Look Into It - PEPSI ARTICLES

Pepsi shareholders have filed a shareholder resolution with the Securities and Exchange Commission and PepsiCo demanding that the company has been contracting with a research firm that uses fetal cells from babies victimized by abortions to test and produce artificial flavor enhancers.

As recently as May, Pepsi ignored concerns and criticism from dozens of pro-life groups and tens of thousands of pro-life people who voiced their opposition to PepsiCo contracting with biotech company Senomyx even after it was found to be testing their food additives using fetal cells from abortions.

“The company’s key flavor programs focus on the discovery and development of savory, sweet and salt flavor ingredients that are intended to allow for the reduction of MSG, sugar and salt in food and beverage products,” the Senomyx web site says. “Using isolated human taste receptors, we created proprietary taste receptor-based assay systems that provide a biochemical or electronic readout when a flavor ingredient interacts with the receptor.”

Debi Vinnedge, of the pro-life group Children of God for Life, explained, “What they don’t tell the public is that they are using HEK 293 – human embryonic kidney cells taken from an electively aborted baby to produce those receptors. They could have easily chosen animal, insect, or other morally obtained human cells expressing the G protein for taste receptors.”

In August 2010, PepsiCo entered into a four-year agreement with Senomyx for the development of artificial high-potency sweeteners for PepsiCo beverages. Under the contract, PepsiCo is paying $30 million to Senomyx for the research and future royalties on PepsiCo products sold using Senomyx technology. When the prolife group wrote both companies requesting they use one of several non-objectionable, viable cell lines listed in their patents, Senomyx did not respond. PepsiCo did reply however and insisted that its use of the research from Senomyx would produce “great tasting, lower-calorie beverages.”

With the boycott from supportive pro-life groups, including LifeNews.com, not changing PepiCo’s mind and further letters going unanswered, Vinnedge told LifeNews today the time has come for a resolution form shareholders.

“Shareholders have a right to know the truth about what PepsiCo is doing with their hard-earned savings,” she said. “PepsiCo’s lack of consideration to the public’s moral sensibilities has only served to fuel the fire and threatens stock values, retirement pensions and investments.”

Vinnedge said the PepsiCo shareholder who filed the resolution requested that “the Board of Directors adopt a corporate policy that recognizes human rights and employs ethical standards which do not involve using the remains of aborted human beings in both private and collaborative research and development agreements.” She said she finds it ironic that PepsiCo’s own Code of Conduct boasts that they “deal with customers, suppliers, the public and our competitors in an ethical and appropriate manner.”

“There is nothing ethical or appropriate in the way they are exploiting the remains of an innocent aborted child,” noted Vinnedge.

Vinnedge said she has heard from many pro-life advocates upset by the information about Pepsi — including one 12-year-old Florida boy who learned of PepsiCo’s research from his mom’s prolife news reports and was upset enough to take action himself. At a recent 40 Days for Life event, he told attendees, “When I found out about this, I was sick to my stomach.

“I decided I wouldn’t let this happen so I came up with a way to boycott Pepsi products called United Schools for Life. This program will attempt to remove all Pepsi products from the schools in our diocese,” Gene, who hopes to educate others about what Pepsi is doing, said. Vinnedge was deeply moved by his initiative and courage.

“We hope that PepsiCo senior management gives serious consideration to what this boy has done,” she noted. “Even a child knows this is wrong. God bless him for standing up for the unborn who have no voice of their own!”

After contacting Pepsi with their concerns, the beverage and food products company responded via email to pro-life advocates with an unsigned form response from “Pepsi Consumer Relations.”

“Thank you for contacting us to share your sincere concerns,” the PepsiCo response says. “Please be assured that PepsiCo is committed to using only the highest ethical methods in all aspects of our research. This is something we take very seriously, and we hold ourselves and all of our research partners to the same high standards as the world’s leading research centers.”

The email continues: “With respect to the flavor discovery research with Senomyx, we utilize techniques that have been the gold standard for several decades by top universities, hospitals, U.S. government agencies, food and beverage companies, and essentially every pharmaceutical and biotech company in the world. Yet, there is some misinformation being circulated meant to distort what we’re doing and question our motives and those of other companies. This is unfortunate, and it is certainly not reflective of the work we are doing. We hope this information is helpful and reassuring. Thank you again for reaching out to us and allowing us to clarify the situation.”

In comments to LifeNews.com, Vinnedge says this is the latest example of PepsiCo avoiding or glossing over the criticism it receives.

“It seems that PepsiCo is simply not able to understand the concerns of consumers as they respond to their complaints with deceptive form letters,” she said.

