TOKYO—In a country where grilled fish is a breakfast food and many think the stinkiest soybeans are the tastiest, it stands to reason Coke is now a health drink. 
 
 Once a month, Hideaki Iwaya sits at the dinner table for pizza night with his wife and two teenage daughters. They recently revised their routine to add Coca-Cola Plus, which features a government-approved laxative ingredient, hoping it would help their bodies absorb less fat from the slices. 
 
 “It’s a paradox: a cola that is healthy but my wife likes it, my daughters prefer it,” says Mr. Iwaya, 52, an automobile-insurance sales manager in Yokohama. “When I brought it home, I thought no one would drink it. I was mistaken.” 
 
 It isn’t just Coca-Cola Co. touting the healthful side of its Japan-only Plus drink. The Japanese government has given it a gold label certifying its benefits. 
 
 Japan’s life expectancy—87 years for women, 81 for men—is several years ahead of America’s, thanks in part to low obesity. Japanese ideas about good diet, such as green tea and fermented foods, have become mainstays in the West. 
 
 Now, the government thinks it can add to the dietary wisdom by certifying Coca-Cola Plus and other products as Foods for Specified Health Uses, or Foshu. The certified products, which have grown into a market of $6 billion in annual sales, according to Japan Health and Nutrition Food Association, contain compounds the government deems to have a particular benefit, such as lowering cholesterol or preventing osteoporosis. 
 
 Zero-calorie Coca-Cola Plus features a substance called indigestible dextrin. It joins two other designated “healthy” colas in Japan—Pepsi Special, made by Suntory Beverage and Food Ltd. under a licensing deal with PepsiCo, and Kirin Mets Cola from Kirin Beverage Co. 
 
 A Tokyo vending machine sells Coca-Cola Plus. Photo: Suryatapa Bhattacharya/The Wall Street Journal 
 
 Michiko Kamiyama, a lawyer with a group called Food Safety Citizens’ Watch that monitors food safety issues on behalf of consumers, wonders whether the government should be endorsing Coke and Pepsi as healthful. A vigorous 77, Ms. Kamiyama says she didn’t get that way downing lots of carbonated drinks. 
 
 “If you have a well-balanced diet and do an appropriate amount of exercise then you don’t need them,” says Ms. Kamiyama of the certified foods and drinks. “I personally think it is totally ineffective.” 
 
 Khalil Younes, an executive vice president for marketing and new business at Coca-Cola Japan, says scientists spent a decade trying to preserve the taste of Coca-Cola while including ingredients that could win the government’s gold seal. 
 
 “We were quite ballsy in how we approached the launch,” he says, “because we were supremely confident based on our data that we had a winner, both on the functionality and also on the taste.” 
 
 Tominaga Ozawa, a retired investor, says he shares doubts about health benefits but figures there is nothing to lose by adding some fibrous fizziness to his diet. Mr. Ozawa, 70, says he took to drinking Coca-Cola Plus almost immediately after it went on sale in Japan in March. 
 
 At least once a week, he plays 18 holes of golf. After nine holes, he returns to the clubhouse and buys a Coca-Cola Plus before sitting down to lunch. “I think it’s good,” he says. He prefers his cola time in solitude because “in Japan, your image can suffer if you say you drink cola.” 
 
 Miho Katori, 33, a Tokyo restaurant worker, stocks her fridge with at least two 470-milliliter bottles of Coca-Cola Plus at about $1.50 each. The government’s gold seal prompted her to switch from a diet cola, she says, in hopes the fat-absorption properties of the dextrin would help her stay slim. 
 
 She found she liked the drink. “I don’t know if it’s effective or not,” she says, “but it looks like it is good for my health because it has a Foshu stamp.” 
 
 Among the drink’s detractors is Seiji Miyata, 54, an art director at a Tokyo printing agency. He turned to artificially sweetened drinks after he discovered he had diabetes and found himself yearning for sweets. “As soon as I was diagnosed,” he says, “I started to love whisky, chocolate, everything that’s sweet.” 
 
 Seiji Miyata, 54, prefers the taste of Coke over Coca-Cola Plus. Photo: Chieko Tsuneoka 
 
 Craving a sweet cola one weekend morning, he pulled into a convenience store and found the new white-coated Coca-Cola Plus bottle. The drink tasted healthful—and, he thought, awful. 
 
 He wanted to dump it right away, but “we’re Japanese,” so he found a public ash bin into which he discreetly drained the liquid. 
 
 Others who tried Coca-Cola Plus without studying the label have been surprised by the extent of its laxative effect. Online commenters and some people interviewed in Tokyo said they ended up with upset stomachs or worse. 
 
 “There is no danger to the human body,” Coke’s Mr. Younes says. “We would never launch something that is harmful to anybody.” 
 
 Regarding side effects, he refers to the labeling: “The only caveat we have is that if you drink too much—it is in there, that you may have loose bowels from overconsumption. It depends on your condition, but what we are trying to avoid is people over-consuming in the belief that the more they drink, the more it will help.” 
 
 On the flip side, Hideo Eguchi, a 79-year-old who works as a hair stylist, says, “I like the feeling of the burps you get from drinking this.” 
 
 Coca-Cola declines to give sales figures for Plus but says it is a success. It says low-sugar or sugarless drinks—many of them teas, coffees and other noncolas—account for 62% of Coke’s sales in Japan. 
 
 In Japan’s beverage market, companies have been known to introduce as many as 100 new drinks a year. The competitiveness “is just mind-boggling,” says Coke’s Mr. Younes. 
 
