I have prepared this page to call the attention of the BGSU community to the likely harmful effects on the health and well-being of our students and staff of the University administration's decision to allow PepsiCo to conduct aggressive marketing and promotion of softdrinks on the campus.

Our work as scientists and scholars is not limited to generating new knowledge for the use of other specialists, but to make knowledge available to our fellow citizens so that they can improve their lives.  Thus in this website I have provided information documenting:

• How Pepsi Pushes Pop through aggressive marketing
• The actual amounts of sugar contained in soft drinks compared to RDA values.
• The increasing amounts of sugar in our diets -- and where this is coming from.
• The serious health consequences of too much sugar in our diets.
• The University is helping Pepsi to Push Pop instead of healthy refreshments.  A wider discussion of the application of our Values and Vision is required before making decisions like this.

Prof. Neocles Leontis, Ph.D.
Chemistry Department
leontis@bgnet.bgsu.edu

Since putting up the website, I have learned about the efforts of Ohio Dentists to fight "pouring rights" in schools. See the article in the Akron Beacon.

1. Almost all vending machines will only sell 20 Oz. bottles.
2. Bigger serving sizes spur consumption. In the 1950s, 6.5-ounce bottles were used. That grew into the 12-ounce can, which is now being supplanted by 20-ounce bottles.

3. Pepsi uses attractive celebrities to push its products:
"I'm a big fan of Pepsi products and Pepsi commercials. My life and my career have been blessed. The chance to follow some of my heroes - some incredible performers - and create something new with the innovative people at Pepsi is very exciting for me."  --Britney Spears

How much Pepsi does Britney REALLY drink?

In one of the most despicable marketing gambits, Pepsi, Dr Pepper, and Seven-Up encourage feeding soft drinks to babies by licensing their logos to a major maker of baby bottles, Munchkin Bottling, Inc. Infants and toddlers are four times likelier to be fed soda pop out of those bottles than out of regular baby bottles.

4. Pepsi uses the internet to push Soft Drinks on kids -- check it out here.

5. Pepsi advertises on Channel One, a daily news program shown in 12,000 schools. Companies inculcate brand loyalties in children and boost consumption by paying school districts and others for exclusive marketing agreements.

6. Soft-drink advertising budgets dwarf all advertising and public-service campaigns promoting the consumption of fruits,vegetables, healthful diets, and low-fat milk. In 1997, the four major companies spent $631 million for advertising. Between 1986 and 1997 those companies spent $6.8 billion on advertising.

How can we say our young people "prefer" soft drinks? What are they being encouraged  to drink by the mass media and now -- by the Public and Schools and Universities themselves!!

To learn more about the soft-drink advertising see this link.

Here is how much sugar a 20 Oz bottle of Pepsi contains -- 16 teaspoons! Mountain Dew contains 77.5 grams -- 19 teaspoons and Fruit Works contains contains 62.5 -- 15 teaspoons.

This is 67% MORE sugar than the USDA Recommended Daily Value of 10 teaspoons.

	Teaspoons of Sugar	Grams of Sugar
6.5 ounce bottle	5.6 teaspoons	22 grams
12 ounce can	10 teaspoons	40 grams
Recommended Daily Amount	10 teaspoons	40 grams
20 ounce bottle	16.7 teaspoons	67 grams

The Pop Pushers claim soft drinks are healthy (tobacco déja vu?):

    The soft-drink industry has consistently portrayed its products as being positively healthful, saying they are 90% water
and contain sugars found in nature. A poster that the National Soft Drink Association has provided to teachers states:

          As refreshing sources of needed liquids and energy, soft drinks represent a positive addition to a
          well-balanced diet....These same three sugars also occur naturally, for example, in fruits....In your body it
          makes no difference whether the sugar is from a soft drink or a peach.23

M. Douglas Ivester, Coca-Cola's chairman and CEO, defending marketing in Africa, said, "Actually, our product is quite
healthy. Fluid replenishment is a key to health....Coca-Cola does a great service because it encourages people to take in
more and more liquids."24

    In fact, soft drinks pose health risks both because of what they contain (for example, sugar and various additives) and
what they replace in the diet (beverages and foods that provide vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients).

