The science says ban soft drinks in schools, but the FDA support profits, not health

Monday, January 05, 2004 by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...) Tags: food politics, ban soft drinks, soft drinks

Kudos to doctors for pushing to ban soft drinks and fruit drinks in schools. It's just one way to combat rising childhood obesity, and it will surely help these children maintain healthy body weights as adults (it's much harder to lose weight as an adult if you were obese as a child). This is a clear case of standing up for science over industry profits, but don't be fooled: at the federal level, the FDA, which regulates foods and beverages in schools, has no such neutrality. In fact, it is currently under tremendous pressure to protect industry profits. That's the only reason why a soft drink ban hasn't happened sooner: the soft drink lobby is very powerful in Washington, and many current FDA employees come straight from the food and beverage industry.

Having soft drinks in schools is bad for childrens' health, bad for their education, and ultimately bad for the entire nation. We would all do well to support this ban and tell soft drinks companies to peddle their disease-promoting products somewhere else. Keep our kids safe.

Rest assured, the FDA will only agree to this ban as a last resort, and under great protest from beverage manufacturers and even some schools who rely on junk food revenues to raise money.