something, we will let you know," Isdell said. - Gourmet Retailer

Tens of thousands of people all across India are challenging Coca-Cola for its abuse of water resources. Coca-Cola bottling plants have dramatically affected both the quantity and quality of groundwater resources as a result of its operations, making access to water by communities even more difficult.

The company regularly extracts up to one million liters of water per day in some areas in India. The result has been sharp drops in groundwater levels, resulting in severe water shortages for tens of thousands of people.

Coca-Cola's water use ratio in India is 4 to 1 - that is, 75% of the freshwater it extracts is turned into wastewater. The company has indiscriminately discharged its wastewater into the surrounding fields, severely polluting the scarce remaining groundwater as well as soil. - Common Dreams

Labels: coca cola, Organic, tea

Fans of a throwback Coca-Cola recipe can thank Jewish dietary laws for the drink’s reappearance on supermarket shelves.

Kosher Coca-Cola - which is sweetened with sugar rather than corn syrup - is selling briskly at local grocery chains as Passover approaches.

The Atlanta-based soft drink company replaced sugar with corn syrup in 1985, and some fans say Coke hasn’t tasted the same since.

‘‘One can only imagine the nostalgia of having the product in its original formula,’’ said Harriet Tolve, spokeswoman for Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Elmsford, N.Y. ‘‘Sugar is the most classic taste.’’

The bottler manufactures about 200,000 cases of Kosher Coke each March, including 20,000 cases that are shipped to grocers in Eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island, Tolve said.

..Under Jewish dietary laws, consumption of corn syrup is forbidden during Passover, which begins on April 2 this year and ends on April 10.

Dietary laws prohibit consumption of food containing wheat, oats, barley, rye or spelt grains if they come in contact with moisture for more than 18 minutes. The prohibition has since expanded to grain-like products including corn, said Rabbi Loel Weiss at Temple Beth Am in Randolph. - Patriot Ledger

Labels: coca cola, kosher, soda