Obesity increases the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease and causes severe social and psychological
problems in millions of Americans. Between 1971-74 and 1988-94, obesity rates in teenage boys soared from 5% to 12%
and in teenage girls from 7% to 11%. Among adults, between 1976-80 and 1988-94, the rate of obesity jumped by
one-third, from 25% to 35%.25

    Numerous factors -- from lack of exercise to eating too many calories to genetics -- contribute to obesity. Soda pop
adds unnecessary, non-nutritious calories to the diet, though it has not been possible to prove that it (or any other
individual food) is responsible for the excess calories that lead to obesity. However, one recent study found that soft
drinks provide more calories to overweight youths than to other youths. The difference was most striking among teenage
boys: Soda pop provides 10.3% of the calories consumed by overweight boys, but only 7.6% of calories consumed by
other boys. There was no consistent pattern of differences with regard to intake of calories, fat, or several other factors.26

    Obesity rates have risen in tandem with soft-drink consumption, and heavy consumers of soda pop have higher calorie
intakes.27 While those observations do not prove that sugary soft drinks cause obesity (heavy consumers may exercise
more and need more calories), heavy consumption is likely to contribute to weight gain in many consumers.

    Regardless of whether soda pop (or sugar) contributes to weight gain, nutritionists and weight-loss experts routinely
advise overweight individuals to consume fewer calories -- starting with empty-calorie foods such as soft drinks. The
National Institutes of Health recommends that people who are trying to lose or control their weight should drink water
instead of soft drinks with sugar.28

Bones and Osteoporosis

    People who drink soft drinks instead of milk or other dairy products likely will have lower calcium intakes. Low calcium
intake contributes to osteoporosis, a disease leading to fragile and broken bones.29 Currently, 10 million Americans have
osteoporosis. Another 18 million have low bone mass and are at increased risk of osteoporosis. Women are more
frequently affected than men. Considering the low calcium intake of today's teenage girls, osteoporosis rates may well rise.

    The risk of osteoporosis depends in part on how much bone mass is built early in life. Girls build 92% of their bone
mass by age 18,30 but if they don't consume enough calcium in their teenage years they cannot "catch up" later. That is
why experts recommend higher calcium intakes for youths 9 to 18 than for adults 19 to 50. Currently, teenage girls are
consuming only 60% of the recommended amount, with soft-drink drinkers consuming almost one-fifth less than
nonconsumers.31

    While osteoporosis takes decades to develop, preliminary research suggests that drinking soda pop instead of milk can
contribute to broken bones in children. One study found that children 3 to 15 years old who had suffered broken bones
had lower bone density, which can result from low calcium intake.32

Tooth Decay

    Refined sugar is one of several important factors that promote tooth decay (dental caries). Regular soft drinks promote
decay because they bathe the teeth of frequent consumers in sugar-water for long periods of time during the day. An
analysis of data from 1971-74 found a strong correlation between the frequency of between-meal consumption of soda
pop and dental caries.33 (Those researchers considered other sugary foods in the diet and other variables.) Soft drinks
appear to cause decay in certain surfaces of certain teeth more than in others.34

    Tooth-decay rates have declined considerably in recent decades, thanks to such preventive factors as
fluoride-containing toothpaste, fluoridated water, tooth sealants, and others. Nevertheless, caries remains a problem for
some people. A large survey in California found that children (ages 6 to 8, 15) of less-educated parents have 20% higher
rates of decayed and filled teeth.35 A national study found that African-American and Mexican-American children (6 to 18
years old) are about twice as likely to have untreated caries as their white counterparts.36 For people in high-risk groups,
prevention is particularly important.

