Addiction to soda

Shock and “ew”

I doubt if you’ve been in the New York City subway recently, but there are some pretty disturbing things going on down there…and for once, it’s not the flasher sitting next to you–it’s the latest poster boy.

I am proud to be a native New Yorker for many reasons, but this one is a big deal in the city’s ongoing anti-obesity campaign. It’s a disturbing image of a man whose legs have been amputated because of his addiction to soda–and all the horrific diabetic complications that can lead to. The poster reads: “Cut your portions, cut your risk.”

It’s true that we’ve lost our way when it comes to portion sizes. Drink sizes at a fast food chain have quadrupled in the last five decades and the size of a portion of French fries has doubled in that same time frame. Have you ever looked at the label of one of those 20 ounce bottles of soda that most people drink in one sitting? Guess what? That’s actually supposed to be 2.5 servings.

But if you ask me, just cutting portions–as this new campaign suggests–doesn’t go nearly far enough.

However, the good thing about this campaign is that it will certainly reach millions of people, and maybe–hopefully–shock them out of at least one bad dietary habit that can lead to obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Of course, the spokesperson for the American Beverage Association (I didn’t even know we had one of those) is criticizing the campaign for creating an inaccurate picture of the impact of soft drinks.

Is she nuts?

Study after study has proven, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that one of the leading causes of diabetes is drinking sugary beverages. And if all this science can’t convince people to switch to water, then perhaps a little bit of shock value can.

“Soda Kills” would be my campaign slogan.

And let’s not forget about fruit juice. I know I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s worth a reminder that, ounce for ounce, apple juice actually has more sugar in it than Coke.

If the health implications of drinking soda haven’t convinced you, how about the sheer “Ick” factor of the recent news story about the man who found a dead mouse in his can of Mountain Dew?

The response from the soda company was that there was no way he could have found a mouse in his can of soda because the mouse would have disintegrated by the time he drank it. Think about that one…