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Coke Discloses Millions in Grants for Health Research and Programs

New submitter erinrivers11 writes: Following criticism that Coke has supported research that plays down the role of soft drinks in the spread of obesity, the company released a list showing nearly $120 million in grants to medical, research and community organizations. The Times reports: "The list, published Tuesday on the company’s website, details hundreds of Coke grants, large and small, to a variety of organizations since 2010, including physician groups, university researchers, cancer and diabetes organizations and public parks, and even a foundation for the National Institutes of Health."

27 of 133 comments (clear)

  1. Manipulate people opinions by victorsosa · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This is how you manipulate people opinions by let others people tell that everything is ok or everything is an hoax.

    1. Re:Manipulate people opinions by alex67500 · · Score: 2

      Yeah, I'm guessing 120m is a drop in the ocean for a corporation that large. They probably paid 5 times that to be sponsors of the Fifa football world cup...

    2. Re:Manipulate people opinions by tripleevenfall · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I wonder if someone will do a study on whether or not there are any people left who don't know that soda is bad for you, or what it is that forces people to drink it...

    3. Re:Manipulate people opinions by hairyfeet · · Score: 2

      Its the same thing that is happening with ecigs right now, you ask for the data to replicate their "findings" and often you will get back nothing but silence and when you follow the money? "These papers paid for by RJ Reynolds and your friends in big tobacco", same is true for those government officials pushing for banning or labeling them as drugs, bought and paid for by your local coffin nail pushers.

      My personal favorite was the "study" that said ecigs had 20 times the formaldehyde as actual cigarettes, when somebody managed to get a hold of the study complete with their "testing" methods? They 1.- Took a CE4, a top that most places haven't sold in ages as they are truly bottom of the barrel garbage that never worked worth a fuck, and then pushed the top to a temp of nearly 500 degrees F which can only be reached using an expensive mechanical mod with no safety mechanisms like automatic temp cutoff. What ecig user is gonna take a $100+ mechanical mod and use a 50c top, one whose threading isn't even supported anymore so it would require a threading adapter? And no shit you'd find formaldehyde at 500 F, you are literally melting the wick and boiling the juice at those temps!

      But the soda corps have it even worse than the cigarette corps, as recent studies have shown that diet soda makes you fatter*** and puts you at increased risk of diabetes as it kills the good gut bacteria and boosts the bad, making the body less able to tolerate natural sugars. This leaves them with only bottled water which just isn't gonna generate the $$$ that Coke has over the years. If I were in charge of marketing I'd probably do the same thing because as the MSM starts picking up stories about diet soda? Their business is gonna be fucked.

      *** Unfortunately all the links I could find were locked behind paywalls, if anybody could find a copy of the study that isn't locked it would be appreciated.

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
    4. Re:Manipulate people opinions by johnlcallaway · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Those supposed health groups that try and tell all of us that sugar, soda, and corn syrup are all evil and shouldn't be consumed have been playing this same game. How dare Coke try and refute the lies those groups are spreading.

      Funny thing, I rarely drink soda anymore, and I'm still overweight. Could it possibly be that other factors are involved?? Like not having enough physical activity?? Or just simply eating too much??

      Everyone knows that too many calories and not enough physical activity causes weight gain. But a few feel it is their responsibility to get things banned because some people just can't control their own eating habits. They would ban something that many enjoy in moderation just to impact the few that still will be overweight because they have numerous issues with their caloric intake and burn rates.

      I grew up with soda in the house. It was a treat. We had it once in awhile. We always had whole milk for dinner. I drank water in the summer from the hose, and the rest of the time from the tap. I had one or two bowls of sugary cereal every morning for breakfast. Yet I wasn't overweight because I rode my bike or walked everywhere I needed, my parents didn't cart my sorry ass around town unless the weather was really bad. I had a newspaper route, which for some reason has been deemed too dangerous for kids anymore. My parents let me walk the three blocks to the school playground as a young child without worry some nosy busybody would call the cops on them abandoning their kids. Oh .. wait .. my dad was a cop. We ate pizza and had milk shakes in the school cafeteria,. Yet, two years after I graduated from high school, a friends mom said I looked much better than that skinny kid I was in high school. Apparently, school lunches, soda, and sugary cereals don't make kids fat because most of my friends lived the same way.

      Soda is not causing our kids to get fat. Frosted Flakes are not causing our kids to get fat.