    To prevent tooth decay, even the Canadian Soft Drink Association recommends limiting between-meal snacking of
sugary and starchy foods, avoiding prolonged sugar levels in the mouth, and eating sugary foods and beverages with
meals. Unfortunately, many heavy drinkers of soft drinks violate each of those precepts.

Heart Disease

    Heart disease is the nation's number-one killer. Some of the most important causes are diets high in saturated and
trans fat and cholesterol; cigarette smoking; and a sedentary lifestyle. In addition, in many adults a diet high in sugar may
also promote heart disease.

    High-sugar diets may contribute to heart disease in people who are "insulin resistant." Those people, an estimated
one-fourth of adults, frequently have high levels of triglycerides and low levels of HDL ("good") cholesterol in their blood.
When they eat a diet high in carbohydrates, their triglyceride and insulin levels rise. Sugar has a greater effect than other
carbohydrates.37 The high triglyceride levels are associated with a higher risk of heart disease.38 It would make sense for
insulin-resistant people, in particular, to consume low levels of regular soft drinks and other sugary foods. Research is
needed on insulin resistance in adolescents.

Kidney Stones

    Kidney (urinary) stones are one of the most painful disorders to afflict humans and one of the most common disorders
of the urinary tract. According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), a unit of the
National Institutes of Health, more than 1 million cases of kidney stones were diagnosed in 1985.39 NIDDK estimates that
10 percent of all Americans will have a kidney stone during their lifetime. Several times more men, frequently between the
ages of 20 and 40, are affected than women. Young men are also the heaviest consumers of soft drinks.

    After a study suggested a link between soft drinks and kidney stones, researchers conducted an intervention trial.40 That
trial involved 1,009 men who had suffered kidney stones and drank at least 5 1/3 ounces of soda pop per day. Half the
men were asked to refrain from drinking pop, while the others were not asked. Over the next three years drinkers of
Coca-Cola and other cola beverages acidified only with phosphoric acid who reduced their consumption (to less than
half their customary levels) were almost one-third less likely to experience recurrence of stones. Among those who
usually drank soft drinks acidified with citric acid (with or without phosphoric acid), drinking less had no effect. While more
research needs to be done on the cola-stone connection, the NIDDK includes cola beverages on a list of foods that
doctors may advise patients to avoid.

Additives: Psychoactive Drug, Allergens, and More

    Several additives in soft drinks raise health concerns. Caffeine, a mildly addictive stimulant drug, is present in most cola
and "pepper" drinks, as well as some orange sodas and other products. Caffeine's addictiveness may be one reason why
six of the seven most popular soft drinks contain caffeine.41 Caffeine-free colas are available, but account for only about
5% of colas made by Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola.42 On the other hand, Coca-Cola and other companies have begun
marketing soft drinks, such as Surge, Josta, and Jolt, with 30% to 60% more caffeine than Coke and Pepsi.

    In 1994-96, the average 13- to 18-year-old boy who drank soft drinks consumed about 12/3 cans per day. Those
drinking Mountain Dew would have ingested 92 mg of caffeine from that source (55 mg caffeine/12 ounces). That is
equivalent to about one six-ounce cup of brewed coffee. Boys in the 90th-percentile of soft-drink consumption consume
as much caffeine as is in two cups of coffee; for girls the figure is 1* cups of coffee.

    One problem with caffeine is that it increases the excretion of calcium in urine.43 Drinking 12 ounces of
caffeine-containing soft drink causes the loss of about 20 milligrams of calcium, or two percent of the U.S. RDA (or Daily
Value). That loss, compounded by the relatively low calcium intake in girls who are heavy consumers of soda pop, may
increase the risk of osteoporosis.

