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In my view, one soft drink a day, even though the soft drink companies say you can consume it in moderation, takes you away from what is healthy. A healthy human diet does not consist of soft drinks, nor does it consist of Big Macs, french fries or processed, homogenized, pasteurized milk from cows. That is not a normal part of the human diet. Taking medication is not normal either Human beings did not evolve to consume prescription drugs either.

Whistleblowers wanted: Truth Publishing seeks insiders to speak out about drug companies, health insurance and conventional medicine Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

We're looking for public school officials who want to blow the whistle on soft drink companies and junk food companies who pressure schools into accepting vending machines that feed garbage foods to kids. What tactics did these companies use? What were the results on attendance, grades, and student behavior? Have you tried to get vending machines out of your school and met with stiff resistance? Click here to contact us or call us at (520) 232-9300. Does anyone know which hospitals and clinics are owned by the pharmaceutical company Astrazeneca?

The future of food fabrication, intellectual property and seeds Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

The oil companies know that, and the soft drink companies know that. Beverage manufacturers know that caffeine makes their products sell on a repeated basis to the same consumers because of its addictive qualities. In the future, food fabrication manufacturers are certainly going to try to leverage the same principles to generate recurring revenue from their technology.

Taste inflation revealed: why sugar, salt and fragrance make you stupid Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

And it's a sensory assault basically created by food companies, personal care product companies, cosmetic companies, soft drink companies, restaurants and fast food chains, as well as other players in the food and consumer products markets. So remember, if you want to boost your intelligence, or maintain the current intelligence that you have, give up these high-salt, high-sugar products. Give up all these artificial fragrances in your life. Boost your sensory acuity and open yourself up in terms of awareness and connection with the environment around you.

Low-carb vs. low-fat diet debate distracts from the real weight loss solution Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

The mainstream press depends on revenues from food manufacturing companies, including junk food companies and soft drink companies that sell products strongly correlated with the development of chronic diseases like cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis and obesity. Thus, the business of selling disease-promoting, obesity-encouraging foods is extremely profitable to everyone in the industry. To openly discuss the strategy of moving away from processed, manufactured foods would alienate most advertisers who support these information publishers, and it would drain profits from grocery stores as well.

Food Fight Kelly Brownell and Katherine Battle Horgen See book keywords and concepts

As one teacher lamented, contracts with food and soft drink companies may be shrouded in such secrecy that teachers and even administrators may have little input.92 Teachers should be nosy and find out about agreements the school is making. Teachers deserve to know—after all, they must deal with the consequences. Studies have shown that healthy behavior can be successfully marketed, just like unhealthy behavior. Teachers can support school programs encouraging healthier eating and, of course, can model healthy eating themselves.

The story's plot is straightforward: þSchools are not funded sufficiently, and food and soft drink companies are there to "help." þSchools depend on the companies and companies need new consumers. The marriage is consummated. þStudents love the foods, and there is little community resistance. þMoney flows year after year and becomes part of the operating budget, making it difficult to turn back. The marketing of fast foods, snack foods, and soft drinks in schools occurs in many, many forms,2 and has created a nutrition nightmare.

Thus, alliances between schools and soft drink companies grow stronger with time.3 The two parties have been creative at molding schools into marketing enterprises and have made soft drinks part of school life.4 Deeply Dependent Schools Schools rely on the money from the sale of soft drinks and from contracts they sign with bottlers. This dependence is hard to break.

We agree with at least this last statement. The soft drink companies are a presence in the schools and have become a regular part of the funding equation. Sweet Persuasion: School Soft Drink Contracts The Center for Commercial-Free Public Education estimated that 240 districts in thirty-one states have exclusive "pouring rights" arrangements or contracts with soft-drink companies. This may just scratch the surface, given the estimate from the soft drink association that 62 percent of all principals reported having contracts. Most without contracts have vending machines anyway.

The study of 610 secondary schools in Minnesota mentioned in Chapter 6 found that 98 percent have soft drink machines and 77 percent have contracts with soft drink companies.8 In Kentucky, vending machines are in 44 percent of elementary schools, 88 percent of middle schools, and 97 percent of high schools. Eighty-three percent of Kentucky schools have exclusive contracts with bottlers.9 Schools see pouring rights contracts as a way to increase funding. This is increasingly necessary as communities are reluctant to raise taxes.

Ninety-eight percent of the schools have soft drink machines and 77 percent have contracts with soft drink companies.6 It is important that parents, community leaders, and health professionals understand what children eat in school; the messages they receive about nutrition; how their school life affects overall eating; and how national, state, and local policies affect diet. Then it will become clear whether schools must change.

