Pepsi is cutting sugar and calories in their drinks in an effort to combat problems including climate change and obesity.
The company announced last Monday that by the year 2025, at least two-thirds of their drinks will have 100 or fewer calories and will contain less sugar as well.
Pepsi also announced in July that they are putting aspartame back into diet beverages, just 10 months after they announced they would get rid of it due to safety concerns.
In March, a study was released in the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health showing that aspartame is linked to leukemia.
The move to cut sugar and calories comes after researchers from Boston University discovered that PepsiCo and Coca Cola funded over 100 health organizations.
Very surprisingly, the sponsorships even included two major diabetes organizations — the American Diabetes Association and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. This baffled the researchers, especially because of the “given the established link between diabetes and soda consumption.”
Many researchers and health experts have blamed soda companies for being partly responsible for the rising rates of obesity and diabetes rates in the United States.
PepsiCo believes that their new goal is more ambitious than their previous goal of reducing 25 percent in certain drinks by 2020.
“The science has evolved,” Mehmood Khan, PepsiCo’s chief scientific officer of research and development, told Reuters.
He gave an example of new ingredients and flavors that require less sweetening: “It’s not just about sweeteners, it’s about understanding the flavor ingredients and having proprietary knowledge and access to them.”
“These are good steps. But when we have an obesity crisis, I think there is more that we can be doing,” said Mindy Lubber, president of non-profit organization Ceres, which pushes companies and investors to take action on sustainability.
“If a food and beverage company is not looking at nutrition, they are not looking at the direction the world is going in.”
Although PepsiCo is pushing to make these changes, we still don’t recommend drinking their sodas, drinks, or any other sodas for that matter. If you have a craving for a sweet drink, we recommend one of our delicious smoothie recipes instead.
Note: None of the information in our website is intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any illness or disease. The content on our website is for educational purposes only.
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Coca-Cola and PepsiCo funded over 100 health organizations.
Pepsi is putting aspartame back into diet beverages.
One more reason to never drink soda again.
REFERENCES:
1. “Sucralose Administered in Feed, Beginning Prenatally through Lifespan, Induces Hematopoietic Neoplasias in Male Swiss Mice.” Taylor & Francis. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2016.
2. “Coca-Cola, PepsiCo Funded Almost 100 Health Organizations over 5 Years.” Medical News Today. MediLexicon International, n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2016.
3. “BU Study Probes Soda Company Sponsorship of Health Groups.” EurekAlert! Boston University Medical Center, n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2016.
4. “Sponsorship of National Health Organizations by Two Major Soda Companies.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2016.
5. “PepsiCo Sets Global Target for Sugar Reduction.” Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 17 Oct. 2016. Web. 24 Oct. 2016.