    Caffeine can cause nervousness, irritability, sleeplessness, and rapid heart beat.44 Caffeine causes children who
normally do not consume much caffeine to be restless and fidgety, develop headaches, and have difficulty going to
sleep.45 Also, caffeine's addictiveness may keep people hooked on soft drinks (or other caffeine-containing beverages).
One reflection of the drug's addictiveness is that when children age six to 12 stop consuming caffeine, they suffer
withdrawal symptoms that impair their attention span and performance.46

    Several additives used in soft drinks cause occasional allergic reactions. Yellow 5 dye causes asthma, hives, and a
runny nose.47 A natural red coloring, cochineal (and its close relative carmine), causes life-threatening reactions.48 Dyes
can cause hyperactivity in sensitive children.49

    In diet sodas, artificial sweeteners may raise concerns. Saccharin, which has been replaced by aspartame in all but a
few brands, has been linked in human studies to urinary-bladder cancer and in animal studies to cancers of the bladder
and other organs.50 Congress has required products made with saccharin to bear a warning label. The safety of
acesulfame-K, which was approved in 1998 for use in soft drinks, has been questioned by several cancer experts.51  Also,
aspartame should be better tested.

1. The University hopes to receive $2.2 Million in Commissions in the next 5 years from Pepsi sales.  Thus the University is officially in business with PepsiCo.

2. In exchange for the commissions, Pepsi will sell more by replacing 12 oz cans with  20 oz bottles to win over a new "Pepsi Generation" at BGSU.

3. Pepsi is making SURE that its products are widely distributed and in large quantities.

4. On the other hand the University is making no effort to ensure that healthy refreshments are widely distributed on campus. In fact vending machines that do sell juice have been removed (for example outside the Math/Science library).  In answer to questions at the Faculty Senate, Feb. 6 2001, the Administration stated that juice doesn't make money and therefore  should not be offered in vending machines.

5. Now that BGSU is in the Pop Pushing business, can we ever expect the University to do the right thing and do its part to help reverse these trends:

• The amounts of soft drinks consumed per person are soaring.
• The amounts of healthy food consumed per person is decreasing.
• We are seeing a nationwide epidemic of obesity and of diabetes and other serious disease to which these trends are contributing and BGSU is not immune to this at all.

