WTF are you drinking?

Rockstar and Diet Coke

In the super market today, Simon noticed that the packaging of the orange Rock Star Energy Drink had changed to a much darker orange.  Upon inspecting the can I realised it was now "made in australia" where as before it said "made in USA".  Surely this was a good thing right?  WRONG!  After reading the contents of the drink which was previously 913kjs with 53g of sugar it is NOW 1331kj (or something very close) and 78g sugar.  Australia also has an extra gram of taurine!!!!!  Increased from 1000mg to 2000mg.  WHY?  Different sugars in different countries?  Different rules?  Different preservatives.   I found a can from their USA website and this is what I've found...

I've been meaning to write about diet coke for a long time.  The recipe is different in Australia in comparison to the USA because a preservative we use is BANNED over there because it apparently mutates our DNA.  Obviously no proper studies have been done to show if this is damaging or potentially life threatening but kind of alarming to think... dont you think?

"The most commonly distributed version of Diet Coke (and majority of beverages using artificial sweeteners) relies on aspartame, which has been blamed by some scientists and medical professionals for possibly causing serious illnesses (such as cancer, brain tumors, brain lesions, and lymphoma) when consumed in large quantities^[8][9]. Coca-Cola has now released Diet Coke sweetened with sucralose (also known as Splenda), although it is not as common. See also soft drink controversy and health concerns.
The sodium benzoate was found to break down mitochondrial DNA in living yeast cells.^[10] Research published in 2007 for the British government's Food Standards Agency suggests that sodium benzoate (E211) is linked to hyperactive behavior and decreased intelligence in children. ^[11]
Recent studies conducted at Princeton University state that the artificial sweeteners, such as NutraSweet, that are present in Diet Coke are actually substantually more sweet than natural sugars, making your body crave sugar more, due to the absence of the natural sugar.^[12]"

^{AUSTRALIA STILL USES SODIUM BENZOATE BUT ITS BANNED IN USA AND UK!!!!!!!!!!}