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PepsiCo's CEO Indra Nooyi Was Right. Now What?

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21–30 of 84 posts

Re: PepsiCo's CEO Indra Nooyi Was Right. Now What?

#21

>“The consumer has turned the definition [of healthy] upside down,” she says. “If it is non-GMO, natural, or organic, but high in sodium and high in sugar and fat, it’s okay.” True and important to note when you're grocery shopping. Organic, natural, non-GMO do not mean that thing you're holding in your hand is actually good for you.

When I moved here ~12 years ago one of the things that surprised me the most was how comfortable companies were at flat out deceptive marketing. The lesson I learned very quickly was to assume any claim made on any package by any company was unsubstantiated and usually a lie.

What I took away from this is that as a consumer you have to be very engaged in evaluating your food choices. Unfortunately most people aren't, it seems. I continue to be surprised by how many otherwise intelligent people fall for claims of "low fat", "sugar free", "high calcium", "organic", "natural", "gluten free", "kale", other fads etc.

The other thing I learned is if you want to be a low-information consumer, there are far better countries in the world for you to live than the US, places where the government takes a stronger hand in enforcing population health and consumer protection. If you live in this country, you had better be smart and look out for yourself, because the companies and the government not only don't care, they are actively trying to screw you.

Re: PepsiCo's CEO Indra Nooyi Was Right. Now What?

#22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Acidity is bad for teeth, particularly in locations without fluoridated municipal water. Is acidity implicated in any other health problems?

I don't know about acidity, but fluoride has been implicated in many health problems. Here's a list of peer reviewed studies: http://fluoridealert.org/studytracker/?effect=&type=reviews&...

How would one determine that "fluoride alert" is any different than e.g. the anti-vaxxers?

Re: PepsiCo's CEO Indra Nooyi Was Right. Now What?

#23

>“The consumer has turned the definition [of healthy] upside down,” she says. “If it is non-GMO, natural, or organic, but high in sodium and high in sugar and fat, it’s okay.” True and important to note when you're grocery shopping. Organic, natural, non-GMO do not mean that thing you're holding in your hand is actually good for you.

I wish someone would start a no-added-sugar movement. I have a sweet tooth, but the amount of sugar added to even fruit products disgusts me. Dried mango without sugar costs 2x. Raisin bran does not need more sugar. That's the point of the raisins! I like creamer in my coffee, but I cut it with milk.

The problem with "no sugar added" labels is they allow the use of things that happen to contain a lot of sugar, like apple and grape juices. It's just as misleading as many of the other call-out labels.

Re: PepsiCo's CEO Indra Nooyi Was Right. Now What?

#24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Acidity is bad for teeth, particularly in locations without fluoridated municipal water. Is acidity implicated in any other health problems?

I don't know about acidity, but fluoride has been implicated in many health problems. Here's a list of peer reviewed studies: http://fluoridealert.org/studytracker/?effect=&type=reviews&...

[deleted]

Re: PepsiCo's CEO Indra Nooyi Was Right. Now What?

#25

>“The consumer has turned the definition [of healthy] upside down,” she says. “If it is non-GMO, natural, or organic, but high in sodium and high in sugar and fat, it’s okay.” True and important to note when you're grocery shopping. Organic, natural, non-GMO do not mean that thing you're holding in your hand is actually good for you.

I wish someone would start a no-added-sugar movement. I have a sweet tooth, but the amount of sugar added to even fruit products disgusts me. Dried mango without sugar costs 2x. Raisin bran does not need more sugar. That's the point of the raisins! I like creamer in my coffee, but I cut it with milk.

Since you mentioned dried fruit twice, I thought you might find interesting that WHO recommends counting dried fruit as added sugar (also honey and natural syrups, such as maple, in addition to what we usually count as added sugar).

Re: PepsiCo's CEO Indra Nooyi Was Right. Now What?

#26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know about acidity, but fluoride has been implicated in many health problems. Here's a list of peer reviewed studies: http://fluoridealert.org/studytracker/?effect=&type=reviews&...

How would one determine that "fluoride alert" is any different than e.g. the anti-vaxxers?

The peer reviewed studies were not created by that website. That page just lists the links to studies that were published in peer reviewed journals.

I'm not sure how any of this relates to vaccines, since we are talking about fluoride. But anytime you want to know if something is true or not, the only way I know of is to dig deeper for more information.

Re: PepsiCo's CEO Indra Nooyi Was Right. Now What?

#27

>“The consumer has turned the definition [of healthy] upside down,” she says. “If it is non-GMO, natural, or organic, but high in sodium and high in sugar and fat, it’s okay.” True and important to note when you're grocery shopping. Organic, natural, non-GMO do not mean that thing you're holding in your hand is actually good for you.

I wish someone would start a no-added-sugar movement. I have a sweet tooth, but the amount of sugar added to even fruit products disgusts me. Dried mango without sugar costs 2x. Raisin bran does not need more sugar. That's the point of the raisins! I like creamer in my coffee, but I cut it with milk.

Trulia's co-founder Sami Inkinen and his wife are actually on it. Feel free to read more at http://www.fatchancerow.org/act-on-sugar/

Re: PepsiCo's CEO Indra Nooyi Was Right. Now What?

#29
post #28

I wonder about this article. They say people are buying less orange juice because of the sugar. But I think they are buying less because it's so crazy expensive. I know that's why I stopped.

I tried to go from Sodas to processed juice, but doctors explained that the sugar content was similar. I then tried to by raw oranges but couldn't find anything worth eating. Acid like a lemon, crooked, dry almost solid, skin ripping the fruit apart ... Nothing like my memories when I could peel an orange and enjoy the delicious slices one by one.

To get 'normal' oranges I had to seek for expensive packages.

Re: PepsiCo's CEO Indra Nooyi Was Right. Now What?

#30
post #4

Surprise: capitalism actually works and makes companies follow consumer wishes. If consumers actually vote for these wishes with their wallets, of course.

Pardon me , but you seem have to got the terms "free market economy" and "capitalism" mixed up. Free market economy and capitalism may be entwined but they mean very different things and they cannot be used as synonyms of each other.

They are synonyms. The field of economics (the only field that could legitimately claim to give exact definitions to these terms) uses them interchangeably, and tends not to care about classification or exact verbal definitions, but rather focuses on the implications of various mathematical models.

If there is ambiguity in a verbal definition, it can be clarified by writing down a mathematical model, not by endless debates about the meaning of words or classification of the economies of different nations.

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