Once upon a time CBS was known as the "Tiffany Network," respected for the quality of its programming and the fairness of its news reporting. How times have changed.

On 4/17/97, CBS's "48 Hours" ran a piece implying that the soft drink industry and others market caffeine-containing products to young people and that somehow this is a terrible thing.

What was really terrible was CBS's lack of balance.

While preparing their segment, "48 Hours" staffers called BD several times asking general questions about the industry, like "How big is it?". We offered to provide detailed information on or off the air. They didn't seem all that interested, though we did manage to mention a few facts, such as: 1) the FDA has no problem with caffeine. 2) the fastest growing soft drink in the US, by far, is Sprite. It is aggressively and successfully marketed to young people and contains no caffeine. 3) four of the top-10 soft drinks contain no caffeine. 4) one of the fastest growing beverage categories is water, which contains no caffeine.

None of this, of course, found its way into CBS's reporting. Instead they featured, at great length, the pontification by the manufacturer of a tiny, new product -- Krank₂O caffeinated water.

Here's just some of what CBS overlooked. The New York Times' tough-minded health columnist Jane Brody wrote in 1995: "A substantial amount of research ... has turned up very little solid evidence to indict a moderate intake of coffee or caffeine as a serious or even minor health threat."

And the International Food Information Council has just published a brochure, "Everything You Need to Know About Caffeine." It cites information from the FDA, the American Medical Association, the National Institutes of Health and others. It states: "Recent review (by FDA) `found no evidence to show that the use of caffeine in carbonated beverages would render these products injurious to health.'" Also: "NIH research indicates there is no difference in the way children and adults handle caffeine."

Sadly, when it comes to balanced, responsible reporting, CBS doesn't have a clue.

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