“First, they tried to reassure the public their relationship with Senomyx was to produce “lower calorie great tasting beverages”. Then after our first press release March 29th, they tried to insinuate the reports were false and they were being accused of doing aborted fetal research,” Vinnedge explained. “Now, as the full boycott begins, they brush off using aborted fetal cell lines as an industry gold standard.”

“Well, we have a message for PepsiCo,” the pro-life advocate continued. “We who are pro-life have a “gold standard” too. And that means we defend the sanctity of all human life
including the remains of innocent aborted babies that PepsiCo is exploiting for profit.”

“If they want to boycott to end, they need to tell Senomyx to start using moral sources for their research and development or they will sever their contracts,” she concluded.

Senomyx boasts that it has over 800,000 unique flavors for foods, Vinnedge says, but cells expressing certain proteins produce a chemical signal when the flavors are introduced, which determines if they have achieved the proper flavor. The aborted fetal cells are not in the product itself.

Pro-life organizations are asking the public to boycott all Pepsi drink products and encourage consumers to contact Pepsi management requesting that they sever all ties with Senomyx. Consumers are also encouraged to contact Campbell Soup and thank them for responding to pro-life concerns.

Pro-life groups joining Children of God for Life in the boycott to date are: American Life League, Life Issues Institute, Concerned Women for America, Colorado Right to Life, American Right to Life, Sound Choice Pharmaceutical Institute, ALL Arizona, Central Nebraskans for Life, Pro-Life Waco, Houston Coalition for Life, Mother and Unborn Baby Fox Valley, Womankind, Billboards for Life, Movement for a Better America, Defenders of the Unborn, Focus Pregnancy Help Center, Idaho Chooses Life, EMC Frontline Pregnancy Centers of NY, Four Seasons for Life, CREDO, Life Choices, STOPP Dallas, CA Right To Life, Human Life Alliance, International Right to Life Federation, Operation Rescue, the National Black Pro-Life Union, Black Students for Life, and Pro-Life Nation. LifeNews.com has joined the boycott call as well.

Jamie Caulfield, Sr. VP
PepsiCo, Inc.
700 Anderson Hill Road
Purchase, NY 10577
(914) 253-2000

Pro-Life Groups: Boycott Pepsi for Using Aborted Fetal Cell Lines

Dozens of pro-life groups are calling on pro-life Americans to boycott PepsiCo because it has contracted with a company that uses fetal cells from babies victimized by abortions to test and produce artificial flavor enhancers.

LifeNews.com reported on the controversy in March when information came to light showing biotech company Senomyx was found to be testing their food additives using fetal cells from abortions. Senomyx ignored a letter from the pro-life group Children of God for Life, which complained about its practices.

Debi Vinnedge, of the pro-life group, explained, “What they don’t tell the public is that they are using HEK 293 – human embryonic kidney cells taken from an electively aborted baby to produce those receptors. They could have easily chosen animal, insect, or other morally obtained human cells expressing the G protein for taste receptors.”

After exposing the practice, Vinnedge’s group called for pro-life people to contact the companies using Senomyx to test their products. While some companies stopped contracting with it, others did not.

Now, Vinnedge says today that PepsiCo is funding the research and development by paying royalties to Senomyx to use the human embryonic kidney cells to produce flavor enhancers for Pepsi beverages.

“There are many options PepsiCo could be using instead of aborted fetal cells, including animal, insect, or other morally obtained human cells,” she told LifeNews. “The revelation—a potential public relations nightmare—motivated Campbell Soup to sever all relations with Senomyx. However, PepsiCo continues their business relationship despite the abortion connection. Their response earlier this year drew public ire when they wrote that “our collaboration with Senomyx is strictly limited to creating lower-calorie, great-tasting beverages for consumers.”

“When pressed further, PepsiCo attempted to pacify angry consumers with a form letter response in which they insinuated they had been accused of conducting aborted fetal tissue research,” she added. “Their duplicity again drew public outrage.”

Brad Mattes of the Life Issues Institute is another pro-life leader calling for a boycott.

“While aborted fetal cells aren’t actually in the product itself, the close relationship is enough to repulse most consumers. To our knowledge, this is the first time a food product has been publicly associated with abortion,” he said.

Senomyx boasts they have over 800,000 unique flavors for foods, Vinnedge says, but cells expressing certain proteins produce a chemical signal when the flavors are introduced, which determines if they have achieved the proper flavor. The aborted fetal cells are not in the product itself.

