Coca-Cola among 'Terrible Ten' things, say experts

Rebecca Prescott14 Oct 2011

Organisers of Food Day have named the 'Terrible Ten' factors impairing Americans' diets, health and environment and that exemplify much of what the grassroots movement is trying to address when it culminates on October 24.

According to The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), in no special order, some of the Terrible Ten include:

  • Coca-Cola, the most aggressively promoted and widely consumed brand of sugar-loaded 'liquid candy' in the world, has contributed mightily to the obesity epidemic. Each can of Coke contains 9 teaspoons of sugar.
  • Froot Loops, a fruit-less sugary cereal gussied up with synthetic dyes, is one of a host of junk foods marketed heavily to kids. Kelloggs is one of many companies seeking to kill federal voluntary nutrition standards intended to promote children's health.
  • Subsidies to companies that blend corn ethanol into gasoline, coupled with a mandate to marketbns of gallons of that gasoline annually, cost taxpayers $6bn a year. Using corn for fuel leads to higher prices for corn and foods with corn ingredients, all for a programme without significant environmental benefit.
  • White flour, which is used in bread, pizza crusts, pasta, doughnuts, cakes, burritos, cookies, and dozens of other foods, has spurred the obesity epidemic by adding evermore vitamin-depleted, fibre-poor calories the diet.

Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the organisation that is coordinating Food Day, said: "This collection of 'terrible' symbolises some of the things that Food Day is trying to change. It's time to encourage Americans to 'eat real,' which means 'out' with the Froot Loops and 'in' with real fruit.

"It means more food from farmers markets and much less food, if any, from fast food drive-throughs and vending machines."

Food Day is a celebration of healthy, affordable, and sustainably grown food. More than 1,500 events are planned from coast-to-coast in homes, schools, universities, parks, and even in Times Square. So Food Day organisers have paired their Terrible Ten list with a Terrific Ten list of things that are worth celebrating, including:

  • Water, which is a humankind's standard beverage for millennia, from the tap or filtered, carbonated or not, is a far better choice than soda and other sugary drinks.
  • Traditional Mediterranean and Asian diets that are heavy on vegetables and fruit and light on meat and cheese are delicious and reduce the risk of heart disease and other maladies. Plant-based foods are also easier on the environment than animal products.
  • Sustainable and organically grown foods build healthy soil and minimise harm to farmers, the environment, and consumers from dangerous pesticides, excess fertiliser, antibiotics in animal feed, and unsafe synthetic food additives.
  • The Coalition of Immokalee Workers has challenged, and improved, the inhumane working conditions endured by many Florida farmworkers, showing that persistent, aggressive action can stop injustices.

Source: CSPI