Safe? Sugar, Coke, Fluoride, Artificial Colors? Beware of the hype

Dietitians are Buying Coke’s Line: Sugar, Fluoride, Artificial Colors are SAFE for Children!
June 14, 2011

We wish we could say we are surprised. Registered dieticians are now being given formal education by the Coca-Cola Company on how safe its ingredients are.

The credentialing arm of the American Dietetic Association, the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR), has approved a program created by the The Coca-Cola Company Beverage Institute for Health and Wellness. This covers what it calls “urban myths” about the safety of food ingredients. Participating in this program will earn registered dietitians Continuing Professional Education unit credits.

“Children’s Dietary Recommendations: When Urban Myths, Opinions, Parental Perceptions & Evidence Collide,” tells dietitians that fluoride, sugar, artificial colors and nonnutritive sweeteners have been “carefully examined for their effects on children’s health, growth, and development.” The presenter, Dr. Ronald Kleinman, “explores prevalent misconceptions about these food ingredients” and suggests ways the dietitian can help quell unnecessary “concern among parents about their children’s health.”

At first glance, Dr. Kleinman should know what he is talking about. He is physician-in-chief at Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, chief of the Pediatric Gastrointestinal and Nutrition Unit, and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Couldn’t sound better, could it? But he has also received a great deal of money from industry sources—like artificial infant formula manufacturers Mead Johnson and Nestle Ltd. His study on optimal duration of breastfeeding was funded by Gerber Products. He also served as a paid expert witness for Gerber when they were sued for deceptive advertising. And he contributed to a brochure intended for children entitled “Variety’s Mountain” produced by the Sugar Association.

Now he’s being sponsored by the Coca-Cola Company and telling dietitians that the ingredients in Coke which everyone is alarmed about are safe. The dietitians, in turn, will be telling parents that their fears are unfounded, and Coke can sell more Coke to kids.
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The list is much longer than suggested and all one needs to do is go to the ingredients of most any food on the shelf in the grocery store to add to the list.

My favourite is the universal understanding that artificial sweeteners are much better to ingest that sugar or any kind; even if you are cooking with them.

Or virgin olive oil is great for frying food in (any chemists care to explain?).

Or salt-free hot dogs are healthy food like turkey bacon. Sic.

We grow veggies in our back yard or buy organic from trusted sources. Ditto with the meats if possible although it costs an arm and a leg to get meat that has been fed organic grain or is range fed versus being fed its siblings.