Pro-life groups joining Children of God for Life in the boycott to date are: American Life League, Life Issues Institute, Concerned Women for America, Colorado Right to Life, American Right to Life, Sound Choice Pharmaceutical Institute, ALL Arizona, Central Nebraskans for Life, Pro-Life Waco, Houston Coalition for Life, Mother and Unborn Baby Fox Valley, Womankind, Billboards for Life, Movement for a Better America, Defenders of the Unborn, Focus Pregnancy Help Center, Idaho Chooses Life, EMC Frontline Pregnancy Centers of NY, Four Seasons for Life, CREDO, Life Choices, STOPP Dallas, CA Right To Life, Human Life Alliance, International Right to Life Federation, Operation Rescue and Pro-Life Nation. LifeNews.com has joined the boycott call as well.

Obama Agency: Pepsi Using Aborted Fetal Cells is Ordinary Business

PepsiCo has come under fire from pro-life advocates because it has been contracting with a research firm that uses fetal cells from babies victimized by abortions to test and produce artificial flavor enhancers.

Now, the Obama administration is set to face more criticism because an agency has declared that Pepsi’s use of the company and its controversial flavor testing process constitutes “ordinary business.”

In a decision delivered February 28, the Security and Exchange Commission ruled that PepsiCo’s use of aborted fetal remains in their research and development agreement with Senomyx to produce flavor enhancers falls under “ordinary business operations.”

Debi Vinnedge, Executive Director of Children of God for Life, the organization that exposed the PepsiCo- Senomyx collaboration last year, informed LifeNews today that a letter signed by Attorney Brian Pitko of the SEC Office of Chief Counsel was sent in response to a 36-page document submitted by PepsiCo attorneys in January 2012. In that filing, PepsiCo pleaded with the SEC to reject a Shareholder’s Resolution filed in October 2011 that the company “adopt a corporate policy that recognizes human rights and employs ethical standards which do not involve using the remains of aborted human beings in both private and collaborative research and development agreements.”

PepsiCo lead attorney George A. Schieren noted that the resolution should be excluded because it “deals with matters related to the company’s ordinary business operations” and that “certain tasks are so fundamental to run a company on a day-to-day basis that they could not be subject to stockholder oversight.”

Vinnedge said she is appalled by the apathy and insensitivity of both PepsiCo executives and the Obama administration.

“We’re not talking about what kind of pencils PepsiCo wants to use – we are talking about exploiting the remains of an aborted child for profit,” she said. “Using human embryonic kidney (HEK-293) to produce flavor enhancers for their beverages is a far cry from routine operations

Vinnedge said PepsiCo also requested the resolution be excluded because it “probed too deeply into matters of a complex nature upon which shareholders cannot make an informed judgment.”

“In other words, PepsiCo thinks its stockholders are too stupid to understand what they are doing with the remains of aborted children,” she said. “Well they are about to find out just how smart the public really is when they turn up the heat on the world-wide boycott.”

Vinnedge is warning consumers to be on guard for the roll-out of PepsiCo’s newest beverage that claims to cut sugar and calories by 50%. The product is called Pepsi Next and is anticipated to hit the market in the coming weeks. Since PepsiCo stated that their goal with Senomyx is to produce new beverages with reduced sugars and calories, she wonders if Pepsi Next is the new Senomyx-PepsiCo creation?

“While fetal components are currently not in the final product, there is growing concern among consumers that it could happen in the near future. With the explosion of health foods on the market, there is nothing to stop companies from using fetal remains as protein ingredients,” she told LifeNews. “Impossible, you say? Actually because of GRAS rules (Generally Accepted as Safe) it might not even trigger FDA oversight. And that has consumers plenty worried about just what might be “next” from the industry.”

She says the latest development makes Oklahoma Senator Ralph Shortey’s SB1418 banning the sale of products that are developed with or contain aborted fetal remains critically important for consumer protection.

“We commend the Senator for his courageous move,” noted Vinnedge. “The public is already saying no thanks to all Pepsi beverages and Pepsi Next is just that – the “next” product to avoid.”

Vinnedge explained, “What they don’t tell the public is that they are using HEK 293 – human embryonic kidney cells taken from an electively aborted baby to produce those receptors. They could have easily chosen animal, insect, or other morally obtained human cells expressing the G protein for taste receptors.”

Pepsi Stops Using Aborted Fetal Cell Lines to Test Flavors

After months of pro-life protests and opposition, PepsiCo has indicated it will alter its contract with biotech firm Senomyx Inc., which uses cells from a baby killed in an abortion to conduct flavor testing.

