Sponsorship of National Health Organizations by Two Major Soda Companies

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

@FloatingFatMan

 

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Sponsorship of National Health Organizations by Two Major Soda Companies

 

Introduction

 

Obesity is a pervasive public health problem in the U.S. Reducing soda consumption is important for stemming the obesity epidemic. However, several articles and one book suggest that soda companies are using their resources to impede public health interventions that might reduce soda consumption. Although corporate sponsorship by tobacco and alcohol companies has been studied extensively, there has been no systematic attempt to catalog sponsorship activities of soda companies. This study investigates the nature, extent, and implications of soda company sponsorship of U.S. health and medical organizations, as well as corporate lobbying expenditures on soda- or nutrition-related public health legislation from 2011 to 2015.

 

Methods

 

Records of corporate philanthropy and lobbying expenditures on public health legislation by soda companies in the U.S. during 2011–2015 were found through Internet and database searches.

 

Results

 

From 2011 to 2015, the Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo were found to sponsor a total of 96 national health organizations, including many medical and public health institutions whose specific missions include fighting the obesity epidemic. During the study period, these two soda companies lobbied against 29 public health bills intended to reduce soda consumption or improve nutrition.

 

Conclusions

 

There is surprisingly pervasive sponsorship of national health and medical organizations by the nation’s two largest soda companies. These companies lobbied against public health intervention in 97% of cases, calling into question a sincere commitment to improving the public’s health. By accepting funding from these companies, health organizations are inadvertently participating in their marketing plans.

 

 

[FloatingFatMan]

And? Almost all large companies lobby governments and sponsor organisations... What are you trying to insinuate here?

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

2 minutes ago, FloatingFatMan said:

And? Almost all large companies lobby governments and sponsor organisations... What are you trying to insinuate here?

I thought you'd have recalled our previous discussion on soda consumption  

[FloatingFatMan]

Just now, Mirumir said:

I thought you'd recall our previous discussion on soda consumption  

I recall you claiming that soda was toxic, which it isn't in appropriate quantities, just like virtually everything else. Do you have a point here? If so, please make it.

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

Just now, FloatingFatMan said:

I recall you claiming that soda was toxic, which it isn't in appropriate quantities, just like virtually everything else. Do you have a point here? If so, please make it.

The point is that it's likely that the majority of positive articles on soda consumption are probably false because their writings had been sponsored by the manufacturers.

 

Yes, most pop sugary drinks in any quantity are toxic. Excessive sugar is really bad. Try having a can of coke at room temperature. It tastes disgusting because it probably has an equivalent of five spoons of sugar in it.

[FloatingFatMan]

Just now, Mirumir said:

The point is that it's likely that the majority of positive articles on soda consumption are probably false because their writings had been sponsored by the manufacturers.

 

Yes, most pop sugary drinks in any quantity are toxic. Excessive sugar is really bad. Try having a can of coke at room temperature. It tastes disgusting because it probably has an equivalent of five spoons of sugar in it.

Whether or not they are BAD for you is not the same as them actually being toxic.  If they were toxic, they would be immediately dangerous and they're no more dangerous than any other processed food/drink product.  Like everything in this world, even plain ordinary unprocessed water.. Having too much of something is bad for you.

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

7 hours ago, FloatingFatMan said:

Whether or not they are BAD for you is not the same as them actually being toxic.  If they were toxic, they would be immediately dangerous and they're no more dangerous than any other processed food/drink product.  Like everything in this world, even plain ordinary unprocessed water.. Having too much of something is bad for you.

If you've already made up your mind, there's little point in talking about it. Enjoy your neurotoxic poison!  

[FloatingFatMan]

8 minutes ago, Mirumir said:

If you've already made up your mind, there's little point in talking about it. Enjoy your neurotoxic poison!  

I drank a whole 2 litres of diet coke today. You'd think that, if it were actually a neurotoxin I'd be dead by now, but I appear to be absolutely wibble!

 

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

1 minute ago, FloatingFatMan said:

I drank a whole 2 litres of diet coke today. 

To each their own  

[DocM]

I prefer iced tea and self-mixed lemon-lime juice infused water.

 

When it comes to influencing US and European commerce and regulations, how about Russia funding fake "environmental groups" to fight fracking? All the better to raise oil & gas prices to Russia's benefit.

 

Source: Wikileaks posts this week.

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

5 hours ago, DocM said:

I prefer iced tea and self-mixed lemon-lime juice infused water.

 

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When it comes to influencing US and European commerce and regulations, how about Russia funding fake "environmental groups" to fight fracking? All the better to raise oil & gas prices to Russia's benefit.

Russia has had some good soft-power teachers  

 

Hydraulic-fracturing is a controversial issue in many countries. The Russian Oil&Gas companies do use the method for the extraction in Russia, but they do it much farther away from any residential areas compared to how close to them they do it in the U.S. I do believe that fracking can be abused and can have a really nasty effect on the environment. 

 

[+Zagadka Subscriber²]

I managed to nix my soda habit (which was quite extensive) a few months ago. Beyond feeling better, my wallet is far, far heavier. I can't stand syrup-water anymore. 

[Nick H. Supervisor]

I'm a smoker and a drinker, I think I have other things to be more concerned about than a 500ml bottle of coke each day.

[SALSN]

It does seem like there are some major conflicts of interest going on in these situations.
I heard that some companies through lobbying got pizza accepted on the list of vegetables, so it could be served in school as something healthy :-/

I think the major problem is with the public though, Jamie Oliver got only negative calls when going on a radio show in the USA campaigning for feeding kids healthy food, so weird, who is against healthy kids?!

[DocM]

18 minutes ago, SALSN said:

It does seem like there are some major conflicts of interest going on in these situations.
I heard that some companies through lobbying got pizza accepted on the list of vegetables, so it could be served in school as something healthy :-/

Not exactly what happened. Ketsup and pizza/spaghetti sauces were accepted as veggie substitutes (well, the tomato is actually a berry but...),  which makes sense since they are reduced (concentrated by cooking down to evaporate water) and seasoned tomato sauces. Tomatoes are quite good for you, and reduced tomato sauces pack a pretty good punch in a smaller volume. 

[SALSN]

Okay, thanks for clearing that up.
While I agree that tomatoes are good for you, I have to be a bit sceptical about ketchup and tomato sauce. I have no idea what the law says, but typically tomato sauce and especially ketchup have a lot of sugar in them, and might have salt and oil in amounts that could compromise their health benefits as well. But like I said, I don't know how this is implemented, it just does not seem like a productive path to me.

I really hope this is the result of extreme cherry picking and not the actual situation (in 2010) :
 

 

[DocM]

13 minutes ago, SALSN said:

Okay, thanks for clearing that up.
While I agree that tomatoes are good for you, I have to be a bit sceptical about ketchup and tomato sauce. I have no idea what the law says, but typically tomato sauce and especially ketchup have a lot of sugar in them, and might have salt and oil in amounts that could compromise their health benefits as well. 

>

 

Avoid Heinz ketsup like the plague. As you say, lots of added sugar, salt etc. Yecch. 

 

Hunts ketsup is much better; more tomatoes etc., and they make a variety with no added salt (just what's in the tomatoes) and a tiny amount of sugar (2g) - 'Hunt's Tomato Ketchup, No Salt Added'

 

Then there's us: we make our own from my grandmother's recipe.

[SALSN]

That is all good and well, but can we count on the schools to do that as well?

Thanks for the recommendation, but I live in Denmark, I don't think we have that stuff.

Anyway I kind of derailed the topic sorry about that.