1. JAMA. 1942;120:763-5.
2. This review does not cover sweetened non-carbonated beverages (bottled ice teas, fruit drinks and ades, bottled ice tea, etc.).
3. National Soft Drink Assoc. web site, www.nsda.org.
4. Ibid.
5. USDA/ERS: Food Consumption, Prices, and Expenditures, 1970-95, Stat. Bull. No. 939 (August, 1997).
6. Unless otherwise specified, all data on consumption of soft drinks, milk, and calorie intake were obtained or calculated from U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) surveys (one-day data) particularly Continuing Survey of Food Intakes of Individuals (CSFII), 1994-96 (Data Tables 9.4, 9.7, 10.4, 10.7); 1987-88
(Report No. 87+1, Tables 1.2-1 and -2; 1.7-1 and -2); Nationwide Food Consumption Surveys, 1977-78 (Tables A1.2-1 and -2; A1.7-1and -2). Intake of added
sugars by age was obtained from USDA's analysis for purposes of the Food Guide Pyramid (two-day 1996 data, Table 6). Teens' consumption of vegetables,
fruit, and other foods also is from Pyramid Servings Data, USDA, Dec. 1997, based on CSFII, 1996. We are grateful to USDA staff members in the Food
Surveys Research Group for their assistance. (See USDA web site: www.barc.usda.gov/bhnrc/foodsurvey/home.htm)
7. Analyses by Environ, Inc., Sept. 1998, based on USDA CSFII 1994-96 two-day data.
8. Ibid.
9. CSPI survey, August 26, 1998.
10. Nutrition Action Healthletter. 1998 (July/Aug.);25(6):6.
11. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 1995;62(suppl):178S-94S.
12. Those dietary surveys find that consumers report consuming only 57% of all soft drinks produced. While some soft drinks are wasted or returned to
manufacturers, that fact provides good evidence that the surveys greatly underestimate actual intake.
13. U.S. Dept. Agr. The Food Guide Pyramid. Home and Garden Bulletin No. 252, Oct. 1996, p. 17.
14. USDA's recommendation applies to diets that include 30% of calories from fat.  Because 33% of the calories teens consume come from fat, there is even
less room in the diet for added sugar.
15. J. Am. Diet Assoc. 1998;98:537-547.
16. USDA CSFII 1994-96.
17. Diet sodas, which provide no calories, constitute only 4% of soft-drink consumption by teenage boys and 11% by teenage girls.
18. Pediatrics. 1997;100:323-9. Pediatrics. 1998;101:952-3.
19. USDA, Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, CNPP-5; The Healthy Eating Index, 1994-96, July 1998.
20. Personal communication, Lisa Harnack, Sept. 22, 1998.
21. J. Am. Diet. Assoc. 1986;86:493-9.
22. Analyses by Environ, Inc., see note 7. Calcium was the only micronutrient examined.
23. National Soft Drink Assoc. "Soft Drinks and Nutrition." Washington, D.C. (undated).
24. New York Times. May 26, 1998, p.D1.
25. Arch. Pediatr. Adolesc. Med. 1995; 149:1085-91. Morbidity Mortality Weekly Report. March 7, 1997;46(9):199-201.
26. Troiano RP, et al. "Energy and fat intake of children and adolescents in the United States. Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys."
Am. J. Clin. Nutr. In press.
27. Analyses by Environ, see note 7.
28. "Embrace Your Health! Lose Weight if You Are Overweight" NHLBI and Office of Research on Minority Health, NIH Publication No. 97-4061, Sept. 1997.
29. National Osteoporosis Foundation. "Fast facts on osteoporosis." Web site, www.nof.org/stats.html.
30. Institute of Medicine. Dietary Reference Intakes: Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Vitamin D, and Fluoride. 1997; pp.4-28.
31. Analyses by Environ, see note 7.
32. J. Bone Miner. Res. 1998;13:143-8.
33. J. Am. Dent. Assoc. 1984;109:241-5.
34. J. Am. Dent. Assoc. 1972;85:81-89.
35. The Dental Health Foundation. "A Neglected Epidemic: The Oral Health of California's Children." (San Rafael, 1997).
36. J. Am. Dent. Assoc. 1998;129:1229-1238.
37. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 58(Suppl); 1993:800S. J. Clin. Endocrin. Metab. 1984;59:636.
38. J. Am. Med. Assoc. 1996;276:882-8.
39. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, web site, http://www.niddk.nih.gov/
40. J. Clin. Epidemiol. 1992 (Aug);45(8):911-916.
41. Beverage Digest web site, www.beverage-digest.com/980212.html.
42. Ibid.
43. Osteoporosis Intern. 1995;5:97-102.
44. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. (Washington, D.C.), 4th ed. 1994.
45. J. Nervous Mental Disease 1981;169:726. Arch. Gen. Psychiat. 1984;41:1073.
46. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry. 1998;37:858-65.
47. Federal Register. 1979;44:37212-37221.
48. Ann. Allergy Asthma Immunol. 1997;79:415-9.
49. Science. 1980;207:1487.
50. Lancet 1980;i:837-840. Env. Health Perspectives 1998;25:173-200.
51. Associated Press. "Consumer group attacks artificial sweetener." Aug. 1, 1996.
52. Beverage World web site, www.beverageworld.com.
53. Beverage Digest web site (data expressed in 1998 dollars).
54. Vending Times, 1998;38(9):15,21,22.
55. Wall Street Journal, May 8, 1997, p.1.
56. Wall Street Journal, Sept. 15, 1997, B1.
57. Selling to Kids, August 19, 1998, p. 4.
58. Chronicle of Philanthropy. July 30, 1998, p.25.
59. ASDC J. Dent. Child. 1997 (Jan-Feb);64(1):55-60.
60. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor.
61. Coca-Cola Co. Annual Report, 1997; M. Douglas Ivester's introductory statement.
62. Coca-Cola Co. Annual Report, 1997.
63. Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, Little Rock, Ark.