The second-largest beverage company in the world contracted with the firm in a $30 million deal in August 2010 and once Debi Vinnedge of the pro-life group Children of God for Life uncovered the connection, numerous pro-life groups, including LifeNews, joined together to promote a boycott of Pepsi until it ends the Senomyx contract.

Vinnedge informed LifeNews today of Pepsi’s decision and hailed it as a major breakthrough and achievement by thousands of concerned consumers who have been writing and boycotting PepsiCo beverages since last May.

In a letter to her group, PepsiCo’s VP of Global Public Policy, Paul Boykas stated that “Senomyx will not use HEK cells or any other tissues or cell lines derived from human embryos or fetuses for research performed on behalf of PepsiCo.”

“We took the matter very seriously,” stated Mr. Boykas. “We have an official Statement on Responsible Research and we intend to live by that policy.”

That policy precludes any research by PepsiCo — or third parties they fund — from using human tissue or cell lines derived from embryos or babies who are victimized by abortions.

Vinnedge told LifeNews the PepsiCo decision means an immediate end to the boycott that began in May 2011– welcome news to both PepsiCo and their customers who have abstained from their favorite beverages in protest.

“We are absolutely thrilled with PepsiCo’s decision. They have listened to their customers and have made both a wise and profound statement of corporate integrity that deserves the utmost respect, admiration and support of the public.”

“Senomyx receives royalties for products sold using their ingredients. If they do not use aborted fetal cell lines, they offend no one; if they do, they most certainly offend at least half of US consumers who are pro-life. But Children of God for Life also heard from a number of women who stated they were pro choice yet this use of aborted fetal cell lines, crossed the line and angered them as well,” she added.

“If for no other reason, it only makes financial sense for both Senomyx and their collaborators to avoid a substantial loss of potential market,” Vinnedge said. “Senomyx needs to stop using the aborted fetal cell lines entirely and we will continue to pressure them to do so.”

Vinnedge noted that the company had conducted internal discussions, recognizing it was a highly sensitive and controversial subject that was not in the best interests of PepsiCo.

Brad Mattes, Executive Director of Life Issues Institute, one of thirty-five pro-life organizations that joined Children of God for Life in the boycott, also weighed in on the decision.

“We are grateful to PepsiCo and especially to all those who sent a loud and clear message to the management of this company. It’s incumbent upon us to closely monitor the situation to be sure that PepsiCo remains true to their word,” he said. “There are moral cell lines Senomyx can and should be using — not just for PepsiCo research but for all their customers.”

Vinnedge is strongly encouraging the public to take one more important step: write to PepsiCo and thank them — and then go buy your favorite Pepsi products to celebrate.

“Too often we seem to focus on the negatives and forget to take the time to let others know we appreciate their efforts,” stated Vinnedge. “It is our sincere hope that the public will once again rise to the occasion en masse as they did in the boycott — but this time in appreciation and support of PepsiCo.”

Pepsi Denies Using Aborted Fetal Cells for Flavor Testing

In an article to media outlets like LifeNews that are write about pro-life advocates complaining about the testing, Jeff Dahncke, the Senior Director for Communications for PepsiCo writes:

Dear XXXX,

“I saw your article this morning and wanted to take a moment to correct the misperceptions and erroneous information that has appeared in some media reports. The following can be attributed to a spokesperson for PepsiCo:

PepsiCo does not conduct or fund research, including research performed by third parties, which utilizes any human tissue or cell lines derived from embryos or fetuses. We clearly communicate this in our statement on responsible research on PepsiCo’s website, which is available here: http://www.pepsico.com/Company/Corporate-Governance/Policies.html. Any research funded by PepsiCo and conducted by Senomyx for PepsiCo must abide by this responsible research statement.

Pepsi NEXT is a new cola that uses a blend of existing sweeteners to offer a true cola taste with lower sugar and lower calories. While this blend is novel, the sweeteners themselves are not, and Senomyx has no involvement with the development of the Pepsi NEXT recipe.

I hope this is helpful. Please let me know when you can correct your story to reflect this information.

Meanwhile, emails sent to pro-life advocates from Pepsi staff in response to complaints, say:

“Thank you for contacting us at PepsiCo. There are no stem cells, cell lines derived from embryos or fetuses, or fetal tissues in any PepsiCo products. The integrity of our products is critical to PepsiCo, and we use only ingredients that meet all FDA and other regulatory standards. Thank you again for taking the time to contact us.”

LifeNews contacted Debi Vinnedge, Executive Director of Children of God for Life, the organization that exposed the PepsiCo- Senomyx collaboration last year, for a response.

