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You’re correct that soft drink providers have no horse in this race as they are mere consumers of sweetening agents, and the their product output depends on cus
by samtho 3y ago
You’re correct that soft drink providers have no horse in this race as they are mere consumers of sweetening agents, and the their product output depends on customer demand. It would hardly make much difference to them if 90% of consumers started to prefer Diet Coke over Coca-Cola, they would just make more Diet Coke.
The sugar industry’s escapades are well known. Most notably, the SRF’s (Sugar Research Foundation) war on dietary fats[0][1].
[0]: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/09/13/493739074/50-years-ago-sugar-industry-quietly-paid-scientists-to-point-blame-at-fat https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/09/13/493739074...
[1]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5099084/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5099084/
- throwaway38249 3y agoThey need to sell something, if people believe sugar is bad, sweeteners are bad, even disposable plastic bottles are bad, what's left? Edit to add something more concrete, we already have the "sugar tax" in the UK, to avoid it soft drinks went mostly sugar free or reduced sugar substantially, and replaced it with sweeteners. And now: https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/artificial-sweeteners-to-face-government-scrutiny-after-who-report-raises-health-fears/680641.article https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/artificial-sweeteners-to-face-go... Simultaneously: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/deposit-return-scheme-for-drinks-containers-moves-a-step-closer https://www.gov.uk/government/news/deposit-return-scheme-for...