The Coca Cola Conspiracy: The secret cause for the U.S. obesity epidemic

This is just a bit off-topic, but it relates to how the food and beverage industry works.

Companies are worried about one thing - massive profit. To achieve this profit they add preservatives to extend shelf life. Longer shelf life means less spoilage and higher profit margin. Really "less spoilage" just means that it looks nice and you'll never find a product with their name on it going bad at the grocery. If you ever saw one of their products spoiled at the grocery it may affect your future perceptions.

They also add water, air, or cheaper ingredients whenever and wherever they can. The big thing in the meat industry is to add water and air to make products weigh more or look bigger. Ever wonder why some hot dogs "plump when you cook em'? Added air pockets. Why do some hot dogs look bigger in the display case? Pumped up with air or water. They sell image, not quality. And it works. Product development (AKA formulating "new" products with cheaper ingredients) and marketing (to convince you that this "new" product is something you need) are two of the biggest jobs in the food industry.

Also, guess how many legally defined types of ham there are? Well, more than a few. Ham, Ham in Natural Juices, Ham Product, etc. Why all the different names? Because they are legally defined by the amount of brine added. Brine is water, salt, phosphate, and occasionally other additives. For example, If there is more than 10% weight added as brine, you can't legally call it ham. It has to be labeled something like Ham in Natural Juices. Next time you're in the grocery, take a closer look at the exact wording on all those different kinds of "ham" . It will say HAM in big letters and then in natural juices in smaller print. Tricksy they are!


They are trying to shave pennies off the cost to produce 10 lbs of product. How can a penny off of ten pounds make a difference? Well, they sell many millions of pound per year. If they can save a penny by reformulating to use HFCS, modified corn starch, and maltodextrin instead of simply using corn flour, then they will. Then they will put a little logo that says "new and improved!" on the box. This process happens constantly. But they are very careful to change things incrementally so that loyal customers will not notice a change in the flavor. A relatively non-complex product like Kraft macaroni and cheese has probably seen many alterations in the last 10-15 years, but each change is slight. They wait a few months or a a few years and then make another change. People rarely notice until many alterations have been made, but even then they say "this doesn't taste as good to me as it used to - my tastes must be changing!"

This is all well known in product development. The end result is that your kids are not eating what you were while you were growing up. Even though it still comes in the same box.

reply to post by Wolvo


of all the adjectives you could have used, the worst was "troll", if that is the case then the authorities owe me several years of unpaid wages. Yes i do believe in what i posted, to the T. Yes i am a stuck up snob, i have standards to which i choose to live by and standards to which my children will be brought up by, every parent is different, it's what i believe is right.

reply to post by fulllotusqigong


people are obese because of 3 reasons :

1 genetics
2 failing to montior what they eat
3 lack of exercise


almost every movie has a reference to coke or pepsi.. you just have to look for it..

load something up with sugar and caffenine and sell it..
its similiar to smoking, or drinking coffee.

It's not like the US is the only country that drinks Coke. How come Asians don't have the obesity epidemic that the US have? It is more than the Coca Cola conspiracy on why there is obesity epidemic in the US.

Coke isn't evil. Just drink it in moderation. I drink two 12 oz bottles of coke (glass bottles with real sugar) a week with no problems. And I usually do it right before my thirty minute jog. I jog 30 minutes three or four days a week and lift weights three times a week for 45 minutes. I regulate what I eat, have five meals of 300 calories each a day, splitting my proteins, simple carbs, complex carbs, vegetables, and oils properly each meal. Two bottles of Coke a week are a treat and do nothing to me.

The real problem is simply gluttony and laziness and/or a sedentary life-style. Everything in moderation. Too much exercise is bad for you too.

My mam is fat and she never drinks coke.What else should she blame?

reply to post by CallYourBluff


wheat, toxins, sugar (they are present in almost all processed food).

Originally posted by CallYourBluff
My mam is fat and she never drinks coke.What else should she blame?

Please re-read entire thread

Originally posted by SubAce
Coke isn't evil. Just drink it in moderation. I drink two 12 oz bottles of coke (glass bottles with real sugar) a week with no problems. And I usually do it right before my thirty minute jog. I jog 30 minutes three or four days a week and lift weights three times a week for 45 minutes. I regulate what I eat, have five meals of 300 calories each a day, splitting my proteins, simple carbs, complex carbs, vegetables, and oils properly each meal. Two bottles of Coke a week are a treat and do nothing to me.

The real problem is simply gluttony and laziness and/or a sedentary life-style. Everything in moderation. Too much exercise is bad for you too.

edit on 29-1-2012 by SubAce because: (no reason given)

Just because you don't gain weight doesn't make it good for you. My stepson drinks a 10 pack of pepsi a day and doesn't gain any weight, he's a toothpick. He has a wicked high metabolism. He also eats bad, bad food nonstop all day long. He's about 100 lbs at 5'5". Skinny as heck.

