Did this news precede the allegation that both Pepsi and Coca-cola (at least in India) contained pesticide in their drink?<p>I remember there was a huge uproar when that news broke and both companies had to invest heavily into PR campaign (involving several movie mega-stars) to play it down.<p>Update: Looks like it is. The Pepsi/Coke pesticide brouhaha took place in 2006.<p><a href="http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2006-08-09/india-pesticide-claims-shake-up-coke-and-pepsi" rel="nofollow">http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2006-08-09/india-pestici...</a><p><a href="http://www.occupymonsanto360.org/2013/03/06/india-press-report-coke-pepsi-are-loaded-with-pesticide-residues/" rel="nofollow">http://www.occupymonsanto360.org/2013/03/06/india-press-repo...</a><p>Update #2: News of Pepsi/Coke being used in lieu of pesticides is also making the rounds...<p><a href="http://consciouslifenews.com/coke-pepsi-being-pesticides-india/1145862/" rel="nofollow">http://consciouslifenews.com/coke-pepsi-being-pesticides-ind...</a>
Tip to those farmers: you can now sell your products as organic food, at a higher price.<p>The article is quite misleading, though. Sugar isn't used as a pesticide. It's a way to control the ecosystem, like introducing a new species to prey on another. Coke doesn't directly kill the insects (as far as we know).
This seems very reasonable to me, because this is how the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gr%C4%81pple" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gr%C4%81pple</a> was accidentally discovered. Birds don't like the taste of artificial grape flavoring.<p>If you're looking for an interesting, but light read, I'd highly recommend <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fruit-Hunters-Adventure-Commerce-Obsession/dp/B002ECEG8O" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Fruit-Hunters-Adventure-Commerce-Obses...</a>
It would be very interesting to try sugared water vs cola vs pesticides - scientifically. It should be some public-funded research though, as no private company could benefit from this study (unless it is to disprove that sugar works).
Three IMHO relevant things:
a) High phosphoric acid content in the Coke
b) Importance of phosphorus in a organic life: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphorus#Biological_role" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphorus#Biological_role</a>
c) "Phosphorus is a scarce finite resource on earth" && "recycling" -> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_phosphorus" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_phosphorus</a>
Well if that really works, then Indian farmers have done a good hack at pest control. But how that excess sugar affect soil, plantation and local ecology than those other pesticides, should be further studied.
<i>Unsurprisingly, Pepsi and Coca-Cola strongly disagree, saying there is nothing in the drinks that can be used in pest control.</i><p>Coming soon: You drink Coke? Are you nuts? It's so toxic, they use it as a pesticide.