Global health organisations come together to curb sugar-linked diseases in kids

Urge Coke and Pepsi to acknowledge the burden of diseases due to sugar and curb marketing for kids

The George Institute for Global Health has join hands with health groups around the world, calling on Coca Cola and PepsiCo to acknowledge the burden of sugar related diseases in children and to stop hardcore marketing and advertising of the sugar sweetened beverages to them.

The groups have written to the CEO’s of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo and also the companies’ major institutional investors in the run-up to Coca-Cola’s annual meeting on April 27 and PepsiCo’s on May 4.

According to the letter, “While sugar-drink consumption in the US and Europe has been declining, your company and others are investing billions of dollars annually to increase sales in low/middle-income countries like Asia, Africa,the Middle East, and Latin America, “The lower income countries face steep and sometimes unaffordable increases in the healthcare costs associated with the rising rates of type-II diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and other soda-related health problems, the groups say.

In February, the Centre for Science in the Public Interest released ‘Carbonating the World’, a report exposing the billions of dollars Coke and Pepsi are spending in countries such as Brazil, China, India, and Mexico to promote sugar-drink sales.

Gary Fayard, Chief Financial Officer, Coke, called the world’s 3.5 billion people in their teens and twenties the company’s “Core demographic.” Coca-Cola has emerged as Africa’s top employer, according to the report.

The groups also urged Coke and Pepsi to reduce container sizes, include warning notices about adverse health effects on soda containers, reduce the calorie content of beverages to no more than forty calories per twelve ounces, and stop fighting public health measures aimed at reducing soda consumption, such as taxes, warning labels, or marketing restrictions.

Apart from The George Institute for Global Health from Australia & India, others who have co-signed the letter are Alliance for the Control of Tobacco Use and Health Promotion, Brazil; The Nutritional Health Alliance, Mexico; Australia & New Zealand Obesity Society from Australia, China, India & UK; Centre for Science and Environment, India; World Obesity Federation and World Public Health Nutrition Association.

EH News Bureau