Still not healthy! I'll be amazed if he outlives me. He probably won't see age 40, I feel bad for him.

Originally posted by WP4YT

Originally posted by SubAce
Coke isn't evil. Just drink it in moderation. I drink two 12 oz bottles of coke (glass bottles with real sugar) a week with no problems. And I usually do it right before my thirty minute jog. I jog 30 minutes three or four days a week and lift weights three times a week for 45 minutes. I regulate what I eat, have five meals of 300 calories each a day, splitting my proteins, simple carbs, complex carbs, vegetables, and oils properly each meal. Two bottles of Coke a week are a treat and do nothing to me.

The real problem is simply gluttony and laziness and/or a sedentary life-style. Everything in moderation. Too much exercise is bad for you too.

edit on 29-1-2012 by SubAce because: (no reason given)

Just because you don't gain weight doesn't make it good for you. My stepson drinks a 10 pack of pepsi a day and doesn't gain any weight, he's a toothpick. He has a wicked high metabolism. He also eats bad, bad food nonstop all day long. He's about 100 lbs at 5'5". Skinny as heck.

Still not healthy! I'll be amazed if he outlives me. He probably won't see age 40, I feel bad for him.

I realize that. If you notice I explained exactly how I live my life in the statement above. I have a healthy diet, and regulate my intake of sweets. Comparing 2 bottles of 12 oz soda a week living a healthy lifestyle and eating properly to someone that drinks a 10 pack every day isn't being honest.

I've been on a paleo diet for nearly 6 months now. i eat tons, im never hungry, have loads of energy and, more amazingly, I've lost nearly 6 stone and 10 inches off my waist.
It seems obvious to me that humans in general should steer clear of cereals, legumes and sugars.

I know Coca-Cola is bad. But it's so tasty! Anyway, I have a wonderful unique metabolism. I am practically unable to get fat. I need to eat loads of cereals, carbs, protein and sugars to actually gain some mass. Otherwise I'm just a skeleton.

Surely one of the main obesity problems is the simple fact that these coca cola drinkers dont actually go anywhere on foot.

Do any of these horrid fattasses actually walk, run, cycle, etc...? When the human race is faced with a global catastrophe, we will all be screwed.....apart from the very few people who watch ray mears.

coke might be one factor but it isn't the only one. There might be a little less obesity if we all stopped drinking coke but it wouldn't solve the problem alone.

I drink coke once or twice a week and I'm not fat. But I exercise and don't stuff my pie hole with crap all day long.

The Dr Atkins diet promoted low carbs, low sugars, and high protein. I tried the diet and had problems with stones in my urine. The idea behind the diet has great merit, including protecting those prone to Diabetes.

My Dad was an MD and Surgeon. Our dinner table always had a major portion of meat and vegetables. Very little bread and potatoes. We also had wine with dinner (yes even when I was in grade school. Of course as a child I had milk at breakfast and lunch. While we had fruit in the morning, it was a small portion, about 1/4 cup, no more.

Now that I'm in retirement, my intake of bread is very low, and what bread I do eat is made from scratch in my own kitchen. I must admit that I love doughnuts, but the baker is about an hour's drive each way, so I only get those once in awhile. (I live in a very rural area).

As to commercial foods, while I'm beginning to pressure can lots of food, I did rely upon many commercially canned foods until this past year. Mostly things like tomatoes in various forms which unfortunately often are commercially canned with sugar.

My kitchen has some soda-pop for visitors who ask for it but we don't drink it ourselves. I do make home brew beer, and that does contain sugar, but only what is needed for proper development of the yeast and flavor. No salt.

About Diabetes. I'm 325# as of my visit to my MD last week. I've been in the 300# range since my late teens. While this makes me unattractive to most, I never had problems with carrying the weight as I was quite active. I should have diabetes, but my MD says my diet pretty much prevents it from it gaining ground. So Atkins and my dad were correct.

My pantry had lots of boxed commercial foods, but except for brownie mix, I never use it nor purchase any. Most of it is from my mom's kitchen, who died a few years ago. I really should give the stuff away.

One of the food ingredients that is pure poison are the FD&C food colourants as found in many if not most boxed foods, and commercial drinks like soda pop. I know they are poison as the USA is one of the few countries in the world that allows their use. I'm intensely allergic to them and end up in the hospital if I have even a crumb with that material in it. (Sure eliminates most birthday cakes). However I can go to Canada and purchase the exact same brand of food and it will not have the FD&C colours.

