Are the companies that bring us junk food and sugary drinks funding feel-good research studies to mask what they’re really doingdriving conditions such as obesity and diabetes to record-high levels, particularly among Blacks and Latinos
Two recent studies in medical journals build on the mounting evidence: Food and drink makers are funding their own research studies that (not surprisingly) fail to reveal the health risks from their products that have been repeatedly proven elsewhere. At the same time, these companies are coming up with creative corporate-responsibility campaigns that hide the risks of empty calories behind campaigns for wellness, exercise, and support of Black and Latino communitiesthe very ones that would benefit most from replacing processed food with fresh choices.
Nowhere is the impact of corporate muscle more evident than in New York City, where 58 percent of adults are overweight or obese, with that rate reaching 70 percent in Black, Latino and low-income communitiesand where Mayor Michael Bloomberg has faced a barrage of criticism for his plan to ban the sale of soft drinks larger than 16 oz. Organizations like the NAACPwhich has a goal to eradicate health disparitieshas sued to block the law, claiming it will hurt minority-owned small businesses (not to mention the effect the ban will have on the NAACP’s deep-pocketed corporate sponsors). The federal government has been asked to step in, but so far nothing’s happened.
