Posted on: Saturday, October 16, 2004

Coke, Pepsi simplify counting of calories

Associated Press

ATLANTA — No more having to do the math to figure out exactly how many calories and carbs are in that 20-ounce bottle of soda. New nutritional information on labels of Coca-Cola, Pepsi and other popular soft drinks will soon break it down for you.

Coca-Cola Co.'s North America division and PepsiCo Inc.'s Pepsi-Cola division made separate announcements yesterday that starting next year, they will roll out new labels on bottles that will show nutritional information for the entire container as well as the traditional 8-ounce serving. The bottles, no matter how large, now only show that information for 8 ounces.

The new labels will appear on all of the two soft drink giants' products.

The move meets a recommendation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for food and beverage companies to revise Nutrition Facts labeling for packages that can be consumed at one time, such as a 20-ounce bottle of Coca-Cola or Pepsi.

As bottlers use up existing inventories of bottle labels in 2005, the new ones will be phased in throughout the country, both companies said.

Nutritional labels include information on calories, fat, sodium, carbohydrates, sugars and protein. Currently, in accordance with FDA regulations, Coca-Cola and Pepsi's labels carry nutrition information for an 8-ounce serving and indicate the total number of servings per package.