The New York Times reported about some problems with recent studies about the harm from sugary beverages: read the article
What I found interesting was the beverage industry's response!
''This is yet another attack on industry by activists who demonstrate their own biases in their review by looking only at the funding source and not judging the research on its merits,'' says a statement by Susan Neely, president of the American Beverage Association. ''The science is what matters -- nothing else.''
Respectfully Ms Neely, a lot else matters!
- The health of the consumers matters!
- The 2.6 million people who died prematurely last year from obesity and obesity related causes matter!
- The $100 Billion in costs expended to solve the health problems brought on by Obesity matter.
- The person who can't walk around block because of their excess weight brought on from drinking sugar filled beverages matters!
- The fact that soft drinks and other sugar filled beverages are the leading cause of Obesity and Overweight and why we have a pandemic of Obesity matters!
- Much more than just the profits realized by your members matters, Ms. Neely!
The homepage ( http://www.ameribev.org/index.aspx) of the American Beverage Ass. has a picture of a healthy weight darling young girl drinking from a bottle of water. How picture perfect, but the real picture of what the American Beverage Ass is all about is MUCH different than promoting drinking WATER! Their site says:
Nearly as widely consumed as bottled water are milk and coffee, followed by fruit beverages and tea. About 12 percent of the total beverages consumed are made by what Beverage Marketing Corporation defines as “all other,” comprised most prominently of sports drinks, vegetable juice, powdered drinks and, yes, tap water.
Total US Beverage Consumption 2005
- Carbonated Soft Drinks 28.3%
- Bottled Water 10.7%
- Milk 10.9%
- Coffee 9.0%
- Beer 11.7%
- Fruit Beverages 4.7% *
- Sports Drinks 2.3%
- Tea 3.8%
- Wine 1.2%
- Distilled Spirits 0.7%
- All Others 15.3% **
OK, call me an idiot, but how are only 12% of drinks consumed the "other" drinks (read "sugar-filled crap") when their own stats show that 28.3% of drinks consumed in 2005 were carbonated soft drinks? It just sounds a whole lot better to say that just a tiny bit of the drinks drunk are 'ours' so we can't be a big part of the problem, can we?
Big Soda makes the carbonated drinks, the sports drinks, the "energy" drinks, the fruit drinks and heck, they even make much of the bottled water!
Bottom line, more than the profits or the conflicting messages matter! The health of humanity is at stake and we have to shun sugar filled, high fructose laced beverages and drink WATER! It is the only way to ensure a healthy bottom line for you and for your family.
Julia
No comments:
Post a Comment