Green-tea based soft drink marketed to burn calories

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State Probes Coke-Nestlé Drink Claims

By BETSY MCKAY

The Wall Street Journal

February 6, 2007; Page B15

Connecticut's attorney general has launched an investigation into claims by

Coca-Cola Co. and Nestlé SA that a new green-tea-based soft drink they are

marketing

burns calories, saying he is concerned the assertion may be misleading and based

on " voodoo nutrition. "

The drink, called Enviga and bearing the slogan " The Calorie Burner " on

its 12-ounce can, is hitting stores across the nation this week, after first

appearing

in selected Northeast markets in November. Coke and Nestlé, which developed the

drink together, say Enviga can help consumers burn calories through a

combination

of caffeine and a green-tea extract called epigallocatechin gallate, both of

which

stimulate metabolism. Drinking three 12-ounce cans of Enviga over a 24-hour

period

can prompt a healthy person of normal weight to burn about 60 to 100 calories

more

than they normally would, the companies say.

In an interview, Blumenthal, Connecticut's attorney general, said he

is concerned the calorie-burning claims imply to people that the soda can help

them

lose weight. " Anybody claiming that a product burns calories is [by implication]

talking about weight loss or control, " he said. " We want credible scientific

evidence that it causes calorie-burning in a representative sample of the

general

population over a sustained period of time. " Mr. Blumenthal has asked Coke,

Nestlé, and their venture, Beverage Partners Worldwide, to submit copies of

scientific

work backing the calorie-burning claims by next week.

Mr. Blumenthal's investigation follows a lawsuit filed Feb. 1 by the Center

for Science in the Public Interest against Coca-Cola, Nestlé, and their venture

in federal court in New Jersey, alleging that the companies and their venture

made

the calorie-burning claims without substantiating them.

A Coke spokesman said the venture stands behind its science. " We have been

clear that Enviga is not positioned as a weight-loss product, but is designed to

complement, not replace, regular exercise, a sensible diet, and other healthy

choices

you make throughout the day, " he said.