Comments about ‘PepsiCo to remove sugary drinks from schools worldwide’

- - - is worse for our brain that sugar is for our body.
Why don't they just bottle up some self-control and other healthy stuff, and sell it?
Oh, wait, they've trained 3 generations to overcome the temptation toward self-discipline.

Coke and Pepsi should simply be shifting away from calorie-laden sugar and corn syrup to stevia, which is just as natural as sugar derived from cane and beets, and more so than corn syrup. Zero-calorie cola as the default would allow them to maintain market share without contributing to the problem of obesity in industrialized nations.

I support these measures to protect kids from temptations that could contribute to poor health. Our environments greatly impact our behaviors. As adults, we choose what environments that we expose ourselves to. For instance, if we don't want to eat burgers and fries, we avoid places that sell them. Our kids don't have the option to avoid the drink machines if they are already in their school. Not to say that kids don't have the power to say "no," but science and psychology have demonstrated that the contents of our environment greatly impacts our behavior. Again, I support healthier environments for kids. And as adults, we are the ones responsible to regulate those environments. This regulation on soda isn't a matter of being too controlling or overriding a person's self control, but it is merely recognizing the powerful impact that objects within one's environment has on personal choices.

I get a little upset when there is so much negative press for soda pop. Especially when the experts blame the schools.While I am sure it is not good for people, I don't think it is bad either. Everybody keeps blaming soda pop for childhood obesity. It may be a minor contributor but the major contributor is inactivity. Why aren't we getting more kids into P.E. or vocational classes instead of just focusing on soda pop?
Many studies show obesity has risen drastically in the past 25 years. What has changed? Around 1980 - Atari, Around 1985, personal computers. Around 1978 - HBO (cable television more prevelant). Around 1995 - affordable satellite systems. Around 1997 - internet proliferation. All of these things require us to sit! My goodness, it seems so obvious to me. Yet, the soda pop companies take all the blame. Sure soda pop sales have soared in the past 25 years. But, what do people do when they sit? They drink and eat.

Very well written and thought out comment. I agree with you for the most part. However, kids aren't getting fat at school. They are getting fat at home by lack of exercise.
Another point to make. People rarely make good choices just by putting good things in front of them. Case in point, a local school I know took all soda pop from the premises 5 years ago. They brought in machines that sold water, vitamin water and juice. Sales went from $25,000 a year to $10,000 a year. And that $10,000 is steady. You would think a new generation would by the good stuff but they don't.
I agree we have a problem but I don't think it is soda and candy alone.

Are you kidding me???
When I was in school I was skinny as a rail. I could drink soda everyday of my childhood and not gain one ounce, along with candy, chips, or pudding! And no my teeth didn't rot! You will take away someone's freedom because other kids have no self control?? Give me a break! I'm so sick and tired of my freedoms being taken away! What if I WANT to have my kid drink soda without artificial sweeteners? Will I be allowed to send sugar drinks in their sack lunch? Or will THEY not allow that because it will make other kids feel bad? Whahhhhhh! This is all a part of MichelleObamaCare. When is enough enough????? Whatever happened to PERSONAL responsibility? I, and only I, will decide what me and my kids eat and drink as long as it's legal! Will they make sugar drinks illegal? Where does it stop? Give me a break!

I agree with everything you said except about the MichelleObamaCare part. This was going on long before the Obamas were in the White House. I am not an Obama supporter by any means but in this case they are only carrying on what Washington started earlier.

Your condemnation of aspartame is not based on science. Independent research from Europe and the US have concluded that aspartame is safe within consumable limits. That means that to get to toxicity levels that would affect humans the amount consumed would be in excess of a human's capacity to consume. We can't consume enough of it to hurt us.

The Journal of the American Medical Association website is a good place to start. The FDA's own website has a primer on this subject. The European Union's counterpart to the FDA, the European Council of Food Saftey, also supports this view. Most telling, a study released by UCLA and funded by ConAgra, a major supplier of beet sugar and a likely oponent to artificial sweeteners, also concluded that aspartame is safe. I did a master's thesis on this subject three years ago and have followed the subject subsequently. I don't drink any carbonated beverages and prefer the taste of cane sugar in foods like yogurt so I really don't have an axe to grind. I'm simply stating the facts. The misinformation found on the Internet is alarming.

Look at the original research.

don't have a God given right to have Pepsi in your schools. If you want a coke, go the the store and buy one.

Just worry about teaching my kids and feed them a well balanced meal.

Loks ligh a bunch eleitliest liberals just wanting to control waht you eat or drink.

all under the guise of poolitical correctnes,
and they know whats best for everyone else.

Major dittos here, but you forgot to mention it also makes you gain weight--proven by many, many studies. The stuff poisons your brain, body and makes you fat. The sugar stuff is actually better for you, not that it is any good at all.

I've seen the studies that show that consumption of aspartame causes weight gain. What remains to be explained is the 'why'. Some have suggested that people that consume zero calorie soft drinks compensate by rewarding themselves with higher calorie foods later. Others have suggested that aspartame causes a craving for simple carbohydrates. That hasn't been proved however in tests where the subjects don't know they are consuming aspartame.

As for the claims that it poisons your brain, those are better left in the realm of urban legend. All of the studies I wrote about above will tell you there is no evidence at all that aspartame affects brain chemistry or leads to any risk.

Sugar increases one's glycemic index and is considerably less healthful than aspartame. There isn't a reputable physician out there who would claim otherwise.

what about the 28 years of candy ,soda pop, snacks, why now.