      Parents who don't encourage their kids to get off their asses and play outside are causing our kids to get fat. Parents who don't know how to cook and get carry-out every night are causing our kids to get fat. Parents who believe Kraft Mac and Cheese can be served several nights a week are making our kids fat. Parents who keep large supplies of soda and snacks around the house are making our kids fat.

      In general, parents are making our kids fat. And no one else, not even the schools, are responsible.

      --
      I rarely read replies, it's my opinion and if you thought about your opinion a little more, I'm OK with that.
    5. Re:Manipulate people opinions by kheldan · · Score: 2

      $120MUSD is about one one-thousandth of the 2015 net worth of the Coca-Cola Corporation. They probably spend at least that much stocking toilet paper in their restrooms. They spent $3.3BUSD on advertising alone in 2013.

      --
      Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
    6. Re:Manipulate people opinions by oh_my_080980980 · · Score: 2

      Not if you start seeing research that says you can drink your coke as long as you exercise - forgetting to mention that you are better off not drinking coke regardless if you exercise.

    7. Re:Manipulate people opinions by oh_my_080980980 · · Score: 2

      "Parents who don't encourage their kids to get off their asses and play outside are causing our kids to get fat. "

      Actually no. The cause is too many calories. You can sit on your ass all day as long as you take in the necessary calories, anything more makes you fat.

  2. Heard this before by Virtucon · · Score: 3, Insightful

    For years the tobacco industry did something along the same lines.
    It's the calories stupid.

    --
    Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
    1. Re:Heard this before by LesPeters · · Score: 5, Informative

      Specifically, it's the reaction the body has to the carbohydrates (sugar): spiking insulin levels, blocking the release of fat as a fuel source, and encouraging the body to store energy as fat.

    2. Re:Heard this before by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      Specifically, it's the reaction the body has to the carbohydrates (sugar): spiking insulin levels, blocking the release of fat as a fuel source, and encouraging the body to store energy as fat.

      Bingo!

      I find it interesting that since the 1970s the government has been parroting the research done by Ancel Keys in the 1950s that states that a high carbohydrate low fat diet is what is needed to avoid heart disease, despite:
                          1- This advice being followed rarely results in weight loss, better handling of dislipidemia or the occurrence of type 2 diabetes.
                          2- The emergence of these three disorders in epidemic proportions since the adoption of the Ancel Keys paradigm by the government in the 1970s.

      At this point, the advice being given to people touched by obesity and diabetes is precisely upside down and backwards to what will actually help resolve the condition and serious health problems later on down the line.

      Easiest ways to avoid heart disease and diabetes and obesity are in order of effectiveness:

                  1- Consume less carbohydrates per day as percentage of total calories
                  2- Consume more saturated fats (which increase HDL cholesterol. the "Good" cholesterol)
                  3- Consume slightly less calories than you consume, whilst maintaining the percentages of lowered carbohydrate calories, increased fat calories and moderate protein calories. Less calories results in weight loss and less carbohydrates results in both the mobilization of stored body fat as an energy source and the lowering of blood triglycerides and LDL cholesterol numbers.
                4- The lessening of the need for insulin to maintain energy levels and stabilize blood sugar levels results in the lowering of inflammatory responses through out the body further reducing the risks for heart disease, stroke, arteriosclerosis and a laundry list of other statistically big killers (Various types of Cancer... etc)

      Strangely however doctors who recognize these 4 simple facts are in short supply. My doctor got onto me about my blood sugars being low and swore that I was going to end up with some form of dementia later on in life because of it and did not listen to the fact that I get most of my daily energy from fat calories in my "Ketogenic" diet, which there are mountains of evidence of this type of diet being neuro-protective and are widely used to slow down alzheimer . parkinson, epilepsy and other similar conditions. Ketogenisis is a very good explanation of the age old observation of people gaining a mental "Clarity" of an almost spiritual nature when fasting.. IE shifting from carbohydrate sources of cellular energy (of which the brain is a very large consumer) to lipid based sources of energy.. (such as Beta Hydroxy Buterate, Aceto-Acetone and Acetone.)

      I think it is a cultural paradigm and the type 2 diabetes and obesity epidemic is a direct result of it.

    3. Re:Heard this before by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 4, Funny

      It's the calories stupid.

      In a Coke sponsored study, Coke Scientists concluded that calories don't make people fat. Marriage makes people fat. The Coke Scientists simply measured the waistlines of married and single people, and came to this obvious conclusion.

