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Unhealthy food purveyors are fed up with what they see as City Hall's scaremongering about their products, so they've gone on the offensive with a $1 million nationwide ad campaign. In New York, the Center for Consumer Freedom—a "consumer advocate" front for a collective of food corporations—is asking people, "When did the Big Apple become Big Brother?" We thought it started around the time Peter Stuyvesant imprisoned people harboring Quakers, but no; the answer to that rhetorical question is Mayor Bloomberg. His Health Department is behind a number of public health initiatives, including requiring chain restaurants to display calorie info, and, most recently, a public awareness campaign against soda.
The national ad blitz headquarters is the Sweet Scam website, which is dedicated to defending corn syrup against a rising tide of public disdain. In an assertion that sounds like it's straight from the lips of unctuous Simpsons lawyer Lionel Hutz, the group asserts: "Some people mistakenly believe that some sweeteners are healthier than others. But the facts don't add up. Whether it’s sugar from cane, beets, or corn, all sweet treats have the same number of calories." Of course, it's not really the calories in high-fructose corn syrup that worries people. Below, the TV ad that's going to start airing on cable this week.
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I guess they didn't convince enough people with the TV mom that worries that any tax on soda will 'harm her family's budget'. Because when you're trying to feed a family of four, the first item on the shopping list is Coca cola.
so they've gone on the offensive with a $1 million nationwide ad campaign
Think of how many healthy meals you could donate to the poor with this amount of money.
I would probably start cutting myself if I was a project manager reporting to the Center for Consumer Freedom for this campaign. They are probably among the worst clients ever.
I don't mind government taking action to independently promote healthier lifestyles. It's when they start policing private corporations, their fast-food outlets and telling them that they have to put menus listing nutritional data that bothers me. If I wanted healthy food, I wouldn't be at a fast-food joint. And if I already walked into McDonald's, I couldn't really care any less if you put a naked picture of Pam Anderson over all the nutritional data. Well, bad example.
It's not only fast food outlets that have to post the information, so even if I don't go to McDonalds, I can know if I'm better off starving to death or eating that almond croissant...
Also, not everybody knows that those innocent salads aren't that "healthy" after you put all the garbage on top of it.
And I couldn't care less about Pam Anderson either... I prefered here before all the frankenstein surgery...
I'm fine with the information. Information is power, and I'm glad to see these things listed at food places around the city.
And that corn syrup stuff is bad. and real sugar tastes so much better anyway.
The nutritious information is very helpful to me. I don't seriously believe any customers are offended by it.
"start policing private corporations"? Oh, like liquor, tobacco, food, etc...? Everything is regulated and should be, to a degree. Otherwise, we'd be drinking poisonous snakeoil if it could turn some unscrupulous companies better profit.
I don't put my trust 100% in the private sector, nor in government. It's good checks and balances when it works in lieu of kickbacks and special interest bribes.
They sure did a great job on that $1 million print ad. Did they throw that together in MS Word?
Oh, if I had the money I'd release a series of ads that expose all the farm subsidies on corn and sugar that makes junk food cheaper than fresh veggies. It's more than junk food, it's junk at the taxpayers' expense.
I wish you had the money.
These clowns might have a bit more credibility if they actually knew anything about New York City. "The New York City Board of Health, however, may not contain common sense." I'm pretty sure it couldn't, since there's no such thing as a Board of Health. There is, however, a Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Between this and their superficial campaign focusing purely on calories, I'm not sure I would believe these guys if they told me that water is wet.
>>>>straight from the lips of unctuous Simpsons lawyer Lionel Hutz,
Or Nathan Thurm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98MNisZJyFI
www.forgotten-ny.com
It became big brother around 9/11/2001 - moving along...
Who will speak up for little guys like PepsiCo?! Ugh, shut up you illness mongers. Like the tobacco industry before you, you peddle poison that the human body's chemical receptors are stupid about.
As a Registered Dietitian and consultant to the food and beverage industry I would like to comment on this article. I agree that it is not the place of the government, whether it be local or national, to determine how we spend our calories each day. Interestingly enough, the suggestion of a 12 cent per can tax for any beverage with caloric sweeteners is not backed by science to support that it would have a measurable impact on obesity. Since 1998, consumption of beverage calories has decreased by more than 24%, yet obesity rates continue to climb. The reality is that Americans derive sugar from many places --- not just soft drinks which account for only 5.5% of our daily intake. Where will we draw the line on which foods and beverages mandate a sin tax? We need to refocus and continue to teach moderation, calorie budgeting and the importance of physical activity to consumers. Only this realistic combination of tools will truly make a dent in the epidemic of obesity.
Julie Feldman MPH RD
"Calorie budgeting and physical activity" = fewer cans of sugary garbage sold. So what's the difference? You are such a tool.
Ah nice...special interest money churning the wheels yet again. Glad government is siding with the public on this one.
I appreciate the calorie list. Consumers have a right to know, and have it be available, just like we have a right to know the ingredients of what we're consuming.
Based on how many sites Ms. Feldman has posted the same basic comment to on this issues, I would say she is more of a PR person for the soft drink industry than a 'dietitian.'