Soft drinks are one of the great business success stories of our time. Their manufacturers include some of the best-known global brand names, and the marketing strategies which drive their sales have successfully propelled them into a prominent position in the daily diets of people around the world. But are there dangers in our seemingly vast and insatiable appetite for soft drinks?

Some recent scienfitic studies would suggest that there are. Last year, researchers at Britain’s Southampton university studied the effects food additives had on our health. They concluded that several popular additives, such as E110, had a very damaging effect on the brain, lowering IQ, bringing on temper tantrums and stimulating hyperactivity. Children were especially vulnerable because their brains are still developing. This is worrying because many of the additives in question are used as colouring agents in soft drinks, which are even more popular with children than with adults.

Another ingredient popular in soft drinks is Aspartame, an artifical sweetener. Aspartame has been controversial for years. Indeed, an entire subculture of Aspartame conspiracy theories developed, accusing the product of being linked to brain tumours. Official food safety agencies have, in the past, refused to endorse this point of view. That may soon change, though, following publication of a recent scientific study which confirmed a link between Aspartame and “neurodegeneration”.

One of the most worrying things about Aspartame is that it’s used in diet drinks even more widely than in normal drinks. If the worries about the ingredient are justified, this would mean that people who are trying to be responsible about their consumption of soft drinks, and go for the healthy option, are actually exposing themselves to even more danger.