A study of 460 US girls aged 14-15 found that those who drank fizzy soft drinks were three times more likely to break bones. They suspected that phosphoric acid, found in some brands, might reduce bone mass.

Dr Grace Wyshak of Harvard Medical School in Boston (US) pointed out that there were serious implications for women in later life, and that there were also concerns that carbonated drinks might be a factor in obesity, tooth decay and osteoporosis.

Fourteen days exposure to both diet and regular non-cola drinks and canned iced tea was found to weaken then erode healthy dental enamel. The researchers* suspected that the artificial flavourings they contained, like malic, tartaric and other organic acids, were the cause. Root beer, which contained the lowest quantities of artificial flavourings, eroded dental enamel the least. The erosion was up to 30 times that caused by tap water, black tea or black coffee, which all caused minimal damage.

* at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Maryland Baltimore Dental School (US).

Research at Birmingham University suggested that high consumption of fizzy drinks more than doubled the likelihood of twelve year-old children suffering from tooth enamel erosion. The quantity of fizzy drinks habitually consumed also correlated well with the degree of erosion the same children presented by the age of fourteen.

Drinking large amounts of apple or citrus fruit juice increased the likelihood by just under half, whereas drinking other fruit juices appeared to protect the enamel against erosion.

The data was gathered by questionnaire twice from 1,149 children and their parents (when the children were twelve and fourteen).