Also, while I'm on my soapbox. Why are commercial dairy bottlers adding unneeded ingredients to Heavy Cream, and Half and Half? Oh you didn't notice? Any dairy item that is labeled "ULTRA PASTEURIZED" has added ingredients. the same product labeled "FRESH" is unadulterated. However the "FRESH" word is small and near the spout while the "ULTRA PASTEURIZED" is in large bold letters to warn you. Still the term is misleading. Want to make nice whipped cream, use the "FRESH" product. I see no need for the "ULTRA PASTEURIZED" product. Well the only thing is they can add to a product and stretch it and make more money on it. "FRESH" is always more expensive.

I went to my Doctor, and spoke to him about healthy living and what I should do he said:
Give up smoking
Give up Drinking alcohol
Dont drink tea or coffee
Don't eat fatty foods
Don't eat butter or any dairy products
Dont eat sweets
Don't eat red meat
Dont use salt
Dont use sugar
Avoid sex
Dont drink any flavoured drinks

So I said ok, and asked it if would make me live longer, he said "NO, but it sure as hell will make your life boring enough to seem like its longer"

You know life if for living, not sitting around constantly being afraid of dying, I am 50 years old this year, will I reach 80? Nope, will i reach 70? hmmm debatable, will I reach 60? hopefully but you know what, however long it will be I will just enjoy what I have, and I will continue to LIVE each day, I will enjoy my many cups of tea with full fat milk and two sugars, I will enjoy a steak when I get to eat one, I will have a cold coke on a hot day, I will have bread with my meal if I want or a sandwich, in fact what ever I crave as a meal I will eat it.

For all I know I might die tomorrow or next week, so i will enjoy today, I suggest some people here do the same. FFS buy a sack of brown rice, and you call that a life? wake up, you have one life, live it and be damned and don't let anyone make you live in fear, cos a life in fear is no life at all...

reply to post by fulllotusqigong


Coke "specifically" my mums an ER nurse, a majority of nurses drink coke, they claim the acid, chems are germ killers, and that Coke will kill any accidentally inhaled, ingested, toxins...This is only what I hear...not proven...

Myself I stay on a 6-8 coke a day regiment, I'm 6' tall 168 lbs and eat well, veggies, organic when possible, and very little meat.
I'm 40, and can't remember ever being sick, but, thats not to say say I'm just "not normal" or a freak!

I drank almost no fizzy drinks growing up and developed MS by the age of 25. Over the last few years I have drank a litteral # ton of coke lite with no adverse affects and what I can say with absolute certainty is this. It has had no ill effect on my brain as some suggest it should. I know this for a fact, because I feel fine outwardly, and my brain looks exactly the same now as it did back when I had my first MRI 10 years ago. I'm also a perfectly healthy weight for my height and relatively fit in general.

I do not believe in the aspertame conspiracy and believe that the doses that you receive when drinking coke or any other artificially sweetened drink is well within the realms of being safe.

reply to post by RMFX1


it is not a conspiracy, but a fact. i assume you are drinking diet coke?
look at the research.
also, for these type of chemicals they take decades to show their harm. so don't worry, wait another 10, 20 years and you will get there, my friend.

Originally posted by antar
I have to add that this report steers away from the real reason behind the obesity problem globally. It is not longer just the US, it is everywhere people eat genetically modified foods.

I was thinking the other day about my grandparents. They were never over weight, yet they ate very heartily.

They always got a side of beef for the year put into their freezer from the butcher.
Always ate veggies from their garden.
Made desserts from scratch
And consumed fruits that neighbors or friends grew

Every day my grandmother had one pepsi or a 7 up. As did my grandfather.

They were never diagnosed with lifestyle diseases. My grandfather died from a broken hip (fall, blood clot)
My grandma died from old age... her heart just gave out...

They never had blocked arteries, diabetes, alzheimers,parkinsons, or other issues.

As for diet soda, I don't see how consumption of aspartame, which is also phenylalanine in addition to this amino acid that is already in our body can be good for us in long term. It's an excito toxin.... it is bound to create some havoc on the nervous system. I mean, that's just logic.

Now let's look at my mom as an example (in brief)

My mother had a heart attack at the age of 56, a double bypass, and has continual fluid build up on her lungs because she cannot have some repair work done in her heart because she suffers a disease known as PXE that causes vessels to shrink. She will live (suffer) with this the rest of her life.

Here's what my mother's life style was prior to her heart attack:

Fast food (almost every day)
Diet Coke or diet pepsi ( never drank water)
Sweets (addiction to little Debbie snacks)
When she did not have fast food, she ate at other chain restaurants
Diet pills (in the 70's)

This is her diet as far as I can remember back into my childhood.

Her cardiologist said that the excito toxins in diet pop can increase cardiac problems. BUT he also said, "I'm not allowed to say that".

Take that as you will....