CBA responds to study falsely linking beverage consumption to global health crises

TORONTO, July 3, 2015 /CNW/ - In response to the "Estimated Global, Regional, and National Disease Burdens Related to Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption in 2010," the Canadian Beverage Association issued the following statement:

Canada's beverage companies are committed to being part of real solutions to public health challenges. The study,"Estimated Global, Regional, and National Disease Burdens Related to Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption in 2010," is a statistical model and does not examine real-life health outcomes related to dietary intake.  The authors' estimates and projections cannot show cause and effect.  The report examines mortality rates from chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease or cancer – but fails to establish any unique or direct link with beverages. The authors themselves acknowledge they are at best estimating a presumed effect of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption, which is very different from demonstrating causation.

Writing in Food Insight, Kris Sollid R.D. notes that the data set used by this study has also been assessed by other researchers who found that"…the highest dietary risk factor for morbidity was with diets low in fruits and vegetables, not with those containing sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). The fact that consuming few fruits and vegetables was significantly more associated with morbidity than SSB consumption (4.7 million versus 184,000) was acknowledged by the authors [of the current study], but it didn't make media headlines. It's always important to keep the true risks in perspective."¹

The Canadian government looked at fats, carbohydrates (i.e. starches plus sugars from all sources), protein and fibre in the diet and concluded that "it is not what you eat, but rather, how much – the total number of calories consumed – that significantly contributes to obesity." ²

CBA and its members are committed to providing consumers, government, private and social sectors fact-based information on which to base both personal decisions and public policy.

The Canadian Beverage Association is the national trade association representing the broad spectrum of companies that manufacture and distribute the majority of non-alcoholic refreshment beverages consumed in Canada.

¹ Food Insight, 3 Things You Need to Know about the Latest Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Claims, http://www.foodinsight.org/sugar-beverages-soda-death-study-evaluation

² Langlois K, Garriguet D, and Findlay L.  Diet composition and obesity among Canadian adults; Health Reports (Statistics Canada), October 2009, Cat.no.82-003-X

SOURCE Canadian Beverage Association

Carolyn Fell 416-362-2424 | [email protected]