Posted on 04/06/2006 12:22:03 PM PDT by Puppage
(Hartford-AP, Apr. 6, 2006 1:18 PM) _ Two top Democrats are accusing Coca Cola of pushing sugary sodas on Connecticut public schools.
Senate President Don Williams and Attorney General Richard Blumenthal pointed to contracts with two schools. They claim the soda company provides schools with financial incentives to fill vending machines with soda and not more healthy products, such as juice and water.
But an attorney for Coke denies the charge. He says those contracts are five years old. One has expired and the other district bans soda sales.
Attorney Bart Halloran says he's not aware of any schools that are given a financial incentive to sell soda instead of juice and water.
State lawmakers are again considering legislation this session that would ban soda in public schools.
Proponents claim the soda ban is needed to help combat childhood obesity.
Coke officials say they provide many public school districts with money for scholarships, equipment and other programs in exchange for giving the company exclusive rights to sell drinks. But they say they don't sell soda in any Connecticut elementary schools.
Ban, ban, ban. Can democRATS do anything other than ban things?
If Blumenthal is involved, it cannot be good! What a pure commie scum!
Can democRATS do anything other than ban things?
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No. Their roots lie in SOCIALISM which exercises absolute government control over just about every aspect of your life -- and that is their objective. Power, control and socialism. They have nothing else, and are nothing else.
My daughter’s endocrinologist claims fruit juice is no healthier than soda. She say’s nutritionally, they are almost exactly the same, since the vitamins in juice are easily obtained elsewhere and don’t do much good without the fiber of the original fruit. A carb is a carb she says, and recommends people avoid fruit juice. I don't know if I buy it.
I have to say I'm not a fan of allowing soft drink machines in schools. Giving minors, who have enough health/nutrition problems, convenient on-campus access to high fructose corn syrup and caffeine when they need to be learning -- is a bad thing. On what basis can somebody defend this?
If a parent demands their kids should have easy access to sugared drinks, then send it from home. It's cheaper, too.
I don't buy it.
The doctor is right that fruit juice has little nutritioual benefit and should be taken in moderation. (it's easy and tasty to splash some juice in some sparkling water). But he's wrong that "a carb is a carb". Natural fruit sugars and highly processed sugars like high fructose corn syrup are handled very differently by the body, the latter being worse for you.
And of course there's the caffiene in cola drinks that you don't get in fruit juice.
The endocrinologist is correct. The fructose in fruit carbs are not different from the sucrose in soda carbs, fruit juice is as apt to put on weight as frank-sugar soda in a sendentary child. I'll grant the vitamins are better, but in a way, it's the difference between wheat Wonder Bread and white Wonder Bread.
Depends on the individual's body, metabolism. My particular body treats ALL carbs alike, and my own endocrinoligist has documented this along with her other research.
How about aspartame (not on the FDA's list of GRAS ingredients) and the soon to be banned spelda? Fake sugar is not nice.
Regardless of nutritional content - kids are going to drink this stuff no matter what. Schools are using these are fundraisers for their athletic programs (yes, albeit ironic)that the districts are beginning to cut back on funding. I know that Pepsi and Coke got into bidding wars down in Springgfield MO and the highschools won out in the end - they all got Spin-Turf Fields installed for FREE (going rate on one of these is $500K each). Thus saving the district money.
Coke owns Minute-Maid
Im not a fan either but I hate facist a**holes who want to control what people do. Children are easier to pull this crap on because they can't fight back.
There is no obesity epidemic. I think that the only thing this will create is a large amount of resentment from the kids in school (especially high school kids). I guess the state acting like a bunch of goose steppers will only create more Republicans later in life.
You would think that there would be at least some subtle differences. I think she's probably looking at it mainly from the diabetic/insulin dosage point of view, but she seems rather adamant that fruit juice is junk food for anybody.
LOL - pretty funny!
I'm not sure that's a fair characterization in this case. We're talking about *our* kids in *our* schools, not adults persuing their free choices. Why not just serve for lunch whatever the kids want? If they want froot loops, a twix bar, and a 24 oz. mountain dew who are we to "control" it? For that matter, why have an age limit on cigarettes? We can put cigarette machines in schools. It'll be decades before kids who smoke develop lung cancer, and by then they'll be adults who should know better, right?
You can't stop your kids from smoking, drinking, taking drugs, throwing knives at each other or any other insane thing. What you can do is teach you kids right from wrong and hope that they make the right choices in life. You try to show you child the value of eating healthy, you cannot force them to.
BTW thats quite a jump from soda in soda machines to having kindergarten kids smoking. If you really want your kids not drinking soda from the machines, pack 'em a lunch and don't give them money for the machine.
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