Food Frontiers Blog

Last week, PepsiCo sponsored the American Dietetic Association’s annual Food & Nutrition Conference in Boston, an event that drew more than 10,000 food and nutrition experts to engage in discussions about global nutrition. By bringing together leading dietitians, nutrition science researchers, policy makers, health care providers and food companies, events like this hold significant potential for the advancement of public health. One thing we learned at the conference was if PepsiCo is serious about helping to solve complex problems like childhood obesity and malnutrition, greater collaboration across sectors is essential.

Several private-public partnerships are proving every day they can develop programs to address complex nutrition issues we face today. In 2006, the Alliance for a Healthier Generation – a joint initiative of the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation – joined forces with PepsiCo, The Coca-Cola Company and Dr. Pepper Snapple Group to remove full-calorie soft drinks from U.S. schools. Within three years, total calories from soft drink beverages shipped to schools dropped 88 percent.

Another example is the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation (HWCF), a coalition of retailers, food and beverage manufacturers, NGOs, professional sports organizations and others. Earlier this year, the HWCF joined forces with First Lady Michelle Obama’s Partnership for a Healthier America and announced a pledge to reduce 1.5 trillion calories from the US food supply by 2015, primarily through the development of healthier products.

On a global basis, the chief executives of 10 multinational food and beverage companies, including PepsiCo, signed a Global Commitment to Action in support of implementing the World Health Organization’s Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health. PepsiCo and other members have been reporting progress in delivering these goals.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s that solutions to complex health and nutrition challenges are rarely simple. Yet too often some in both the public and private sectors over-simplify the issues and solutions, which can create a combative “us versus them” debate. When this happens, progress stands still.

While there’s certainly a lot we can do as a company, there are also limits to what any single organization can achieve on its own. That’s why we’re working with a wide range of partners – including other companies, public health organizations, academic institutions and NGOs – to guide and inform our work. The more we embrace opportunities to collaborate on projects that improve public health and wellness through diet and exercise, the better off we’ll all be.

What do you believe are the most important public health projects to which PepsiCo can contribute?

We look forward to continuing this journey, in concert with our partners, and helping to build a healthier future for all of us.

National Steak and Poultry

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Chemantics

I totally agree that solutions to these problems are rarely simple, and an "us versus them attitude" stalls progress.

I think that part of the problem is that corporations, as well as individuals, focus on WHAT can be done and HOW it can be done... but loose sight of WHY. An example in the meat packing industry comes to mind. As I am sure you know, thanks to government subsidies of corn, there has in the past been an excess production of corn with farmers being able to sell their crop below production. This, in turn, led to the increased use and development of all sorts of corn based products... including as a feed for cows. But cows aren't made to eat corn, they are made to eat grass. This corn diet has allowed different E. Coli to evolve, grow, and spread with the cows, contaminating the meat and infecting humans.

So what has the solution been with the cows? Put E. Coli killing filler in the meat.

What I see is the failure to step back and ask "should we be feeding corn to cows?" "Is it worth the faster growth?" "Is it the right thing to do?"

In the problem at hand, children are getting obese. Why? Because they are poor and like to eat food that tastes good. It just so happens that the food that tastes good costs less than healthy food. It is a fact.

I think we should step back and ask "Should we make tasty unhealthy food cheaper than healthy food?"

I firmly believe that companies have the right to make whatever products they see fit for whatever price they choose (under applicable laws of course). But, SHOULD they?

I think that there is a way to make healthy food less expensive than unhealthy food. Giant multinational food corporations have the buying power to make that happen. Government subsidies can make that happen. Cooperation between competing companies with a common health goal can do that. For example, what if the major soft drink companies agreed to make diet soda 25 cents cheaper than their regular counterparts across the board?

I think the Pepsi is on the right track. It starts with communication like this blog and research like with the taste receptors. Multinational food companies are far more powerful than I think they are given credit for. I believe that with open "bipartisan" communication and firm morals, major food companies can shape the health of the global community.

PepsiCo

It Takes a Village

by Bob Brown

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