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Category: Food and Beverage / Industry / Business, Economics and Finance / Obesity

One can a week is OK: Coca-Cola hits back in obesity row

Wednesday, 2 Mar 2016 07:25:35 | David Taylor

Coca-Cola Amatil said it would "rather have lots of people drinking small amounts" of its product (AFP: Joel Saget)

Soft drink company Coca-Cola Amatil has told the ABC it would prefer Australians drink just one can of its product a week.

Audio: Listen to David Taylor's report (AM)

The company made the comment after a leading US academic urged Australians to take on the soft drink industry as a way to tackle obesity.

The Australian arm of beverage giant Coca-Cola maintains its high-sugar products, like a 375ml can of Coke, are not harmful.

"If you consume one can like that a week, no, I don't think that's unhealthy," said Alison Watkins, the managing director of Coca-Cola Amatil.

When asked if Coke could make money if everyone just drunk one can a week, Ms Watkins replied: "We would much rather have lots of people drinking small amounts of our product than to have a small number of people drinking a lot of our product."

Coca-Cola Amatil was responding to criticisms by leading researcher Professor Marion Nestle from New York University.

Professor Nestle is on sabbatical with the University of Sydney's Charles Perkins Centre and delivered a lecture on Tuesday night to a packed theatre.

She claimed soft drink companies around the world were distorting the truth about their products to keep profits growing.

"There is so much evidence now that drinking sugars in form of liquids is not good for health," she said.

Official figures show that more than half of Australians are overweight or obese. More than a quarter fall into the obese category.

Professor Nestle said the soft drink industry did everything it possibly could to discourage any warnings about consuming its products.

Her work shows soft drink companies fund scientific research to push back against claims their sugary soft drinks contribute to excessive weight gain.

But Ms Watkins from Coca-Cola Amatil said that kind of lobbying did not happen in Australia.

"We don't sponsor any research ourselves," she said.

Ms Watkins said Coca-Cola Amatil was simply trying to support people who wanted its product, as well as those who wanted it too much.

"In one sense we are responding to what the consumer wants," she said.

"In another sense we are really wanting to make sure that we are part of solving what is undoubtedly a big problem for society — and that is obesity."

Coca-Cola Amatil told the ABC it will be disclosing details of its funding to research organisations in a couple of months.

AustraliaPlus


 

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