FDA issues urgent recall on Coca-Cola after disturbing discovery found in nearly 900 cases — here's what it found
Hundreds of cases of Coca-Cola Original Taste aren't living up to the billing because customers have reported that they found plastic inside of some cans, according to Newsweek.
The recall, initiated March 6, impacts 864 separate 12-packs in Illinois and Wisconsin with a date code of "SEP2925MDA." The Food and Drug Administration listed it as a Class II recall. That means that exposure to the beverage could cause "temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences," per Newsweek.
"We are taking this voluntary action because nothing is more important to us than providing high-quality products to the people who drink our beverages," a Coca-Cola spokesperson told the publication.
Consuming plastic is one way the troublesome and prolific substances are entering the body in smaller forms called microplastics, as noted by Harvard Medicine. Experts are studying how the particles are harming humans, including possible inflammation and kidney damage.
The news is part of a mixed bag of headlines for Coca-Cola. In India, the well-known brand pushed recycling's importance by giving out thousands of jackets made with reused bottles. Other reports highlighted a cleaner solar energy project at an Indian production site.
On the other hand, the company has been criticized for using loads of water in drought-hit Mexico during a time when residents were struggling to find clean H2O, HipLatina reported. Coca-Cola is also no stranger to plastic waste, often referred to as the company responsible for the most plastic pollution in the world. And this isn't its first safety recall, either.
For the brand's part, 1.9 billion servings are produced daily. At that scale, it's tough to avoid recalls entirely. And it's something that happens for a wide range of products (even clams), for a variety of reasons.
Scientific American listed some of the more troubling ones as of 2017. In 2011, lead was found in bubblegum. In 2017, a dead bat turned up in a packaged salad. Plastic contamination was on the list a couple of times for various products.
That's likely why about 81% of respondents surveyed late last year by CivicScience were at least "somewhat" concerned about recalls after a recent spree of them.
Supporting brands that use plastic-free packaging is a great way to encourage planet-friendly manufacturing. And avoiding single-use products is another way to help. A reusable water bottle, for example, can save you hundreds of bucks annually while providing a better experience.
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What's more, experts are learning that eating more fruits and veggies can help to negate some of the harm microplastics can cause in our bodies.
The government also has a couple of sites that provide updates on products to avoid.
For reference, the recall number on the Coca-Cola concern is "F-0664-2025." The production time stamps are between 11:00 and 12:53. Impacted packs have a single-can UPC of "0 49000-00634 6" and a 12-pack UPC of "0 49000-02890 4," according to Newsweek.
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While lawmakers continue debating the divisive legislation, experts have discussed with Newsweek whether there could be another way of reducing Medicaid costs—tackling substance use disorders. Medicaid enrollees with substance use disorders require significantly higher health costs than those without—around $1,200 per month on average compared to $550, according to KFF. Around 7.2 percent of Medicaid recipients age 12 to 64 have a diagnosed substance use disorder, and treatment is key to addressing overdoses, deaths and other health or social complications, KFF reported. So could tackling substance use disorders in turn reduce costs for the Medicaid program? Here's what experts told Newsweek. Photo-illustration by Newsweek/Getty/Canva Why Are Medicaid Costs Higher for Those With Substance Use Disorders? 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However, she added that "it could certainly improve the health of enrollees, which might result in Medicaid savings down the road." If patients also have access to high-quality treatment and are able to manage their condition, "they have a lower reliance on high-cost health care such as emergency visits and inpatient hospitalizations," Lynch said. He added that other comorbidities also become more manageable, while housing stability and employment turn more achievable. "All of these will lead to a decrease in overall Medicaid spending," he said. Kelly also said he thought that tackling substance use disorders could reduce costs for Medicaid, adding that "focus on earlier intervention, and better implementation of care coordination will result in reduced use of more expensive acute medical care services, as well as prevention of the contraction of more chronic disease such as alcohol-associated liver diseases, HIV and hepatitis infections." "I am very confident that it would help to prevent some long-term costs to the program and would have a huge impact on other non-health needs like employment and reduced incarceration," Saloner said. But he added that whether it fully pays for itself, or saves money, is a more difficult question to answer. "We have some older studies showing that substance use care can offset lots of costs to society, but purely from the perspective of the Medicaid budget it's hard to say. The quality of life gains make it very cost-effective, whether or not it's cost saving," he said. Carrie Fry, professor in the department of health policy at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Tennessee, told Newsweek: "Research shows that addressing substance use disorder with effective, evidence-based treatments reduces Medicaid costs." In order to cut Medicaid costs, Fry said, making it easier for people with substance use disorders "to start and remain on effective treatment" would be an important step in the process. "For opioid use disorder, this means expanding availability of medications for opioid use disorder including methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone," she said. She added that only about half of Medicaid enrollees with an opioid use disorder receive evidence-based treatment in a given year. "So, treatment is an important first step to addressing the burden of substance use disorders in Medicaid and can reduce or prevent additional downstream costs," Fry said. She added that reducing the prevalence of substance use disorder via prevention will "require a more comprehensive approach to addressing broader social conditions that lead to increased risk of developing a substance use disorder."
