WELLINGTON: Soft-drink giant Coca-Cola is defending its brand as health experts call for a ban on sugar-sweetened drinks linked to obesity, type-2 diabetes, addiction and tooth decay. New Zealand representatives from the global company will front up at a conference on Tuesday organised by FIZZ – a group of doctors and health experts who aim to make New Zealand free of sugar-sweetened drinks by 2025.
In an opinion piece in today’s Weekend Herald, Country Manager of Coca-Cola Oceania, Sandhya Pillay, confirms she will represent Coca-Cola at the annual conference. She argues obesity can not be blamed on sugary-drinks alone and that focusing on just one food or drink is not a solution. “As a leader in the food and beverage industry, Coca-Cola has a role to play in helping decrease obesity, but we cannot provide the answer and we definitely cannot solve this issue alone,” she said.
“What might surprise you is that while Kiwis are already consuming fewer sugar-sweetened drinks each year, obesity rates in New Zealand are still climbing.” Pillay said the best approach to help reduce obesity was to give people choice and information, rather than product bans, increased taxes on families and individuals or through more regulation.
Other Coca-Cola owned brands include L&P, Coca-Cola Zero, Diet Coke, Powerade, Pump, Fanta, Sprite, Rose’s Cordial, Keri Juice and Schweppes. The group of doctors, dentists and specialists that belong to Fizz say the evidence linking sugary drinks to poor health, rotten teeth, gout, cardiovascular disease and premature death is so strong it can not be ignored.
