Soft drink industry blasts caffeine study

CHICAGO (AP) -- A tiny study suggesting that caffeine is added to colas not for flavor but to hook consumers prompted a giant response Monday from the soft drink industry, which called the results flawed and irresponsible.

Caffeine "is added for one reason, for flavor," said Jeff Nedelman, a spokesman for the National Soft Drink Association.

The study's authors, from Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, said about 70 percent of soft drinks sold nationwide contain caffeine and likened the marketing of caffeinated colas to the tobacco industry's early claims that the addictive stimulant nicotine was added to cigarettes for flavor.