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    4. Re:Heard this before by Virtucon · · Score: 2

      Marriage makes people fat. The Coke Scientists simply measured the waistlines of married and single people, and came to this obvious conclusion.

      What about fat people who aren't married?

      --
      Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
    5. Re:Heard this before by master_kaos · · Score: 2

      Not it really isnt. It is ALL about the calories. Nothing else matters except for rare medical conditions

  3. Changes nothing by ramriot · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It does not matter how much they spend on neutral research for general healthcare, they spent money on 'targeted research' (I won't call it science) to the benefit of their own business interests.

    1. Re:Changes nothing by ledow · · Score: 2

      I'm sorry, but I blame the "scientists" that do this more than the companies that fund this.

      You're not a scientist if you answer only favours the highest bidder.

    2. Re:Changes nothing by NatasRevol · · Score: 2

      What if there are no other bidders other than financially interested parties?

      What then?

      See above for whether or not sodium benzoate causes cancer.

      --
      There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
  4. Very, very sad, Coca-Cola by crunchy_one · · Score: 2, Informative

    Keep in mind that the Coca-Cola company had a gross profit of $28,010,000,000.00 for fiscal year 2015 with a profit margin of 66%. $120,000,000.00 in grants amounts to .042% of their gross. For them, this is cheap window dressing. Do no mistake this for good corporate citizenship.

    1. Re:Very, very sad, Coca-Cola by cdrudge · · Score: 2

      $28,010,000,000.00 for fiscal year 2015 with a profit margin of 66%. $120,000,000.00 in grants amounts to .042% of their gross.

      Keep trying. $120m/$28,010m = ~.00428 = .428%. Need to move that decimal place over one more position.

  5. Oh it's worse by popo · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Sodium benzoate causes cancer. They knew about it for years. When it looked like the whole story was about to break, they *silently* pull it and replace it with potassium benzoate.

    Does that cause cancer? The jury's still out, but the signs aren't good.

    Bottom line is, there's little doubt that KO pumped Americans full of carcinogens for decades. And the "new" alternative is highly suspect.

    --
    ------ The best brain training is now totally free : )
    1. Re:Oh it's worse by jo_ham · · Score: 2

      Sodium benzoate causes cancer. They knew about it for years. When it looked like the whole story was about to break, they *silently* pull it and replace it with potassium benzoate.

      Does that cause cancer? The jury's still out, but the signs aren't good.

      Bottom line is, there's little doubt that KO pumped Americans full of carcinogens for decades. And the "new" alternative is highly suspect.

      Sodium benzoate is not a carcinogen, either as the sodium salt or as the acid.

      It is possible for the benzoate ion to react with vitamin C to form benzene (which is a carcinogen), but which is present in such low concentrations that there's really no solid science to state that "coke is a carcinogen" (since many sodas also contain vitamin C). When beverages were tested, coke changed the recipe for anything that caused a positive test over a few ppb. Of course, this is a nefarious scheme because they didn't yell about it.

      I get it: big corporations don't ever do anything in the best interests of anyone but themselves and everything is a grand conspiracy.

  6. Society as a whole moves like an oiltanker by dr.Flake · · Score: 5, Informative

    Of course Coca Cola is the personification of "evil big food" and they will do whatever it takes to keep making money as water running from the tap. Its amazing how much money one can make from selling flavoured sugar water plus some advertising.

    But the negative effects of increased sugar intake is nothing new. For several years the anti-fructose movement has been making noise and has been showing increasing insight is the underlying mechanisms. Famous example spokesperson of this movement is Dr Lustig, and googling his name alone gives a boatload of references.

    But where is the response from society (not from some smart commercial brands), where is the education in schools, in children's TV programs, in popular scientific programs, in journals being read by large percentages of the population. And when will we start listening to this??!!

    We still buy all this processed junk, with the bright coloured labels promising everything and being "fat free". We as a society have to immediately start buying other food products. More "real" unprocessed foods, and please leave those products with added sugar packaged in plastic in the store. Spend more time buying, cooking, eating and ENJOYING this food.

    The industry will make whatever we buy. Self regulation from their side is an illusion.

    So WE need to change.

    --
    Why are other peoples sig's always more witty ???
    1. Re:Society as a whole moves like an oiltanker by dr.Flake · · Score: 2

      For several years the anti-fructose movement has been making noise and has been showing increasing insight is the underlying mechanisms. Famous example spokesperson of this movement is Dr Lustig, and googling his name alone gives a boatload of references.

