Soda companies shouldn’t have to find a way to tout nutrition
First there was Big Tobacco, and now we have Big Sugar. Your Friday interview with Katie Bayne, Coca-Cola’s president of sparkling beverages in North America, made me cringe. Is there no end to the reach of the Nanny State? I cringe because of her need to offer up excuses for the very existence of Coca-Cola. “What our drinks offer is hydration,” Bayne tells us (Money).
In the litigious and politically correct world the left has built for us, where individuals are never held responsible for their own behavior when there are deep-pocket corporations to blame and bilk, no wonder Bayne has to say soda pop has some sort of health benefit.
Big Sugar is trapped, just like Big Tobacco. I wish she had simply laid it down straight: “Yeah, sugar water is bad for you. But people love it and want to buy it. This used to be a free country.”
I hope that one day, scientists (correctly) link mainstream journalism to the epidemic of stupidity, discontent and unrest. Maybe then all the reporters, commentators and editors will have to justify the existence of their product. Kevin Garrett Valencia, Calif.
Use tobacco tactics against sugar
Thank you for articles on the epidemic of obesity, diabetes (and dental decay) and the relationship to sugar — especially soft drinks.
Unchecked, those health issues have the potential to bankrupt any health care system. Pushback will come in the same way and form as that occurring during the “Tobacco Wars.” Progress will be made similarly: taxation, lawsuits, education. A 50-cent tax on every can (container) of the sweet battery-acid-like fluid, with funds used for said specific health care, would go a long way to help. Laurin G. Rackham, pediatric dentist
Cedarburg, Wis.
Prize individual freedom
I enjoyed commentary writer Deborah Cohen’s Forum piece Monday lamenting the increasing obesity rate among our citizens (“Bloomberg is right: Portion control can reduce obesity”).
We all have a vested interest in portion control
41%: Share of Coca-Cola beverage production in North America that is low- and no-calorie. with alcohol, especially at restaurants and bars, with drinkers possibly driving home afterward. Drunkenness can be worse at home, with no portion control. The control should rest with the individual, not be imposed by the state. The same principle applies to overeating. I applaud Cohen’s working the numbers, but for me, it’s about how I feel at the end of the meal. Yes, I am overweight. Yes, I know portion control works. I realize there is a movement to justify anti-obesity legislation for the public good. But to relinquish my freedom to act as a free man, even in this case, would put us on a slippery slope.
Would Cohen want to control the minutes of exercise and computer use at school? Or at children’s homes? Or on the job? Make stores stop selling dresses larger than size 12 or pants larger than a 38-inch waist? This might drive obesity rates down. Would this lack of freedom of choice be worth the weight loss? No.
Perhaps people should approach the issue through education.
Douglas R. Wood Mission Viejo, Calif.