After years of standing behind the ingredient, Coke and Pepsi have both announced plans to remove brominated vegetable oil (BVO) from their flavored drinks amid a growing chorus of complaints from consumers.

As we’ve previously noted on this site, BVO is a known endocrine disruptor and has been banned as a food product throughout Europe and Japan. The soda makers have been using it as an emulsifier to prevent their artificial flavors from floating to the top of their drinks. Naturally-flavored, Syfo Beverages do not and have never contained brominated vegetable oil or other additives.

As this article from the USA Today points out, Pepsi and Coke were forced to take this step by the growing awareness of consumers of what they eat and drink. More and more people are reading product labels to determine which food and beverages are truly healthy for them.

You can learn more about Syfo’s healthy beverages on this page and be sure to check out our Health Tips section for helpful information on a variety of health and dietary issues.  Have questions on our products and what makes them healthy?  Use this feedback form and we’ll get you the answers.

The month of May has been designated by the medical and dietary communities as Celiac Awareness Month. Celiac disease is an immune reaction related to eating gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye. The disease is four times more common now than it was 60 years ago and affects approximately 3 million Americans. The growing incidence of the disease has caused the Mayo Clinic to consider Celiac disease a public health epidemic.

Even people without sensitivity to gluten are choosing gluten-free diets for other reasons. The Mintel New Products Database reports that 65 percent of consumers who eat gluten-free foods do so because they think they are healthier and 27 percent eat them because they feel they aid in their weight-loss efforts.

Growing concern about gluten in our diet has spurred many food and beverage companies to offer gluten-free products. Nearly 600 gluten-free beverage products, both alcohol and non-alcohol, were launched in the past year according to the Mintel.

Syfo Beverages have always been gluten-free and no gluten is used in the manufacturing process. Syfo Original Seltzer and Syfo Naturally Flavored Sparkling Waters contain no sugar, sodium, artificial sweeteners, preservatives or other additives. Made from purified water, Syfo is just delicious, healthy pure refreshment.

You can learn more about Celiac Awareness month and gluten-free beverages in this article.

With all the beverage varieties available at your local grocery store, it can be a little bewildering shopping for sparkling water. Part of the confusion is that the most common terms — enhanced, flavored, sparkling — are sometimes used interchangeably or in combination with each other. So we thought we would try to clear up some of the confusion.

Enhanced water— Enhanced water is sometimes used to describe any bottled water that has something added to it to improve taste or add nutrients. This can include natural or artificial flavors, carbonation, vitamins, minerals, caffeine or other additives. Most commonly, enhanced water is generally flat water that has vitamins, minerals, flavorings and other ingredients added to it. Many times these waters are marketed as sports, performance or energy drinks.

Flavored water — Flavored water is drinking water that has flavor added to it to provide taste. Flavors can be natural or artificial and the water can be carbonated or non-carbonated.  Some flavored waters are purified through a filtering process and some are not. As we’ve mentioned, enhanced water has had flavor added to it as well so if you are looking for flavor and not the additives be sure to read the label.

Sparking water — Sparkling water is water that has carbonation in it either from a spring or artesian well that has absorbed carbon dioxide at high pressure underground. It can also be made by adding carbon dioxide (which is a liquid at very low temperatures) to water. As it warms up, the liquid carbon dioxide becomes a gas and creates the bubbles. It can be plain (seltzer) or flavored. As with any flavored water, the flavors can be artificial or natural and the water may or may not be purified.

To simplify your shopping for beverages and to make a healthy beverage choice, stick to Syfo Beverages. Our Original Seltzer and Naturally-Flavored Sparkling Waters contain no sugar, sodium, artificial sweeteners, preservatives or other additives and they are purified through a multi-step process that includes reverse osmosis. Our products taste great, are healthy for you and will keep you hydrated all summer long.

Need another reason to switch from sugary soft drinks to Syfo? A new study has linked sugar consumption to fatal heart disease and one of the findings is that it doesn’t take a large amount of sugar to put you at risk.

In addition to processed foods, sodas and other sugary drinks are the main source of added sugar in most Americans’ diet. The study points out that just drinking two 12-ounce cans of soda, which equates to 18 teaspoons of sugar, substantially increased the risk of fatal heart attack. For an eye-opening look at the high amounts of sugar in some popular beverages, see this article on sugarstacks.com.

Bubbly and refreshing, Syfo Beverages are a satisfying and healthy way to cut down on sugar consumption. Syfo Original Seltzer and Naturally Flavored Sparkling Waters will help you feel and look great because Syfo products are made with purified water and contain no sugar, high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, flavors or preservatives.

You can learn more about the study linking sugar consumption and fatal heart disease here.

Earth Day 2014 is Tuesday, April 22 and once again people around the world will be bringing renewed attention to the well-being of the environment and their own personal health. At Syfo, we believe promoting a healthy environment and health in people go hand in hand. We’ve taken steps to ensure that Syfo products are as GREEN as possible in every way, so they’re both healthy for the planet as well as healthy beverages for your body. We do everything we can to reduce waste in the supply stream by making every part of the Syfo packaging and bottling fully recyclable. The water we use in Syfo is purified through reverse osmosis and we return the waste water from the process back into the environment in a more purified state. Since the water we use to produce Syfo comes from a centrally located aquifer, it doesn’t require a heavy carbon footprint to make it to the production facility and the consumer.

We also consolidate our less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments to improve transportation efficiency, and we collaborate with our suppliers to save money, reduce waste and conserve energy. And of course the packaging and bottles that we use for all of our Syfo products are 100% recyclable.

As is well-known, Syfo Beverages Original Seltzer and Naturally-Flavored Sparkling Waters are made from purified water and are free of preservatives, chemical additives, sugar, sodium or artificial sweeteners. That makes them healthy beverages for your body and the environment.