Warning. If you already feel too cynical about life, don't read this story. It contains factual fodder for the claim that our nation's health agenda is often dictated by corporate profit, not public wellbeing. It further erodes the hopeful but increasingly naive belief that the government or the FDA or at the very least organizations like the Center for Disease Control or the National Institutes of Health have our back.
There is no debate about the severity of the obesity epidemic. In 2012, 35% of Americans were obese and 69% were overweight or obese. That year, the U.S. spent approximately $190 billion treating obesity related conditions, 20.6% of health expenditures. There is considerable debate about what caused this situation and how best to address it.
One thing no one disputes, however, is the role that soda consumption has played. Americans excel at drinking soda. The average Joe consumed 46 gallons of the bubbly stuff in 2009, one of highest per capita rates of soda consumption in the world. About half of all Americans drink soda daily. There is no scarcity of good data linking soda consumption and obesity. Using the search words "soda and obesity" yields 592,000 Google results.
So it might come as a surprise to learn that many health organizations have withdrawn from the public debate on policies to decrease soda consumption, opposed soda legislation and in some cases collaborated with soda companies on educational materials. Not surprisingly, these organizations receive corporate sponsorship. The list reads like a who's who of respected national organizations. Here is a small sample.
American Cancer Society
American Diabetes Society
Center for Disease Control
National Institutes of Health
Health and Human Services
National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
American Academy of Sports Medicine
American Medical Association
American Red Cross
Harvard Medical School
National Dental Association
American Heart Association
The Obesity Society
YMCA
Recent research identified 96 national health organizations that accepted money from either the Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, or both. Of those 96 sponsored organizations, there were 63 public health organizations, 19 medical organizations and two food supply groups. Remarkably, two diabetes organizations, the American Diabetes Association and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, received soda company funding.
The investigators also documented the lobbying activity of Coke and Pepsi between 2011 and 2015. In 28 of 29 proposed bills, the soda companies fought against public health initiatives. These included soda taxes, regulations on advertising, soda portion limits, cigarette-like labels on sugary drinks and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program regulations. The one case in which the soda companies sided with public health related to limitations on sugary drinks in schools.
Between 2011 and 2014, the Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo lobbies spent an average of >$6 million and >$3 million respectively per year. In 2009, the year a federal soda tax was proposed, both companies spent $9.5 million each.
Studies of alcohol and tobacco sponsorship document how it has been used to muzzle health organizations that would otherwise support public health initiatives against these industries. Recent research indicates a similar situation exists with the soda industry.
Public perception of healthy behavior is molded by the messaging of national health organizations. We bring a natural skepticism to any presentation of soda generated by soda companies. A similar scrutiny must inform our interpretation of what health organizations tell us.
This is nothing new. We recently learned that during the 1960s and 1970s, the sugar industry lobby funded the manipulation of research findings that were instrumental in steering the country away from dietary fat and cast doubt on the dangers of sugar. There is no question that this helped fuel the obesity epidemic.
Public health and the soda industry have a conflict of interest. The laws of reciprocity rule. There's no such thing as a free lunch with soda.