More bad press for Coca Cola, Pepsi and the other soda makers

[Brunneria]

http://arstechnica.co.uk/science/20...ealth-orgs-to-keep-profits-and-americans-fat/

The last 3 paragraphs of the article:
Despite such highly publicized examples of industry's meddling in health campaigns and policy, the new study by Aaron and Siegel is the first to try to capture the extent of the problem. The researchers sifted through financial disclosures on scientific literature, websites, and news reports, plus a database that tracks lobbying spending. The researchers wrote that their tally of 96 health organizations sponsored is likely an underestimate, given the potential for undisclosed funding plus the fact that they only looked for national—not state or local—health organizations.

Still, they conclude, the results show an extensive relationship between soda makers and health organizations, which have a lot of sway on policies and laws. “It is recommended that organizations find alternative sources of revenue in order to stop indirectly and inadvertently increasing soda consumption and causing substantial harm to Americans,” they conclude.

In 2009, the average American consumed 46 gallons of soda, giving the US the highest per capita consumption rate of the sugary beverages of any country. Meanwhile, about 38 percent of US adults and 17 percent of children are obese. Recent research has estimated that sugary drinks were responsible for a fifth of American’s weight gain.

American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2016. DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2016.08.010 (About DOIs).

This post originated on Ars Technica

 

[phil1966]

http://arstechnica.co.uk/science/20...ealth-orgs-to-keep-profits-and-americans-fat/

The last 3 paragraphs of the article:
Despite such highly publicized examples of industry's meddling in health campaigns and policy, the new study by Aaron and Siegel is the first to try to capture the extent of the problem. The researchers sifted through financial disclosures on scientific literature, websites, and news reports, plus a database that tracks lobbying spending. The researchers wrote that their tally of 96 health organizations sponsored is likely an underestimate, given the potential for undisclosed funding plus the fact that they only looked for national—not state or local—health organizations.

Still, they conclude, the results show an extensive relationship between soda makers and health organizations, which have a lot of sway on policies and laws. “It is recommended that organizations find alternative sources of revenue in order to stop indirectly and inadvertently increasing soda consumption and causing substantial harm to Americans,” they conclude.

In 2009, the average American consumed 46 gallons of soda, giving the US the highest per capita consumption rate of the sugary beverages of any country. Meanwhile, about 38 percent of US adults and 17 percent of children are obese. Recent research has estimated that sugary drinks were responsible for a fifth of American’s weight gain.

American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2016. DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2016.08.010 (About DOIs).

This post originated on Ars Technica

46 gallons of soda On Average! is a huge amount of sugar (22kg by my calculations) so there's no wonder they've got issues over there!

 

[chalup]

It is not just the United States by any means.

 

[ChrisSamsDad]

it's almost like big business is NOT working in our best interests!

 

[DavidGrahamJones]

I'm not disagreeing or anything but even based on 2015 data, quoted below, that's just a hell of a lot. I'm pleased to know several Americans who don't touch the stuff, who's drinking their share? LOL

The group also reported that annual per capita consumption of carbonated soft drinks dropped to about 650 eight-ounce servings in 2015 – the lowest since 1985. Source Fortune.com

 

[dbr10]

it's almost like big business is NOT working in our best interests!

You could certainly be forgiven for thinking that.

And, of course when sugar in drinks comes into focus and sales decline, we have the switch to sweetened teas and so-called 'energy' drinks.

 

[Canadian_cousin]

You could certainly be forgiven for thinking that.

And, of course when sugar in drinks comes into focus and sales decline, we have the switch to sweetened teas and so-called 'energy' drinks.

The other problem is that artificially sweetened soft drinks may not give you sugar, but raise your insulin levels just the same. Many people drink the Coke zeros and other types of drink thinking that they are escaping the evils of soft drinks. To an insulin resistant diabetic, artificially sweetened candies and Pop are extremely harmful as well, while theydon't even raise your blood glucose levels! And then there's all the issues about consumption of chemicals like aspartame etc. even Stevia, (which is highly processed away from being the natural sweetener that advertising would have you believe,) causes the same problems. The jury is still out on the sugar alcohols, and some of them like Truvia are claiming that they do not raise your insulin levels. If anybody has any current information on this it would be very interesting to see what the buzz on sugar alcohols is.

 

[dbr10]

The other problem is that artificially sweetened soft drinks may not give you sugar, but raise your insulin levels just the same. Many people drink the Coke zeros and other types of drink thinking that they are escaping the evils of soft drinks. To an insulin resistant diabetic, artificially sweetened candies and Pop are extremely harmful as well, while theydon't even raise your blood glucose levels! And then there's all the issues about consumption of chemicals like aspartame etc. even Stevia, (which is highly processed away from being the natural sweetener that advertising would have you believe,) causes the same problems. The jury is still out on the sugar alcohols, and some of them like Truvia are claiming that they do not raise your insulin levels. If anybody has any current information on this it would be very interesting to see what the buzz on sugar alcohols is.

Yes, thats true.