      An MD claiming a single chemical is mostly responsible for obesity? BS detector starts ticking up...

      https://www.sciencebasedmedici...
      http://blogs.scientificamerica...

      BS readings confirmed.

      No,

      wrong way around.

      His idea:
      Fructose is causing metabolic syndrome and partly responsible for weight gain by sabotaging leptin response.
      He claims obesity isn't the problem. People don't die from fat, they die from metabolic syndrome.

      --
      Why are other peoples sig's always more witty ???
    2. Re:Society as a whole moves like an oiltanker by dr.Flake · · Score: 3, Informative

      31 Healthy Meals You Can Make in 10 Minutes or Less:

        http://greatist.com/eat/10-min...

      --
      Why are other peoples sig's always more witty ???
  7. Re:Not our fault. by MagickalMyst · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Decades ago, indirectly, with the advent of subliminal advertising.

    --
    Political correctness is really just herd psychology pushed by insecure people who desperately seek social conformity.
  8. Drink this and thank me later: by PopeRatzo · · Score: 3, Interesting

    OK, I'm going to help you guys out. Give you something healthy, delicious and refreshing to drink that won't make you fat, ruin your teeth or cause you to grow a tumor the size of a pillbox hat on your head. Stay with me.

    1) Get a soda stream. They're cheap now, and I found mine at a garage sale. Staples, Target and others still sell the CO2 tanks, and if you're clever you can figure out how to get your own refilled on the cheap.

    2) When you make the soda, just leave it as plain carbonated water and stick it in the fridge. By the way, you can "overcharge" soda with a SodaStream so that the carbonation levels are much higher than regular pop. This is what I do because I like that carbonated "burn" you get. The SodaStream bottles have special caps so that the carbonation doesn't escape, so you can always have some good fizzy water at the ready when you want it.

    3) Brew up some green tea with a good amount of ginger. It can also be fruit-flavored for a little sweetness. When my wife makes jam, I save some of the fruit juice left over and put that in, too. Make the tea STRONG because it's gonna be your flavoring syrup for the drink you're making.

    4) Now this is the kicker: When the tea cools, shake some cayenne pepper on it and stir it in. This you have to do by taste because people tolerate different levels of hot. I know it sounds weird, but trust me. You gotta add the cayenne pepper to the flavoring mix (although one of my friends waits until after he's mixed the flavoring with the soda water to sprinkle the cayenne pepper, because he thinks he's a bad-ass, but really he ain't shit. I could totally kick his ass if I were 15 years younger. He also puts a little ginseng in the tea, but I don't do that because I don't have any trouble in that area, if you get my drift.

    5. When you're ready for a great drink, pour a nice glass of the soda water, and then pour a little of the tea/ginger/fruitjuice/cayenne pepper mix in and stir. It'll foam up a bit creating a nice little "head" in the glass. The flavoring mixture stores very well in the fridge, just shake it up when you're ready to add it to the soda water.

    I'm telling you, this stuff is like ginger ale with a hard-on. It's like Dr Pepper, if Dr Pepper were played by Peter Capaldi. You can drink it all day and it won't make you fat, and the ginger and cayenne pepper are healthy as hell. You'll doubt me, but hand-to-god, when I drink this stuff my sinus allergies get better. It's good for digestion and it will save you a ton of money over store-bought soda pop. I mean hundreds of dollars over the course of a year.

    Fuck Coke.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  9. Damned if you do, damned if you don't by Solandri · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm alarmed at the growing tendency for people to jump to conclusions on topics/conspiracy theories with popular support. Coke making donations to and providing grants for medical research companies, or even directly funding research into sugared beverages and obesity is not in and of itself evidence that they're trying to manipulate the research. If it is, you put Coke in an impossible damned if you do, damned if you don't position. If they do make the donations, you criticize them for trying to manipulate research results in their favor. If they don't make the donations, you criticize them for being greedy corporate bastards who won't even donate to scientific research relevant to their product.

    The donations themselves are not evidence that Coke has been trying to manipulate research results. If you want to support that hypothesis, you need to come up with specific incidents where Coke made the donations conditional on withholding or changing research results unfavorable to their product.

    Just because a majority of people want to believe this theory doesn't free you from the logical and ethical obligation to actually prove the claim. The person advocating the hypothesis always has the burden of proof.