 Coke ads show people drinking Plus with grilled beef—the result, he says, of careful market research. 
 
 Coke paired with sushi would be “a bridge too far,” he says. “I know that I would be crucified by my Japanese friends if they saw me do that.” 
 
 —Chieko Tsuneoka contributed to this article. 
 
 Write to Suryatapa Bhattacharya at Suryatapa.Bhattacharya@wsj.com ||||| ATLANTA, May 8, 2013 – The Coca-Cola Company today announces four global business commitments to further contribute to healthier, happier, and more active communities. These commitments, which apply to the more than 200 countries where we do business, are to: 
 
 Offer low- or no- calorie beverage options in every market; Provide transparent nutrition information, featuring calories on the front of all of our packages; Help get people moving by supporting physical activity programs in every country where we do business; Market responsibly, including no advertising to children under 12 anywhere in the world. 
 
 “Obesity is today’s most challenging health issue, affecting nearly every family and community across the globe. It is a global societal problem which will take all of us working together and doing our part,” said Muhtar Kent, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Coca-Cola Company. “We are committed to being part of the solution, working closely with partners from business, government and civil society. Today’s announcement is another step forward on our journey, as we take action with scale and reach across every country and continent where we operate.” 
 
 Muhtar Kent will make the global announcement today in commemoration of the 127th anniversary of Coca-Cola . He will be joined by Georgia Governor Nathan Deal and City of Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed to kick off a series of programs designed to help get Georgians moving. Today’s announcement in Georgia builds on recent partnerships the Company has undertaken in Chicago, London, San Antonio and other cities. 
 
 Already, The Coca-Cola Company has taken a number of important steps, including product and packaging innovations including smaller portion sizes with our expansion of mini-cans in the United States, Australia, Canada, Korea and Thailand. The Coca-Cola system currently supports hundreds of active, healthy living programs in more than 115 countries reaching millions of people, and is putting calories on the front of nearly all our beverages worldwide. And, we will continue to do even more. 
 
 The Company also has committed to publicly and actively measure the scale and reach of its efforts on www.comingtogether.com. The digital platform provides further details about the Company’s global commitments and invites people to learn more about what the Company is doing, track its progress, post feedback and exchange ideas on how we can collectively promote choice, energy balance and movement. 
 
 Presently, The Coca-Cola Company sells non-alcoholic beverages in nearly every beverage category – from sparkling beverages to water, enhanced and flavored water beverages, tea, coffee, juice and juice drinks, sports beverages and energy drinks. The broad portfolio includes nearly 800 low- and no-calorie beverages, representing 25 percent of the global portfolio. It will continue innovating portion-controlled packages and new, natural zero-calorie sweeteners like stevia, because the Company believes choice comes in many tastes, shapes and sizes. 
 
 About The Coca-Cola Company 
 
 The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is the world's largest beverage company, refreshing consumers with more than 500 sparkling and still brands. Led by Coca-Cola , the world's most valuable brand, our Company's portfolio features 16 billion-dollar brands including Diet Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Coca-Cola Zero, vitaminwater, Powerade, Minute Maid, Simply, Georgia and Del Valle. Globally, we are the No. 1 provider of sparkling beverages, ready-to-drink coffees, and juices and juice drinks. Through the world's largest beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy our beverages at a rate of more than 1.8 billion servings a day. With an enduring commitment to building sustainable communities, our Company is focused on initiatives that reduce our environmental footprint, support active, healthy living, create a safe, inclusive work environment for our associates, and enhance the economic development of the communities where we operate. Together with our bottling partners, we rank among the world's top 10 private employers with more than 700,000 system associates. For more information, visit Coca-Cola Journey at www.coca-colacompany.com, follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/CocaColaCo or visit our blog, Coca-Cola Unbottled, at www.coca-colablog.com. 
 
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 NOTE TO EDITORS: 
 
 Visuals and footage to accompany this release can be viewed at: 
 
 www.coca-colacompany.com/press-center/press-releases/coming-together-press-kit
– Coca-Cola may be fun to drink, but is it healthy? Despite warnings linking sugary drinks to illness, several nutrition and fitness experts suggested last month that it's OK to down a mini-can of Coke or other soda. These experts also work with and may be paid by Coca-Cola, the AP reports. "We have a network of dietitians we work with," says a Coca-Cola spokesman. "Every big brand works with bloggers or has paid talent." Indeed: Kellogg and General Mills have funded studies that portray their products as healthy, while dietitians working with PepsiCo have suggested its products (think Tostitos, Frito-Lay) on TV. A recent report by Eat, Drink, Politics revealed close links between America's biggest professional-nutritionist group and food and beverage companies, including Coca-Cola, as reported by Forbes. Experts spoke well of Coca-Cola's 7.5 ounce mini-cans in connection "Heart Health & Black History Month." One online post called a Coca-Cola mini-can a "refreshing beverage option," while another proposed "portion-controlled versions of your favorites, like Coca-Cola mini cans." Most of the posts refer to the writer as a Coca-Cola "consultant" and one called itself a "sponsored article." Dietician Robyn Flipse, who wrote one of the pieces, says she would back Coke mini-cans even if Coca-Cola wasn't paying her—but admits she doesn't drink them herself. Meanwhile, the group Dieticians for Professional Integrity is seeking clearer lines between companies and health experts, while one analyst calls last month's article spree "an example of opaque sponsored content." (According to one study, soda ages our cells as much as smoking.)