It’s Because He Can’t Handle the Zero Calorie AWESOMENESS, That’s Why
Posted on June 11, 2009 Posted by John Scalzi 41 Comments
Yes, I know about Hugo Chavez banning Coke Zero from Venezuela. You can stop sending me the urgent e-mails and tweets, thanks. No, I can’t hazard a guess why, aside from the rather dubious contention that it contains some form of a harmful ingredient. I think we’ve already well established that President Chavez has more than his share of loopy in any event, and it’s not as if Venezuela was on my list of places to visit, anyway. Not that I plan my visits with an eye toward cola availability, mind you. That said, when New Zealand stopped making Raspberry Coke, let’s just say my fervor to visit that particular island country cooled a tick. I will speak no more about that.
Not that I plan my visits with an eye toward cola availability, mind you
My sister spent an entire vacation in London searching for iced tea……..
You realize that Venezuela has a thriving cattle and pork industry? That’s right, beef and bacon. Now, tell me again about your reluctance to visit that Mecca of meat lovers everywhere? I thought as much.
Now I have to go there and try to smuggle in Coke Zero. Being arrested for that would give me the greatest criminal record EVER.
Have you ever tried Torani’s sugar-free raspberry syrup? That plus Coke Zero could result in a tasty beverage.
I may have to try that.
Ok, so he bans Coke Zero, that’s weird. What I don’t get is why people are writing to you about this. Are you some sort of Coke Zero expert?
(I know you have a love for bacon, dare I say fetish?)
I am famously a fan of Coke Zero.
New Zealand does however retail Coke Zero.
While New Zealand may no longer have Raspberry Coke (and I’m not sure that’s a bad thing), Coke Zero is gloriously plentiful in even the most remote places there. The wonderful Cherry Coke Zero, alas, is MIA.
Perhaps it has something to do with this:
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/06/coke_is_for_creationist_cretin.php
Chavez: From this day forth, no Coke Zero.
Dude: @&$#, man! There’s a beverage here!
I’d vote for him if he continues to ban cola beverages! I hate the stuff, and, what’s worse, I can smell it on a Coke drinker’s breath.
Better not sit near me, then.
This is just crying out for Hugo Chavez / Coke Zero on a warm private beach one night slash fanfic.
Or maybe not. *shiver* Someone will probably write it now that I’ve imagined it. Whose law was that again?
*shrug* More New Zealand for me then.
The way I feel about Hugo Chavez, if he bans something that is just another reason to drink it.
Not that I need another reason to drink Coke Zero. Its glorious taste is all the reason I need.
@John – you’re all the way over in the US, you can drink what you like. It’s my girlfriend that drinks Evil Imperialist Cola and breathes on me.
@George William Herbert – Rule 34.
I’m sure if you wrote him and asked nicely he’d go on TV and explain it for six or seven hours.
John:
Please come to New Zealand — if you really want to drink something unfit for human consumption, you don’t need Raspberry Coke. We have millions upon millions of sheep that can supply all the warm urine your heart desires. (Don’t ask.) Or all the ambrosial Coke Zero you can handle.
Your call.
Yeah, what Craig Ranapia said. We down here could use some Scalz-ocity to brighten our winter. And we have plenty of Coke Zero!
Someone bring back Vanilla Coke
Man, I’ve been lurking for 5 minutes already and not a single aspartame “truther” has shown up to make fun of… Dissapointing.
I want raspberry coke in the UK!!! We have diet, lemon, cherry, regular and zero and possibly vanilla though I haven’t seen it in a while. It appears we are missing out on something good!
My sister spent an entire vacation in London searching for iced tea…
Which is rather surprising, given that London could have supplied her with ample quantities of a) tea and b) ice.
Maybe he just doesn’t like it. My husband’s place of employment has banned microwave popcorn. Not because it might burn and stink up the place, but because the normal tasty smell is actually disgusting to one of the VPs. I don’t think that man is human. And I bet he doesn’t go to the movies very much.
