Live data from Hacker News

PepsiCo Wants to Sell Healthy Food, Consumers Want Chips

wsj.com

31–40 of 67 posts

Re: PepsiCo Wants to Sell Healthy Food, Consumers Want Chips

#31
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the market is incapable, it is time for government to step in. We already have innumerable regulations re food safety and content, would it be inconceivable for us to regulate the salt content of potato chips? Or the calorie content of something labeled a "meal deal"?

This kind of thing scares me. As someone who lost 70 pounds eating bacon and eggs for six months, and eating about 5x the recommended daily amount of salt that whole time, I'm worried the government stepping in will make all our food taste like cardboard. Sugar is the enemy, but so often fat and salt are demonized when in a proper diet these aren't unhealthy at all.

But are you scared by all the current regulations?

When they banned alum in flour, industry and customers did scream. Today we find it very normal that our flour not contain alum. Alum makes whiter bread and consumers wanted whiter bread, paralleling what Pepsi is saying today.

Atkins-style diets have their downsides. especially in regards to blood pressure. Eating paleo sounds great, but remember that few of our ancestors expected to live past 30.

Re: PepsiCo Wants to Sell Healthy Food, Consumers Want Chips

#33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like to think diet pop can fit into this category... but then there's the backlash of "unnatural chemicals" which sceptics believe must obviously be bad for you.

> the backlash of "unnatural chemicals" which sceptics (sic.) believe must obviously be bad for you. You mean like the fact that they inhibit beneficial intestinal flora [1], or that numerous studies have found that people have a higher risk for diabetes if they drink diet soda [2], or that people gain weight when they switch to diet sofa from regular [3]? Yeah, those wacky skeptics - they'll believe anything... [1]…

It's literally impossible to gain weight from drinking diet soda. It doesn't have food energy. It can't break thermodynamics. It can only be explained by other factors like people over compensating with other calorie consumption.

Re: PepsiCo Wants to Sell Healthy Food, Consumers Want Chips

#34
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the market is incapable, it is time for government to step in. We already have innumerable regulations re food safety and content, would it be inconceivable for us to regulate the salt content of potato chips? Or the calorie content of something labeled a "meal deal"?

This kind of thing scares me. As someone who lost 70 pounds eating bacon and eggs for six months, and eating about 5x the recommended daily amount of salt that whole time, I'm worried the government stepping in will make all our food taste like cardboard. Sugar is the enemy, but so often fat and salt are demonized when in a proper diet these aren't unhealthy at all.

We know for sure that obesity is bad. Tax fat people.

Re: PepsiCo Wants to Sell Healthy Food, Consumers Want Chips

#35
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This kind of thing scares me. As someone who lost 70 pounds eating bacon and eggs for six months, and eating about 5x the recommended daily amount of salt that whole time, I'm worried the government stepping in will make all our food taste like cardboard. Sugar is the enemy, but so often fat and salt are demonized when in a proper diet these aren't unhealthy at all.

But are you scared by all the current regulations? When they banned alum in flour, industry and customers did scream. Today we find it very normal that our flour not contain alum. Alum makes whiter bread and consumers wanted whiter bread, paralleling what Pepsi is saying today. Atkins-style diets have their downsides. especially in regards to blood pressure. Eating paleo sounds great, but remember that few of our anc…

> Eating paleo sounds great, but remember that few of our ancestors expected to live past 30.

Life expectancy in pre-modern eras may have been around 30-ish years, but that mostly reflects extremely high levels of infant mortality. If you could reach adulthood, you usually expected to die around 50-60.

Re: PepsiCo Wants to Sell Healthy Food, Consumers Want Chips

#36
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This kind of thing scares me. As someone who lost 70 pounds eating bacon and eggs for six months, and eating about 5x the recommended daily amount of salt that whole time, I'm worried the government stepping in will make all our food taste like cardboard. Sugar is the enemy, but so often fat and salt are demonized when in a proper diet these aren't unhealthy at all.

But are you scared by all the current regulations? When they banned alum in flour, industry and customers did scream. Today we find it very normal that our flour not contain alum. Alum makes whiter bread and consumers wanted whiter bread, paralleling what Pepsi is saying today. Atkins-style diets have their downsides. especially in regards to blood pressure. Eating paleo sounds great, but remember that few of our anc…

[deleted]

Re: PepsiCo Wants to Sell Healthy Food, Consumers Want Chips

#37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like to think diet pop can fit into this category... but then there's the backlash of "unnatural chemicals" which sceptics believe must obviously be bad for you.

> the backlash of "unnatural chemicals" which sceptics (sic.) believe must obviously be bad for you. You mean like the fact that they inhibit beneficial intestinal flora [1], or that numerous studies have found that people have a higher risk for diabetes if they drink diet soda [2], or that people gain weight when they switch to diet sofa from regular [3]? Yeah, those wacky skeptics - they'll believe anything... [1]…

On the other hand, I stopped drinking all diet sodas and just drank water / carbonated water the last year. Absolutely no difference. Didn't even notice the lack of caffeine going from 6 diet dr peppers per day down to 0.

Re: PepsiCo Wants to Sell Healthy Food, Consumers Want Chips

#38

It's a little dishonest of this article not to point out that junk food is engineered- I mean literally engineered, by teams of scientists running controlled experiments- to be as addictive as possible. This isn't a question of those wacky consumers and their revealed preference not matching their stated intentions; human willpower should barely enter the conversation when this topic comes up. If PepsiCo is genuinely…

It's coordination problems all the way down. I'd prefer the ability to purchase the products I choose, and suffer the consequences.

Yes, but based off the fact that you visit HN you are an informed and educated consumer. A lot of people (more than many realize) don't even understand how bad a bag of doritos is for their health. "Oh, it's just one bag" is a common saying. You probably will portion control, read the nutrition label, etc and make a decision. Most will see a delicious bag of doritos and eat it.

Re: PepsiCo Wants to Sell Healthy Food, Consumers Want Chips

#39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like to think diet pop can fit into this category... but then there's the backlash of "unnatural chemicals" which sceptics believe must obviously be bad for you.

> the backlash of "unnatural chemicals" which sceptics (sic.) believe must obviously be bad for you. You mean like the fact that they inhibit beneficial intestinal flora [1], or that numerous studies have found that people have a higher risk for diabetes if they drink diet soda [2], or that people gain weight when they switch to diet sofa from regular [3]? Yeah, those wacky skeptics - they'll believe anything... [1]…

If you switch to diet soda from regular soda because of weight issues or diabetes risk, that seems like a pretty serious self-selection bias for later weight issues or diabetes risk.

https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/enhanced/web...

Re: PepsiCo Wants to Sell Healthy Food, Consumers Want Chips

#40
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This kind of thing scares me. As someone who lost 70 pounds eating bacon and eggs for six months, and eating about 5x the recommended daily amount of salt that whole time, I'm worried the government stepping in will make all our food taste like cardboard. Sugar is the enemy, but so often fat and salt are demonized when in a proper diet these aren't unhealthy at all.

But are you scared by all the current regulations? When they banned alum in flour, industry and customers did scream. Today we find it very normal that our flour not contain alum. Alum makes whiter bread and consumers wanted whiter bread, paralleling what Pepsi is saying today. Atkins-style diets have their downsides. especially in regards to blood pressure. Eating paleo sounds great, but remember that few of our anc…

I was able to quit blood pressure meds after using a paleo diet. I'm more relaxed about it now, but honestly it's looking like sugar is way worse than fat for health.
Post reply on HN