24 Oct 2014 US: Soda giants pledge to cut calories

The move does not reduce the actual calories in conventional soda — instead, the beverage companies pledged to take specific actions to reduce soft drink calorie consumption — like selling smaller portion sizes and increasing promotion of products such as bottled water.

The companies also jointly promised to provide calorie counts and promote calorie awareness on the vending machines, fountain dispensers and retail coolers that they control nationwide.

“This is the single largest voluntary effort by an industry to help fight obesity and leverages our companies’ greatest strengths in marketing, innovation and distribution,” said Susan Neely, CEO of the American Beverage Association, the industry’s trade group. “This initiative will help transform the beverage landscape in America.”

The action comes at a time when beverage industry sales of most carbonated soft drinks — both sugared and artificially sweetened — have been falling. Sales of non-diet soda have fallen by 15% since 1998 and, more recently, sales of diet soft drinks also have begun to decline. These declines have nudged the beverage makers to begin to produce other kinds of lower calorie products and more water options.

It also comes as the country’s three biggest soda makers face public pressure over the role of sugary drinks in fueling obesity. For instance, the beverage giants face a threat of voter or legislative action if they don’t take some concrete steps themselves to reduce calories. On Nov. 4, voters in San Francisco and Berkeley, Calif, will vote on whether to impose excise taxes on sugar drinks.

The progress of the beverage industry’s new initiative will be tracked. The beverage companies will retain an independent, third-party evaluator to track their progress. This will be done in conjunction with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, an organisation founded by the American Heart Association and the Clinton Foundation.

But one consumer watchdog group says that, while the action is commendable, it’s inadequate.

Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said the announcement shows “the industry is seeing the writing on the wall”, adding that it was “not nearly big enough or fast enough to protect the public’s health”.

The group already has petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to lower the sugar content of soft drinks by 75%, but has not received a response yet, says Jacobson.

One nutritional expert is wholly unimpressed.

“Consumption trends are moving in this direction already, so they might be promising something that will happen no matter what they do,” says Kelly Brownell, dean of the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University. “These companies are under fire, and promises without substance will not help.”