Liquid candy.Good news on the soft-drink front! Sales of non-diet soda have declined by a remarkable 12 percent since 1998. What's gone right? I would like to think that the downturn in sales was due to the Center for Science in the Public Interest's widely publicized 1998 report, Liquid Candy Liquid Candy was a report released by the Center for Science in the Public Interest initially in 1998 to illustrate American's consumption of soft drinks and the health problems it poses. , which lambasted the soft-drink industry. (CSPI CSPI Center for Science in the Public Interest CSPI Corporate Service Price Index CSPI Cumulative Schedule Performance Index is the nonprofit publisher of Nutrition Action Healthletter.) But other forces likely played a larger role. The Atkins diet Atkins Diet Definition The Atkins diet is a high-protein, high-fat, and very low-carbohydrate regimen. It emphasizes meat, cheese, and eggs, while discouraging foods such as bread, pasta, fruit, and sugar. It is a form of ketogenic diet. , despite its flaws, was on target in urging people to minimize soft drinks and other foods rich in refined sugars and starches. The Sugar Busters The Sugar Busters diet is a low-carbohydrate diet focused on eliminating foods containing refined carbohydrates such as refined sugar, white flour, and white rice, as well as naturally-occurring carbohydrates rating high on the glycemic index such as potatoes and carrots. and South Beach diets also eschew soft drinks. What's more, the obesity epidemic has alarmed consumers, parents, and health officials. With obesity rates doubling in children and adults and tripling in adolescents since 1980, people are starting to cut out high-calorie junk foods like soda pop. And many communities, from New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. to New Jersey to Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , have ejected soft drinks from elementary schools, many middle schools, and some high schools. Still, we now consume five times as much soda pop as we did 50 years ago. Although almost everyone knows that soda is the quintessential junk food--just sugar calories and no nutrients--the soft-drink industry has managed to make it a mainstay of the diet. Soda pop is the official drink of restaurants, and woe unto those parents who try to get their kids to drink water or low-fat milk when they're eating out. Soft drinks provide about 7 percent of the average American's calories and 9 percent of teens' calories. (Add in non-carbonated "fruit" drinks and the numbers rise to about 9 and 12 percent, respectively.) Indeed, soft drinks are the single largest source of calories for the average American. To help drive soft-drink consumption lower, CSPI has published a new edition of Liquid Candy. It updates the growing scientific evidence that links soft drinks to obesity. And, with support from many health professionals, CSPI has petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to require labels on non-diet soft drinks to tell consumers why they should drink less. Michael F. Jacobson Michael F. Jacobson, who holds a Ph.D. in microbiology, co-founded the Center for Science in the Public Interest in 1971, along with two fellow scientists he met while working at the Center for the Study of Responsive Law. , Ph.D. Executive Director Center for Science in the Public Interest |
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