Coke's Enviga investigated over calorie-burning claims

Looks like it did not take long before one of the states, Connecticut, attempted to challenge Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) over claims that its "Enviga" beverage can actually burn calories by ingesting it. That's right -- unlike most soft drinks that actually add a pretty large calorie load to the person drinking it, Enviga contains some natural ingredients that are connected to burning calories. This comes with no physical effort, according to Coca-Cola, although physical effort is the tried-and-true method of calorie burning.

Connecticut's Attorney General, Richard Blumenthal, stated today that his office has begun an investigation into claims by Coca-Cola and Nestle that Enviga can actually burn calories. What are these "magic bullet" ingredients? Well, some of them are green tea and a green tea extract known as epigallocatechin gallate, or EGCG.

Coke's claim of Enviga "burning calories" is based on the claim from Coke that EGCG speeds up metabolism and increases energy use. So, apparently by pseudo-connection, anything containing that component must burn calories. Umm, I don't think that would pass scrutiny, but without anything from the FDA that I know of, authorities in Connecticut are stepping up to the plate here by demanding copies of all scientific studies, clinical trials, tests and papers that prove the calorie-burning claim by next week.