“Pepsi is in panic mode it seems,” she said. “They have been contacting media outlets telling them that they are not funding any research using cells or tissues from embryos or aborted fetuses, however this is pure deception on their part.”

“The HEK-293 was indeed produced from the kidneys of an aborted fetus in the 1970s. From that tissue, they will produce what is known as a “cell line” by culturing the cells in a petri dish in the lab,” she explained. “Those cells are then subsequently frozen, patented and then made available for researchers through organizations such as the NIH, American Type Cell Culture, Coriell Labs, etc who sell these cell lines to researchers. So when Pepsi says they are not taking the cells from a fetus or embryo, what they really mean is they are taking them from the lab.”

“Were it not true that Pepsi is funding this research to the tune of $30 million paid up front plus royalties to Senomyx in the future, you can be assured they would have asked for a swift dismissal of the shareholder resolution filed with the SEC in a quick paragraph,” Vinnedge continued. “Instead, they wrote a 36 page response detailing previous exclusions by the SEC on other companies that also use aborted fetal or embryonic material such as Pfizer, GE and Merck.”

Vinnedge says the PepsiCo response saying that no cells from aborted babies are in any of its products is coming in response to people who never asked about whether such cells were in the products in the first place.

The responses from Pepsi come on the heels of the Obama administration facing criticism because an agency has declared that Pepsi’s use of the company and its controversial flavor testing process constitutes “ordinary business.”

Pepsi Ignores Criticism on Use of Aborted Cells in Research

PepsiCo is ignoring criticism from pro-life advocates upset that the company contracts with a research firm that uses fetal cells from babies victimized by abortions to test and produce artificial flavor enhancers.

Last week, dozens of pro-life groups called for a boycott of Pepsi because of information that came to light in March showing biotech company Senomyx was found to be testing their food additives using fetal cells from abortions. Senomyx ignored a letter from the pro-life group Children of God for Life, which complained about its practices.

After contacting Pepsi with their concerns, the beverage and food products company responded via email to pro-life advocates with an unsigned form response from “Pepsi Consumer Relations.”

In comments to LifeNews.com, Vinnedge says this is the latest example of PepsiCo avoiding or glossing over the criticism it receives.

“It seems that PepsiCo is simply not able to understand the concerns of consumers as they respond to their complaints with deceptive form letters,” she said.

“If they want to boycott to end, they need to tell Senomyx to start using moral sources for their research and development or they will sever their contracts,” she concluded.

Pro-life groups joining Children of God for Life in the boycott to date are: American Life League, Life Issues Institute, Concerned Women for America, Colorado Right to Life, American Right to Life, Sound Choice Pharmaceutical Institute, ALL Arizona, Central Nebraskans for Life, Pro-Life Waco, Houston Coalition for Life, Mother and Unborn Baby Fox Valley, Womankind, Billboards for Life, Movement for a Better America, Defenders of the Unborn, Focus Pregnancy Help Center, Idaho Chooses Life, EMC Frontline Pregnancy Centers of NY, Four Seasons for Life, CREDO, Life Choices, STOPP Dallas, CA Right To Life, Human Life Alliance, International Right to Life Federation, Operation Rescue and Pro-Life Nation. LifeNews.com has joined the boycott call as well.

Pepsi Not Only Company Making Products Based on Fetal Cells

Pepsi is back in the news this week and is coming under criticism from pro-life advocates because it has been contracting with a research firm that uses fetal cells from babies victimized by abortions to test and produce artificial flavor enhancers.

As LifeNews reported yesterday, the Obama administration is set to face more criticism because an agency has declared that Pepsi’s use of the company and its controversial flavor testing process constitutes “ordinary business.” In a decision delivered February 28, the Security and Exchange Commission ruled that PepsiCo’s use of aborted fetal remains in their research and development agreement with Senomyx to produce flavor enhancers falls under “ordinary business operations.”

However, Pepsi is not the only company that is making products that rely on cells from babies killed in abortions.

As pro-life blogger Susan Michelle notes, the full 36-page document submitted by PepsiCo attorneys in January 2012 to respond to a shareholder resolution from PepsiCo shareholders upset by Pepsi’s reliance on Senomyx shows other companies are problematic as well.

We obtained the document via PepsiCo’s website but have uploaded it here for you to see if you’d like to review the entire document. If you want to cut to the chase, search FETAL and it will take you to the details.

The memo is from Office of Chief Counsel, Division of Corporation Finance, Securities and Exchange Commission and regarding “PepsiCo, Inc Shareholder Proposal of Sarah Giltner, Exchange Act of 1934-Rule 14a-8.”

