'Dump Soda' Global Campaign Goes After 'Liquid Candy'

Sugar-heavy sodas are contributing to a global rise in childhood obesity, and should no longer be marketed to children under 16, according to a new international campaign to "Dump Soda."

Led by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and the International Association of Consumer Food Organizations, the Dump Soda campaign says we need to reduce our consumption of high-calorie sodas and other drinks to improve health and diet around the globe. The campaign is calling for governments to restrict soda advertising to children, ban the sale of sodas and other sweetened drinks in schools and impose a value-added tax on soft drinks to generate funds for nutrition and exercise programs and subsidies for fresh produce.

Dump Soda leaders are also seeking to eliminate corporate logos and other marketing for programs promoting exercise and healthy habits. Rather than using direct corporate sponsorship, such programs should be funded by blind trusts overseen by government agencies, they say.

The coalition is aiming its message especially at big-name soft-drink companies that it says are "aggressively targeting" consumers in developing countries as soda sales in the U.S. and Europe decline.

"Multinational giants like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are flooding the world with beverages that are nothing more than liquid candy," said Bruce Silverglade, legal director for the CSPI. "As a result, consumers, including children, in all corners of the globe are increasingly developing obesity, type-2 diabetes and other health problems."

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), some 1.6 billion people ages 15 and up were overweight in 2005. In that same year, at least 20 million children under the age of 5 were also overweight.

"Once considered a problem only in high-income countries, overweight and obesity are now dramatically on the rise in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in urban settings," WHO said in its September 2006 fact sheet on obesity and overweight. The agency blames the trend on a global dietary shift toward more high-fat and high-sugar foods that are low in vitamins and other nutrients.

In fact, according to WHO, obesity and under-nutrition often go hand in hand in many parts of the world.

By initiating the Dump Soda campaign, CSPI's Silverglade said, "We hope that consumers around the world can avoid the types of problems that high rates of soft drink consumption has led to in the U.S."

The Dump Soda coalition announced the launch of its campaign during the Consumers International Congress being held this week in Sydney, Australia.

Center for Science in the Public Interest, "Groups Announce Global 'Dump Soda' Campaign." URL:(http://cspinet.org/new/200710291.html)