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Tuesday, 20 March 2007 16:00 |
 Have you heard the news? Soda is now healthy. Well, at least diet sodas are healthy ó when theyíre fortified by vitamins ... and you happen to be the CEO of a major soda company.
That soft drinks are actually good for you was the claim made recently by E. Neville Isdell, chief executive of Coca-Cola, in a recent press conference at which he disputed links between soda consumption and obesity.
Diet colas, he argued, should be considered ìhealth drinks,î because they provide an alternative to regular sodas.
Isdell,
no doubt, is keenly aware that his industry is suffering in light of a
growing public awareness of the health risks associated with soft
drinks ó and their primary sweetener, high-fructose corn syrup.
For the first
time in recent history, the number of sodas sold in the U.S. decreased
in 2005, and even diet-soda sales have slowed.
While this is
good news for Americansí health, it is bad news for Coca-Colaís
shareholders, and the company has come back with a strategy to counter
the shift in public perception: Rebrand sodas.
In addition to
the obviously flawed arguments presented by its CEO, Coca-Cola has
sought to counter public opinion by introducing a soon-to-be-released
new product, Diet Coke Plus. The company hopes that the
vitamin-fortified diet soda will compete with a growing field of
nutritional drinks and fruit-juice-based sparkling beverages. PepsiCo
will soon offer a similar drink, Tava.
We find
Coca-Colaís efforts both disingenuous and absurd. The idea that a diet
soda is healthy, just because it may be less harmful than a regular
soda, is akin to saying that robbery is lawful because it is not as bad
as murder.
In numerous
studies, consumers have said that they perceive the artificial
sweeteners in diet sodas as both unnatural and unhealthy. Adding
vitamins is unlikely to convince many that such drinks are now good for
them.
We would urge
soda companies to be honest about their products, or at least not tell
outright lies about them. Sodas are unhealthy ó period. They may have
other positive qualities, such as providing pleasure, but health is not
one of those qualities.
As for the rest
of us, we should just be glad there are now so many good alternatives.
Besides, a carbonated fruit juice tastes as good as a Coke any day.
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