Casefile: P1gg135

Chapter 1

Opening Statement

In 2018 the UK government introduced the Soft Drinks Industry Levy or the "Sugar Tax" as it became more commonly known. Aimed at combating childhood obesity levels, the tax targeted manufacturers of soft drinks with sugar content levels that were deemed unacceptable. In response to this tax, many manufacturers were forced to significantly cut the amount of sugar in their products and instead use sweeteners or face financial ruin. Only the biggest names in the industry were able to survive without changing their recipes, opting instead to pass the charge on to their loyal customer base, who with no other alternative were forced to pay inflated prices or simply go without their beloved beverages.

The coming months found that the manufacturers that were forced to change their recipes experienced significant downturn in sales of their products as consumers were not receptive to the new taste of old favourites and many migrated to buying the more expensive, full sugar drinks of their competitors.

This led to many smaller soft drinks companies closing their doors, unable to compete with the monopoly being created by the big brand name company's stranglehold hold over the fizzy drinks market.

Staring bankruptcy in the face, a small soft drinks company in Scotland - Germain Soft Drinks ltd, were desperately seeking an alternative to the sweeteners they were being forced to use in order to continue manufacturing their products.

They believed they had struck gold when their research and development team discovered the compound ST-35 which, when mixed with their traditional recipes produced a taste indistinguishable to that of the original, sugary concoction.

In a rush to get the product to market, we believe that certain underhanded methods were taken to ensure the product received clearance from the Food Standards Agency without the customary, stringent tests being carried out.

However, we have since come to find that the compound ST-35 has a 1 in 5 million chance to create a situational mutation in those that come into contact with it.

Compound ST-35 was the catalyst in several such mutations in the UK in May of 2018.

The following accounts are comprised of witness testimony and have been pieced together by our team of experts. These are the case files for those unfortunate victims.