You’ll note the term ordinary business, widely cites in pro-life news reports today, is used in context of other companies doing likewise, such as Merck, a pharmaceutical company that manufactures many controversial vaccines that are created with cell lines from aborted fetuses.

The document names Pfizer Inc and Merck & Co as two companies that have used or studied using fetal tissue from elective abortions to create their products. As the Pepsi document notes:

The Proposal may be excluded pursuant to Rule 14a-8(i)(7) as relating to ordinary business operations because it attempts to involve shareholders in the management of the Company’s business with respect to the specific methods the Company may use in conducting its product research, development and testing. Recognizing the complexities of research decisions and that such decisions are incompatible with shareholder action, the Staff has consistently concurred with the exclusion of shareholder proposals relating to a company’s product research, development and testing.

For example, the Staff concurred in the exclusion of a similar shareholder proposal as relating to ordinary business matters in Pfizer Inc. (avail. Feb. 14, 2008). That proposal requested the formation of a committee “to more fully explore the ethical and business implications of further research involving cells or cell lines that are the result of the destruction of human embryos.” The Staff concurred that the proposal could be excluded under Rule 14a-8(i)(7), noting that the proposal implicated Pfizer’s “ordinary business operations (i.e., product research, development and testing).” Similarly, in Merck & Co (avail Jan. 23, 1997), the Staff concurred in the exclusion of a proposal seeking the formation of a committee “to study ways to eliminate the use of human fetal tissue obtained from elective abortions in the research, development, and testing of the company’s products,” noting that it related to “product research, development and testing.”

Michelle responds, saying, “In layman’s terms, this means that because there’s precedent in medicine, we can still do it, and the shareholders need to stay out of it.”

“It’s tragic that this is true. Precedent does exist; we’ve created pharmaceuticals and wrinkle cream from cells and tissue from aborted babies, so why wouldn’t we make that the product of flavor testing now? People love their food and spend lots of money every year on their snack foods. We are the market for this, and we buy this stuff,” the pro-life advocate continues.

“The precedent does exist because we have furthered the culture of death. When we allowed fetal cell research, we opened the door for this. While that law needs to be changed as soon as possible, what needs to happen immediately is that PepsiCo (which includes Frito-Lay) Nestle, and Kraft need to display morality and ethics and pull out, regardless of the cost, from Senomyx,” she concludes. “We can’t feign shock because we’ve been doing this for years with medicine and skin creams, so this was bound to happen. And only the changing of hearts will reverse it. As long as we are a consumer-driven culture with an appetite for what pleases us, these companies have us where they want us, and we are a part of the profit from the shedding of innocent blood.”

“The SEC decision is a result of its upholding the status quo, the current culture of death. We’ve allowed a society that couldn’t permit anything else. Now we have to change it,” Michelle said.

Pepsi Continues Denying Using Fetal Cells in Flavor Testing

PepsiCo has come under heavy criticism from pro-life advocates for months for contracting with biotech firm Senomyx Inc., which uses cells from a baby killed in an abortion to conduct flavor testing.

The second largest beverage company in the world contracted with the firm in a $30 million deal in August 2010 and once Debi Vinnedge of the pro-life group Children of God for Life uncovered the connection, numerous pro-life groups, including LifeNews, have joined together to promote a boycott of Pepsi until it ends the Senomyx contract.

Now, in new comments to the Washington Times, PepsiCo officials continue to deny the complaints from pro-lifers.

Jeff Dahncke, PepsiCo senior director for communications, thanked The Washington Times in an email for “giving us the opportunity to clarify misperceptions and erroneous media reports on the topic.”

“PepsiCo does not conduct or fund research, including research performed by third parties, that utilizes any human tissue or cell lines derived from embryos or fetuses. We clearly communicate this in our Responsible Research Statement on our website,” Dahncke told the newspaper. “Any research funded by PepsiCo and conducted by Senomyx for PepsiCo must abide by this responsible research statement.”

Those comments come after Dahncke said in emails LifeNews obtained that the disputed flavor testing was not used to create Pepsi Next, a low calorie beverage the company has been aggressively advertising.

Vinnedge called the PepsiCo denial “pure deception” in comments to the Times.

She said she found HEK-293, a “human embryo kidney” cell line produced from an aborted fetus in the 1970s, in more than 70 Senomyx patents, all related to flavor enhancers.

