American Diabetes Association peddling nutritional nonsense

[Guest guest]

American Diabetes Association peddling nutritional nonsense while accepting money from manufacturer of candy and sodas Print Link Related http://www.newstarget.com/008164.html Page 1 | next page ->Posted Jun 1, 2005 PT by Jessica Fraser The American Diabetes Association (ADA) recently announced a three-year, multi-million dollar alliance with Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages (CSAB) to help combat obesity and diabetes in America by stressing the importance of making smart nutritional choices. According to an ADA press release sent to national media outlets, CSAB will support local and national ADA programs, such as "America's Walk for Diabetes" and "Weight Loss Matters." The release does not state, however, that the CSAB will be permitted to use the ADA logo on its diet soft drink products in exchange for this multi-million dollar contribution. While the ADA and CSAB have published releases putting a positive spin on their alliance, many public interest groups have some problems with the partnership. Although CSAB is only allowed to print ADA's logo on its diet sodas, it is still the third-largest soft drink manufacturer in the world and a major producer of sugary candy. Both categories of products contribute to the United States' problem with obesity and diabetes. Gary Ruskin, executive director of Oregon-based Commercial Alert, a website that monitors commercial culture, called the ADA's partnership with CSAB "corrupt" and demanded that the contribution be returned to CSAB immediately. "If Cadbury Schweppes really wanted to reduce the incidence of obesity and diabetes, it would stop advertising its high-sugar products, and remove them from our nation’s schools," said Ruskin. "This is just another attempt by a major junk food corporation to obfuscate its responsibility in the epidemic of obesity and diabetes in the United States." Another public interest group, the Corporate Crime Reporter (CCR), recently published an interview with Richard Kahn, the ADA's chief medical and scientific officer. CCR asked Kahn, "Why exactly is the ADA taking money from big corporate donors, including junk food pushers?" Kahn revealed that the association's so-called "multi-million dollar" alliance was actually only slightly more than one million dollars. In exchange for that sum of money, Cadbury-Schweppes can put the ADA's label on all of its diet soda products. According to Kahn, however, CSAB cannot use the association's logo on any product not nutritionally approved by the ADA, nor on any product specifically marketed toward diabetics. Despite the terms of the alliance, in a press release posted on www.beverageworld.com, CSAB Senior Vice President of Marketing Jim Trebilcock implied that products with the ADA logo will be marketed toward diabetics. "I acknowledge that it is a little bit of a tricky dance here, given that we also sell sugared beverages," says Trebilcock, "but it's about communicating the choice. And it's also really about doing the right thing. And the right thing is we do offer products that are great for diabetic patients or people who are overweight and we want to get that message out, but done in a way that contributes to an overall solution." continues on page 2 ->Just launched: Get real-time breaking health news at NaturalHealthReport.com