Food Revolution: How your diet can help save your life and our world John Robbins See book keywords and concepts

Coca-Cola and other soft drink companies are giving millions of dollars to cash-strapped school districts in return for exclusive rights to sell their products in schools. In one such deal, a school district in Colorado actually requires teachers to push Coca-Cola consumption in classrooms whenever sales fall below contractual obligations.4 This is happening even though excess sugar consumption is linked to obesity, kidnev stones, osteoporosis, heart disease, and dental cavities.' Today, the average North American consumes, per day, the rather staggering total of 53 teaspoons of sugar.

Food Politics Marion Nestle See book keywords and concepts

By 2001, soft drink companies were routinely placing 20-ounce sodas in vending machines, and pricing them at $1.00-1.50. The larger sodas clearly encourage "eat more." They provide 250 calories each and are a better value (5.0-7.5 cents per ounce compared to 8.3 cents per ounce for the 12-ounce can). In addition, they are vended in portable screw-top plastic bottles that permit sipping throughout the day rather than downing in one gulp. This last feature particularly distresses dental groups alarmed about how the sugar and acid in soft drinks so easily dissolve tooth enamel.

Even taking the large initial lump-sum payments and sales taxes into consideration, soft drink companies were unlikely to lose money on those deals. I could not obtain reliable sales figures, but school food service directors laughed at tbe suggestion that students might consume an average of one case (24 12-ounce sodas) per year; they thought one soda per day was more realistic, at least for high school students. The quoted comments of a marketing consultant hired by 63 school systems to negotiate such contracts support this higher estimate.

In Minnesota, a state senator introduced a bill to ban sales of soda pop while school is in session, but it "failed in the committee BIG TIME" under pressure from lobbyists for soft drink companies and school boards.54 Despite such victories, but surely in response to the threat of legal intervention, Coca-Cola announced that it would no longer require exclusivity in school contracts.

Chapter 9 provides a detailed examination of a particularly disturbing example: "pouring rights" contract agreements between schools and soft drink companies. STARTING EARLY UNDERAGE CONSUMERS WHEREAS CONCERNS ABOUT CHILDREN'S NUTRITION ONCE focused on dietary insufficiency, the most serious dietary issue affecting today's American children is obesity—the result of eating more food than is needed, rather than too little. Obesity rates are rising rapidly among children and adolescents, especially those who are African-American or Hispanic.

She explained that the term referred to a recent development in food marketing: large payments from soft drink companies to school districts in return for the right to sell that company's products—and only those products—in every one of the district's schools.

Staying Healthy with Nutrition: The Complete Guide to Diet and Nutritional Medicine Elson M. Haas, M.D. See book keywords and concepts

Some of the soft drink companies are now making caffeine-free drinks.) CAFFEINE-CONTAINING FOOD PRODUCTS yerba mate guarana root kola nut cocoa/chocolate some soft drinks tea coffee Both extracted and synthesized caffeine may be added to other products. Many common pharmaceutical preparations contain caffeine for its stimulating effects to counteract sedating antihistamines or for its cerebral vasodilating effects to relieve vascular headaches.

Food Politics Marion Nestle See book keywords and concepts

From such figures alone, it is easy to understand why children of any age present an irresistible marketing opportunity and why food companies spare no effort to reach them. soft drink companies unapologetically name 8- to 12-year-olds as marketing targets. Advertisers encourage marketing directed to 9-year-olds as a logical consequence of the fact that children—and girls in particular—are maturing earlier. McDonald's produces commercials, advertisements, and a Web site aimed specifically at children aged 8-13.

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ABOUT THE CREATOR OF NATURALPEDIA: Mike Adams, the creator of this NaturalNews Naturalpedia, is the editor of NaturalNews.com, the internet's top natural health news site, creator of the Honest Food Guide (www.HonestFoodGuide.org), a free downloadable consumer food guide based on natural health principles, author of Grocery Warning, The 7 Laws of Nutrition, Natural Health Solutions, and many other books available at www.TruthPublishing.com, creator of the earth-friendly EcoLEDs company (www.EcoLEDs.com) that manufactures energy-efficient LED lighting products, founder of Arial Software (www.ArialSoftware.com), a permission e-mail technology company, creator of the CounterThink Cartoon series (www.NaturalNews.com/index-cartoons.html) and author of over 1,500 articles, interviews, special reports and reference guides available at www.NaturalNews.com. Adams' personal philosophy and health statistics are available at www.HealthRanger.org.