Marion Nestle: Soda Politics

Fri, Nov 6 2015 - 12:00pm

Dr. Marion Nestle, Professor, New York University; Author, Soda Politics: Taking on Big Soda (and Winning); Twitter @marionnestle

Alice Huan-mei Chen, MD, MPH, Chief Medical Officer, San Francisco Health Network; Co-Director, Center for Innovation in Access and Quality at San Francisco General Hospital; Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco—Moderator

Sodas are remarkable products. Little more than flavored sugar water, these drinks cost practically nothing to produce or buy, yet have turned their makers—principally Coca-Cola and PepsiCo—into a multibillion-dollar industry with global recognition, distribution and political power. Billed as “refreshing,” “tasty,” “crisp” and “the real thing,” sodas are also so well established as contributing factors to poor dental hygiene, higher calorie intake, obesity and type-2 diabetes that critics say the first line of defense against any of these conditions is to simply stop drinking them. Habitually drinking large volumes of soda is proven to not only harm individual health, but also burden society with runaway healthcare costs. Join us as Dr. Nestle addresses the tools she says the public needs to keep up pressure on Big Soda to build healthier and more sustainable food systems.