CDC Executive Resigns After Being Caught Colluding With Coca-Cola to Salvage Soda Market

For many years now, health advocates have warned people about the connection between sugary drinks and obesity, and the message has slowly but surely started to take hold. U.S. soda sales have dropped 25 percent since 1998, no doubt due to successful public health advocacy, and this makes the current scandal all the more scandalous, as it's an attempt by a high-level health official to undo all the work that's already been done to protect the public health. According to USRTK: "Alex Malaspina was able to ask for and receive regular input and guidance from a top official at the ... CDC on how to address actions by the World Health Organization that were hurting the food and beverage industry. The emails ... reveal that ... Bowman ... tried to help Malaspina find inroads to influence WHO officials to back off anti-sugar talk. Bowman suggested people and groups for Malaspina to talk to, and solicited his comments on some CDC summaries of reports ..." Surprisingly, Bowman had the good sense to immediately vacate her post once her betrayal of the public trust was exposed. According to The Huffington Post, Bowman "announced her immediate departure from the agency ... two days after it came to light that she had been offering guidance to a leading Coca-Cola advocate who was seeking to influence world health authorities on sugar and beverage policy matters."

Soda Industry Dying as Americans Seek Healthy Beverages that Don’t Cause Diabetes, Obesity

Americans are finally waking up to the fact that drinking soda is an unhealthy practice. Sales of sugary, carbonated drinks have fallen dramatically in recent years, sending the soda industry into a panic. A recent piece in The New York Times by Margot Sanger-Katz details the decline in soda sales and the efforts that led to it.

How Much Cancer-Causing 4-MeI May Be in Your Soda?

Caramel color, which is widely used in brown soft drinks, may cause cancer due to 4-methylimidazole (4-MeI), a chemical byproduct formed when certain types of caramel coloring are manufactured. 4-MeI has been found to cause cancer in animals and the International Agency for Research on Cancer declared it to be “possibly carcinogenic to humans”. A Consumer Reports study found levels of 4-MeI in soft drinks at levels that exceed those requiring a cancer warning label. Caramel color may be listed on labels as “artificial flavor” or “caramel color”.

Soda lobbyists spent 12.9M on lawmakers in N.Y., more than any other group in 2010

by Glenn Blain
DAILY NEWS ALBANY BUREAU

Groups pumped $210.6 million into efforts to influence state lawmakers in 2010, a 6.5% increase from the year before, the New York Public Interest Research Group reported yesterday.

Read the Full Story here: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2011/03/05/2011-03-05_albany_lobbyists_spend_2106_million_to_influence_lawmakers_in_2010.html