CSPI Calls on FDA to Require Health Warnings on Sodas

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CSPI Calls on FDA to Require Health Warnings on Sodas

 

New " Liquid Candy " Data: Teens Guzzling More Soft Drinks than Ever

Before

 

Teenage boys who drink carbonated or non-carbonated soft drinks

consume an average of three 12-ounce cans per day, and girls more

than two cans, according to a new analysis of 1999-2002 government

data. Teens who drink soft drinks get nearly 15 percent of their

total calories from those drinks. Although adults seem to be turning

to diet soda, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI)

says that the data show teenagers are actually drinking more high-

calorie soft drinks than ever-and less diet soda than in years past-

despite growing concerns about obesity.

 

" Just as the soaring rates of obesity have shocked Americans, so

should the increasing consumption by teenagers of one of the causes

of obesity, " CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson said. " What

was once a rare treat in a small serving is now served up morning,

noon, and night, virtually everywhere Americans happen to be. How

did a solution of high-fructose corn syrup, water, and artificial

flavors come to be the default beverage? "

 

In a petition filed today with the Food and Drug Administration

(FDA), CSPI asked the agency to require a series of rotating health

notices on containers of all non-diet soft drinks-carbonated and non-

carbonated-containing more than 13 grams of refined sugars per 12

ounces. (The typical 12-ounce soda contains 40 grams.) CSPI said

that those messages could include:

 

• The U.S. Government recommends that you drink less (non-diet) soda

to help prevent weight gain, tooth decay, and other health problems.

 

• To help protect your waistline and your teeth, consider drinking

diet sodas or water.

 

• Drinking soft drinks instead of milk or calcium-fortified

beverages may increase your risk of brittle bones (osteoporosis).

 

CSPI also said that caffeinated drinks should bear a notice that

reads " This drink contains x grams of caffeine, which is a mildly

addictive stimulant drug. Not appropriate for children. "

 

" It is obvious to physicians who treat obese children that the extra

200, 300, or 400 empty calories kids get from soft drinks contribute

to weight gain, " said Dr. Caroline M. Apovian, director of the

Nutrition and Weight Management Center at Boston Medical Center. " If

you want to stop the epidemic of childhood obesity, curbing soda

consumption is the place to start. Health messages on labels would

certainly help parents and teens be aware of the risks. "

 

In 2004, soda companies produced 37 gallons of carbonated non-diet

soda-providing about 60,000 empty calories-for every man, woman, and

child in the United States, according to Liquid Candy, a CSPI report

first issued in 1998 and re-released in updated form today. As high

as that is, industry data show that per capita production of

carbonated soda has dropped 7 percent since 1998. And because many

adults have switched to diet soda, production of non-diet soda has

declined 12 percent-the biggest decrease ever. Nevertheless, despite

that decline in overall production, soda consumption in kids has

increased from the 1970s to the 2000s, as have their rates of

obesity. Obesity has doubled in kids, and tripled in teens. Though

the correlation is striking, recent studies have provided even more

direct evidence implicating increased soda consumption with weight

gain.

 

CSPI's new data show that one out of every 10 boys consumes 66

ounces-equivalent to five and a half 12-ounce cans, or about 800

calories-per day. One out of every 20 boys consumes the equivalent

of 7 cans per day, or about 1,000 calories. The amount of refined

sugars that soda-drinking teens get from soda exceeds the

government's recommendations for their sugar consumption from all

foods.

 

" Soda is bad not only for what is provides kids, but for what it

takes away, " said Lucy Nolan, executive director of End Hunger

Connecticut!. That group recently lobbied successfully for

legislation banning soda and other junk foods from schools only to

see it vetoed by Governor Jodi Rell. " Hardly any kids are getting

enough calcium, vitamins, fiber, vegetables, or fruit. The more soda

you drink, the less of those you get. If school systems spent half

as much time trying to get more fruits and vegetables into schools

as they did trying to keep soda contracts, our kids would be much

better off. "

 

Overweight or obese teens are increasingly at risk for type-2

diabetes, once called " adult-onset " diabetes and once rare in kids.

And the decreased calcium intake that may accompany increased soda

consumption can put people, particularly women, at greater risk for

broken bones and osteoporosis.

 

CSPI's petition is supported by the American Dental Hygienists

Association, the American Society of Bariatric Surgeons, the

Consumer Federation of America, the National Center for Health

Education, and others. It is also supported by leading scientists

and nutrition experts, including Gladys Block of the University of

California, Berkeley, School of Public Health; George Bray of the

Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University;

Brian Burt of the University of Michigan School of Public Health;

JoAnn Manson of Harvard Medical School; and Marion Nestle of New

York University.

 

Besides health messages on labels, CSPI recommends requiring calorie

labeling of beverages on chain restaurant menus and menu boards, and

stopping soda sales in schools. CSPI also says that states and local

governments that levy small taxes on soda or other junk foods should

consider earmarking those revenues for promoting health and fitness.

A national 2-cent-per-can tax on soda would raise $3 billion

annually-almost one thousand times as much money as the federal

government spends promoting consumption of fruits and vegetables.

http://www.cspinet.org/new/200507131.html

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