Nice to see Michelle Obama taking up the good fight against fat (unhealthy) kids. Sadly, the same day the media carried this story, we also see that Coca-cola posted strong profits on emerging market sales, including a 29% increase in China and significant increases in India and Latin America.
Despite new evidence that shows just how dangerous these products are (pancreatic cancer anyone?), not just because they are sugary and can make us fat, soft drink and junk food companies continue to push for higher profits, displaying an unimaginable level of irresponsibility. Maybe there’s a corporate strategy to export shortened life-spans and make their kids fat too. (“Life is better even if it’s shorter.”)
Of course, Michelle has it right that we need better food education, which is our mission at Wake Up and Eat. Labels, better school lunches, and more exercise will all help. But, let’s not kid ourselves… the “soft drink” habit is a huge problem, messing with the body’s metabolism, insulin regulation and more.
Since they play a leading role in our obesity crisis, maybe these products need warning labels (think “Smoking is hazardous to your health”)? How about a ban on sales to minors (yes, we know it won’t happen)? Let’s start treating these products as the dangerous substances they really are. Yes, we know shareholders love those profits but it’s time we step up and call them on it.
In the meanwhile, maybe we should just smile as we recognize that American soda imperialism seems to be one of the few places where we can get to the Chinese. 🙂
Update (May 2012): Off the label (trying to a void the big C word… no. not coke): See Coke, Pepsi Skirt Cancer Warning. We suppose nothing changes or if it does, it’s really s-l-o-w…..