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Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Soda giants agree to cut calories consumed by 20 percent by 2025.

News that soft drink giants Coke, Pepsi and Dr Pepper Snapple Group agreed Tuesday to work to reduce the calories Americans get in their beverages by 20 percent over the next decade received wide coverage, with many major newspapers and news agencies offering their respective takes. Several media outlets note some experts weren’t impressed with the move, pointing out that Americans have already begun scaling back on soda consumption. Others note that the move is an implicit acknowledgment of the role of the soda industry in rising obesity rates across the country. The New York Times(9/24, Strom, Subscription Publication) reports that the commitment, made Tuesday at the 10th annual Clinton Global Initiative in New York, “was an acknowledgment by the companies of the role their products play in the country’s obesity crisis and the escalating rates of diabetes and heart disease that accompany it.” The paper notes the companies agreed to “expand the presence of low- and no-calorie drinks, as well as drinks sold in smaller portions,” and also make efforts to inform consumers “and encourage them to reduce the calories they are drinking.” Still, the paper notes, health advocates “generally dismissed the Tuesday announcement as little more than another example of the industry’s marketing prowess.”

        USA Today (9/23, Horovitz, Today) clarifies that the pledge does not cut “the actual calories in a 12-ounce can of conventional soda, which is about 150 calories.” Instead, the paper notes, the soda companies agreed “to take specific actions to reduce soft drink calorie consumption – like selling smaller portion sizes and increasing promotion of products such as bottled water.” The paper provides details of the agreement, noting that the companies “jointly pledged to provide calorie counts and promote calorie awareness on the vending machines, fountain dispensers and retail coolers that they control nationwide.”

        In an analytical piece, the Wall Street Journal (9/24, Esterl, Subscription Publication) notes that the industry’s move effectively recognizes the role of sugary drinks in the country’s obesity issues.

        The Washington Post (9/23) quotes Susan K. Neely, president and chief executive of the American Beverage Association, the industry trade group, “This is the single-largest voluntary effort by an industry to help fight obesity and leverages our companies’ greatest strengths in marketing, innovation and distribution.”

        But the AP (9/24, Choi) reports that the commitment to reduce the calorie consumption “follows the way customers’ tastes are already changing: People have been moving away from soda on their own for several years.” The news was also covered Reuters (9/24, Athavaley), the Christian Science Monitor (9/23), TIME (9/23) and New York Daily News (9/24).


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