“What Pepsi is doing is saying that they’re not taking the cells directly from a fetus. Well, that’s true, they’re taking them from a lab,” Ms. Vinnedge said. “They’re doing this with semantics to get around what they’re really doing.”

Vinnedge also said pro-life groups are not targeting other companies as they are focusing on Pepsi, and explained why.

“We really aren’t going after [Nestle and Kraft] like we are with Pepsi because Pepsi is still in the development stages,” Ms. Vinnedge said. “They can change it. They can say, ‘Let’s use a morally responsible cell line.’”

“Pepsi is in panic mode it seems,” she told LifeNews previously. “They have been contacting media outlets telling them that they are not funding any research using cells or tissues from embryos or aborted fetuses, however this is pure deception on their part.”

Explaining the Science Behind the Pro-Life Boycott of Pepsi

This is biologically straightforward, and ethically problematic. From a consumerist and moral perspective, it’s even murkier. Pepsi is just the tip of the iceberg. Let’s build the argument from the biological level, upward.

Taste testing is as simple as stimulus and response. We eat/drink something new, and our taste buds either love us, or hate us for the experience. If we zoom in closer on the taste buds of the tongue, we would see that they are made up of many cells. If we zoom in even further on the cells, we come to the apparatus at the surface of the cell responsible for interacting with molecules in food, and creating a response within the cell that will be transmitted to the brain.

This apparatus is pictured above, and is at the core of the ethical debate. The two solid green, parallel lines represent the membrane of the cell. The purple ‘signaling agonist’ at top left is our food molecule. It binds to a receptor molecule that only binds molecules of a very specific shape and size. That receptor then slides to the right and interacts with G-Proteins, which activate other molecules such as Inositol Triphosphate, which in turn triggers what amounts to the old “Mousetrap” game–a cascade of responses within the cell.

It’s more complicated than that, but that’s the fundamental mechanism in question here.

PepsiCo employs the biotech company, Senomyx, to do their taste testing. Senomyx uses a line of cells that are derived from the kidney of an aborted baby in the 1970′s. The cell line is designated HEK (Human Embryonic Kidney) 293 (isolated and cultured successfully in the researcher’s 293rd experiment. These cells were isolated from the aborted baby’s kidneys and then grown and replicated in the laboratory in a liquid nutrient broth called cell culture medium. As long as one changes the broth periodically, the cells will continue to grow and divide.

In research, certain cell lines become the standard for use in a given field. Typically, the cells that become the standard, such as HEK 293 are remarkably stable, easy to work with, and provide reliable and repeatable results. These characteristics enable researchers to pursue tangential and parallel lines of research with great confidence in the relatedness of different labs’ results when the same cell line is employed. It assures us that we are all speaking the same cellular language, and not different dialects.

Hence the very thing that is a strength can also be a liability if cell lines have base and illegitimate origins. HEK cells are the standard in many fields of research. They are especially good at being used as “living test tubes” for creating proteins, such as the G Protein used in taste sensation.

Senomyx has been able to produce the G proteins within these cells and then isolate these proteins. They have then used these proteins in a proprietary construct to get a test tube response system to different molecules used in flavoring. Therein lies the tastelessness of the research method. The question is whether or not other cell lines exist, from which the same results may be gleaned, and how reliable these alternatives may be.

Let’s look for a moment at the problem of vaccines manufactured in aborted fetal cell lines. It has been suggested in some Catholic circles that the distance between today and the abortion from decades ago that established the cell line, and the proportional good to be gained and evil to be averted through use of the cell line vaccines can be sufficient to merit the use of the vaccines and attenuate complicity and culpability in the abortion. Some might agree, and some might disagree. I’ve heard Catholic bioethicists and clergy on both sides of this issue. But the issue begs a deeper question.

The more that HEK 293 is used (and it is used rather ubiquitously now), how many products are we morally obliged to refrain from using? How many medical treatments, with no ethically sound alternative, must we forgo? HEK 293 is used to manufacture proteins in thousands of labs, and is omnipresent. What do we do with a field already saturated by the use of aborted cell lines?

Obviously, we need ethically sound alternatives that produce the same quality output as the aborted cell lines, so that we may have the scientific basis for a smooth and orderly transfer. Then we need to change the culture of science, which will be no easy feat.

The next issue is what to do about all of the food products that have already been developed using these questionable methods. Even if Pepsi breaks ties with Senomyx, and cleans up their act, do we boycott all foods developed before the conversion?

