Latest Trustworthy News from Dr. Mercola - delivered straight to your inbox!
Get 20% Off on Spring Into Savings Sitewide Sale Get 20% Off on Spring Into Savings Sitewide Sale

Forbes: You Can’t Blame Coca-Cola for America’s Health Problems

  • January 14, 2017

A lawsuit charging Coca-Cola with misleading advertising when it comes to the so-called “health” of its products is the topic of a commentary in Forbes. The beverage giant is being unfairly singled out with inflammatory rhetoric that shifts the blame for sky-rocketing obesity rates onto Coke, rather than where it belongs — on consumers themselves, Forbes claims.

Forbes is correct in one assertion: You alone are responsible for your own food choices. You can choose to eat healthy fats like avocados and nuts, or you can fall back on fast foods and sugar-laden, processed packaged foods — including Coke — for your meals. But that doesn’t erase Coke’s guilt for trying to make you think its products are healthy.

It’s only been a few months since a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) executive resigned after being caught colluding with Coke to influence the World Health Organization’s stance on sugar limits. The CDC official’s boss confirmed the executive’s dealings with Coca-Cola in an internal email to CDC staff — which doesn’t exactly put Coke in the innocent victim’s seat when it comes to trying to find backdoor ways to get you to drink more of their product.

This is just one way that junk food purveyors gain influence in what’s presented to you as “healthy” and safe to eat. For decades, the links between sugar and poor health outcomes have been buried, and nutritional science has been misdirected on purpose — to shield industry interests, without regard for public health. And this lawsuit is finally bringing the truth to light.