I’m not a fan of the popcorn smell, either, but mostly I wish my place of employment would ban microwaving anything fish-related.
Do we need a canonical Coke Zero page now?
Chavez is also the one who famously said about his opposition, “They call me a fascist. Well, I say it is THEY who are the fascists!”
Your Jay & Silent Bob moment for the day.
aj@24,
Yes, but they don’t combine them. Plus, when you ask, they look at you like you just ordered brains pizza.
Funny thing about the asparitame folks- their ire (or glee!) would be totally misplaced here as Coke Zero is sweetened with sucralose, this being the exact difference between Diet Coke and Coke Zero.
Not that that will stop them- just look at the comments in the linked story.
Aspartame and Sucralose both give me headaches if I consume them in significant quantities, probably because of my massive number of food allergies (it could be the caffiene too). Drinking diet cola of any stripe is generally straight out.
I really wish coke would drop a sugar-sweetened cola on the market that didn’t cost $20 a case at costco.
Coke Zero in Venezuela is sweetened with cyclamate, which is suspected to reduce testosterone production, along with several other negative male reproductive impacts.
Well if that’s the reason Venezuela banned it, that seems perfectly reasonable to me- but what’s weird is that they apparently have not provided any rationale or justification whatsoever.
How hard is it to say, “We have concerns about this ingredient and are pulling this product while those concerns are addressed” or similar?
The obvious follow-up question would be, are there other products available in Venezuela containing cyclamate (likely) and are they also banned (doesn’t sound like it)?
The whole thing is just odd, but then Chavez is a pretty odd guy.
@#30 Coke that is Kosher for Passover is made with sugar, so are all such soft drinks.
Around New York, and I suspect all large US cities you can get it for about 6 weeks at no difference in price. Finding soft drinks that do a Kosher for Passover variation usually don’t produce the corn-syrup one at the same time.
I use it to remove rust when nothing else is availiable. What does that say about drinking it? Battery acid.
Dude. Any time I go to a restaurant and see Coke Zero on tap I do a little squee! and the boyfriend confesses once again his love for my weirdness.
Coke Zero in a bottle is my drink of choice at work. Coke Zero on tap is like ZOMG YES.
The Other Keith @32 — Nope. Coke Zero does have aspartame; however, there is a variant of Diet Coke that uses sucralose.
Other Ben @22 — I’m not an aspartame “truther;” I don’t subscribe to conspiracy theories about the stuff. I can tell you, though, that there are people out there who have weird reactions to it — my husband is one of them. It’s not psychosomatic, either; there’ve been several instances where he inadvertantly ate some and started wondering why he was feeling ill until he looked at the ingredients. But it seems safe for most people.
ntsc @ 33: I’ve never seen any in the SF Bay Area, though I do note that the supermarkets near my home now carry gluten-free kosher cakes around passover, which is glorious and amazing and I only wish that they had more of this stuff available year-round. I will have to see where I can pick up this kosher-for-passover coke when the holiday comes around again, though!
Not that I blame you, as the original article also talked about Chavez banning Coke Zero, but if the FDA banned some imported Venezuelan drink, would you talk about how Obama didn’t like it?
Martin @ 38:
Of course not! This only applies when the news refer to a so called (by some Americans) banana republic.
And John, I find excellent you don’t want to come over here, we Venezuelans much prefer nice people visiting us.
Sorry, but I have it on good report that Coke Zero tastes vaguely like unwashed ass. Report, that is, as I have tasted Coke Zero but have not, in fact, partaken of unwashed ass. Because even I have standards, and those standards say that Diet Coke doesn’t suck so bad after all.
If I must have Coke Zero–and I mustn’t–I’ll drink it like I used to drink Budweiser on rare occasion: very cold, to numb my tongue, and very fast.
See? Chavez isn’t *that* crazy.
And? Coke Zero is NOT sweetened with sucralose. If anyone has any question about this, email me. I’ll go get one out of the machine down in my apartment building’s laundry room and photograph it for you.
Had it been sweetened with sucralose, it would taste much less like unwashed ass. Alas…