For now the issue is pretty simple. Pepsi is committed to Senomyx, and I’m more than a few pounds overweight and just starting to shed those pounds. I won’t be purchasing PepsiCo products in the near future, or even the distant future, and even though this research leaves a bad taste in my mouth, the core question remains:

Bill Would Ban Food Products Made With Aborted Baby Cells

Oklahoma state Senator Ralph Shortey, a Republican, has introduced a new bill in his state legislature banning food products developed using aborted fetal material. The bill comes after a national outcry last year over Pepsi and other companies contracting with a company, Senomyx, that uses fetal cells from babies victimized by abortions to test and produce artificial flavor enhancers.

“There is a potential that there are companies that are using aborted human babies in their research and development of basically enhancing flavor for artificial flavors,” he told KRMG Radio. “I don’t know if it is happening in Oklahoma, it may be, it may not be. What I am saying is that if it does happen then we are not going to allow it to manufacture here.”

“People are thinking that this has to do with fetuses being chopped up and put in our burritos,” said Shortey, who was elected in 2010. “That’s not the case. It’s beyond that.”

“There are companies that are using embryonic stem cells to research and basically cause a chemical reaction to determine whether or not something tastes good or not,” he said. “As a pro-life advocate, it kind of disturbed me that we would use aborted embryos or aborted human fetuses to extract stem cells and use them for research to basically make things taste better.”

However, the legislation has come under immediate attack from mainstream media outlets that Debi Vinnedge, Executive Director of Children of God for Life, which brought the problem to public attention in March 2011, says are inaccurate. An onslaught of articles reported by the mainstream media earlier this week ranged from utter disbelief to crass remarks denigrating Shortey over his bill.

“This is perhaps the worst case of irresponsible reporting by the mainstream media that we have witnessed in this millennium,” Vinnedge said. “A simple fact check would have revealed that Senator Shortey is correct about how some of our foods are being produced.”

The focus is on San Diego based biotech company Senomyx, who states on their website that, “We created proprietary taste receptor-based assay systems that provide a biochemical or electronic readout when a flavor ingredient interacts with the receptor.” What they don’t tell the public is that they are using HEK 293 (human embryonic kidney cells) taken from an electively aborted baby to produce those receptors, Vinnedge says.

As an example of just one of over 75 patents on file in which the aborted fetal cells are utilized, Senomyx states in US Patent number 7,297,543: “The invention provides a preferred mammalian cell lines, e.g., HEK-293 cells that stably express T1R2/T1R3 and G.sub..alpha.15 under inducible conditions. These cells are useful in cell-based assays for identifying compounds that elicit or modulate sweet taste.”

“Senomyx has entered into agreements with food giants, PepsiCo, Nestles and Cadbury Adams LLC, a division of Kraft Foods in which the companies pay Senomyx for the research and development of the flavor enhancers and then continue to pay royalties on the products sold. Some of these companies already have products on the market in the US using Senomyx flavors, whereas PepsiCo’s products are still in the development stage,” the pro-life advocate explains.

Because of this, Children of God for Life began a massive worldwide boycott of PepsiCo beverages when they admitted that would be the focus of their Senomyx research collaboration.

“PepsiCo has the ability to request that Senomyx use one of the morally acceptable cell lines available,” noted Vinnedge. “Unlike Campbell Soup who listened to the public and severed ties with Senomyx, PepsiCo has referred to the research as the “gold standard” for the industry; they have openly misled the public and created a public relations nightmare for themselves!”

“We stand firmly and proudly behind Senator Shortey who had the courage to step forward and protect the people of his State who have a right to know about these products,” she added. “Shame on those in the mainstream media who never bothered to check the facts before they began assaulting his good name.”

Children of God for Life hope other states will join Oklahoma’s efforts as well.

The PepsiCo boycott has garnered the support of over 30 pro-life groups and has now extended to nearly a dozen foreign countries. A shareholder resolution filed late last year with the Security and Exchange Commission by a concerned stockholder would require that PepsiCo “adopt a corporate policy that recognizes human rights and employs ethical standards which do not involve using the remains of aborted human beings in both private and collaborative research and development agreements.”

PepsiCo attorneys responded with a 36 page plea to the SEC in an attempt to quash the information. Both sides are currently awaiting the SEC ruling.

HORSEMEAT & BABIES

A film about the post abortion industry

(warning extremely graphic)

"Sadly, most Americans don’t even realize that large numbers of consumer products on our supermarket shelves contain ingredients which have been cultivated using aborted human fetal cell lines. This information is not hard to find. But people do not like to talk about it. There are price lists for human fetal tissue all over the Internet. You can find one example right here. So does it bother you that aborted babies are being chopped up and sold to researchers all over America? Or are you perfectly fine with it?"