Coca-Cola's "Dasani" brand bottled water product is under fire this week with a global effort to shame the company into admitting the truth about the source of its Dasani water. What truth? That Dasani water comes from tap water -- the same stuff used to flush your toilet. Of course, the water is filtered and augmented before being put into Dasani bottles, but it's still from the same source as your tap water.

This week, on November 7th, Corporate Accountability International (www.StopCorporateAbuse.org) is holding a nationwide rally in seven key U.S. cities and college campuses across the country to demand that Coca-Cola honestly label their Dasani bottled water products as "coming from a public water source." Details about the event are available now at: www.ThinkOutsideTheBottle.org

This grassroots consumer action aimed at Coca-Cola follows the hugely successful effort launched earlier this year to pressure Pepsi into making the same admission on its own branded water product: Aqua Fina. As reported by NewsTarget on August 2 of this year, Pepsi was bombarded by consumer complaints and, in response, agreed to add the phrase "Public water source" to their bottles. As I mentioned in that article, it's not a crystal clear phrase that openly admits the water comes from the tap, but it's a step in the right direction.

The new CAI action aimed at Coca-Cola features events in Austin (TX), Baltimore (MD), Boston (MA), Chicago (IL), Minneapolis, (MN), Oakland (CA), Portland (OR), and college campuses across the country. You can find more details at: http://www.stopcorporateabusenow.org/campaign/exposebottledwater

My take on the issue If you want an example of two companies engaged in hyping worthless beverages, look no further than Coke and Pepsi. In my opinion, both of these companies operate with an astonishing lack of integrity -- not only in the way they hype their bottled water products, but also in their ongoing marketing of beverages that I am convinced are closely tied to the obesity and diabetes pandemics now ravaging our world.

Coke and Pepsi have, in my opinion, played a significant role in the destruction of human health among advanced nations over the last three generations. Not only do they aggressively market disease-promoting beverages containing high-fructose corn syrup (linked to diabetes) and phosphoric acid (linked to osteoporosis), but they also use another chemical substance in their diet drinks that many naturopathic practitioners consider to be a neurological poison: Aspartame!

Knowing the true history of Coca-Cola and Pepsi (click here to read the unauthorized history of Coca-Cola), it's no surprise that these two companies would find a way to dishonestly market bottled water products, too. Failing to disclose the real source of these bottled water products is, in my view, an inexcusable lapse in corporate responsibility. I have no doubt that whatever products these two companies may market in the future, they will always be marketed in a way that is dishonst, harmful to human health and damaging to the environment.

Join me in this grassroots effort to shed light on Coca-Cola's practices by taking action on this issue. Here's where you can learn more: http://www.stopcorporateabusenow.org/campaign/exposebottledwater