Wednesday, November 17, 2010

McDonalds and PepsiCo to help write UK health policy

Yes, ladies and gents, this is not joke. According to an article published November 16, 2010, this is the sad truth. Lawrence writes that the UK Department of Health has invited companies such as McDonald's, KFC, PepsiCo, Kellogg's, Unilever, Mars, and Diageo to form "food networks" to write policies to address public health problems such as obesity, alcohol, and diet-related disease. The food deal's sub-group on calories is chaired by PepsiCo. Yes, really. While PepsiCo does produce some healthier products (Naked juice, Quaker...), typically people associate the company with the sugary sweet refreshing taste of Pepsi (I sound like a commercial...). Additionally, the physical activity group is chaired by the Fitness Industry Association, which is the lobby group for private gyms and personal trainers. Basically, this is like putting the tobacco industry in charge of smoke-free spaces.

Ironic, no?

Here's a link to the article:
www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/nov/12/mcdonalds-pepsico-help-health-policy

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