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In this month’s newsletter: AMA adopts policies to reduce the consumption of sugary drinks … An updated map and chart on the spread of the sugary drink tax movement throughout the United States ... An HFA Research Brief: Industry Tactics From “Coke Leaks” ... HFA’s newest Research Watch looks at the global impact of obesity and sugary drinks ... Action Alert: Stop the FDA delayed implementation for the new Nutrition Facts label

American Medical Association Adopts Policies to Reduce Consumption of Sugary Drinks

At its annual meeting in June, the nation’s largest and most powerful physician organization, the American Medical Association (AMA), issued several new policy statements designed to lead to lower consumption of sugary drinks.  The strategies adopted include imposing sugary drink taxes, restricting access to sugary drinks in hospitals, medical centers and other settings and using warning labels on sugary drinks to educate consumers on the health impacts. Read more.

Map and Chart the Movement: Updated

We’ve updated our map and chart that tracks the movement underway across the United States to reduce sugar consumption back to healthy levels, capping it off with the June 5th sugary drink tax win in Seattle. Read more.

New Research Brief: Industry Tactics From “Coke Leaks”

Co-developed with Ninjas for Health

Internal executive emails detailing Coca-Cola’s coordinated global strategies to defeat sugary drink policies and influence dietary guidelines were leaked to the public in fall 2016.  The emails confirm what public health advocates have said for years – the beverage industry is following the tobacco industry’s playbook to fight health regulations worldwide.  This research brief pulls quotes from the leaked emails to illustrate the soda industry’s tactics to reference in your education efforts. Read more.

Research Watch

In the latest edition of HFA’s Research Watch, a bimonthly compendium of the most current and compelling research on sugar, health and policy, you’ll find: 

• New analysis reveals stark racial disparities in diabetes among young people.
• Eating fresh fruit may reduce risk of diabetes and its complications.
• A new modeling study looks at how overall grocery purchases change with certain food and beverages taxes. 
• Two studies examine the effects of sugary and artificially sweetened beverages on brain health. 

Three studies in this issue shed new light on the global scene of obesity and sugary drinks. One study evaluates the affordability of sugary drinks around the world.  Another looked at the global rate of obesity prevalence and the related burden of ailments like heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and kidney disease. A third evaluated, for the first time, soda consumption among young people in low- and middle-income countries. Together, these studies paint a bleak picture for global health: sugary drinks are more affordable than ever in low- and middle-income countries, young people in those countries are drinking way too much soda, and obesity and its related diseases are rising rapidly all over the world. Read more.

Take Action: Tell the FDA and OMB That a Delay is Unacceptable for the New Nutrition Facts Label

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has decided to delay the compliance date for the updated Nutrition Facts Label, which will have an added sugars line. The label was set to go into effect in July 2018 for large companies, and in July 2019 for smaller companies that make up 95 percent of the companies affected. However, food industry trade groups have launched a fierce campaign to delay it until May 2021.  

Help us fight industry efforts to delay the implementation of this new label into the next decade. Please share this information on Facebook and keep tweeting to FDA and OMB whenever you can.

Sample Tweet:

@US_FDA @OMBPress: Give consumers information they want! Don’t delay #NutritionFacts label.

Highlights From Our Media Updates

In case you missed them, here are some recent stories we found noteworthy:

Philadelphia beverage tax upheld by Commonwealth Court (Philly.com)
 
Early evidence says that sugary drink taxes are working  (HFA Blog)

Seattle will tax soda pop, City Council decides in final vote  (Seattle Times)

The US had no soda taxes in 2013. Now nearly 9 million Americans live with them  (Vox)

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