Soft Drinks and Energy Drinks: Too Sweet for Your Own Good

i totally agree with Geoff of MI because you people need to get up and do something! do you want the US to be the FATTEST PLACE ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH! it like"HELLO! PEOPLE DO SOMETHING!" REALLY!!! people 9 out of 10 people are FAT! We need to take a stand! a stand against FAT! let's watch what we eat and make a difference in this world. NOW WHO'S WITH ME! SAY I OR ME!

Erin Larson of RI 11:24AM April 11, 2010

DON'T GIVE FREE REFILLS!!!!!!! When people think it's okay to have more and they can have it for free, why wouldn't they want it. That's the lesson I learned from these fast food franchises. The bigger the better. When resources are abundant materials fly off the shelf, making them cheap/er. When things are cheap you can produce as fast as you can move it all. When people are getting free soda they are going to drink more creating an addiction or habit. When it becomes a habit then soda becomes in routine of flying off the shelves. When people don't realize how much product is going out cause they only see whats in front of them they don't care cause they don't really know. When people don't care people don't act. When people don't act things slack off. When things start slacking you get George Bush followed by Barrack Obama. Now who is gonna dig us outta the hole cause we are all fat lazy soda addicts and can't let our heart rate exceed 150. The American culture is very ignorant to the fact that we are creating our own problems by wasting our money on things that are harmful to ourselves. A large portion of the US is unemployed and they are given assistance through the government just so they can have this crap. People need to take a close look at the real problem which are these franchises teaching us that more is better and bigger is better. I bet we would all have more fun if we knew what healthy felt like again.

Geoff of MI 3:44PM November 10, 2009

All drinks that have any calories should be banned. Liquid calories are a complete waste.

This extends far beyond soda. Juices are just as unhealthy as soda. Let's be honest and tax ALL beverages that have any calories.

NJLiveFree of NJ 7:24PM October 22, 2009

Dr David Wessler in his book End of Overeating,clearly showed that sugar and fat and salt becomes addictive as evidenced in the obesity epidemic. It is part of the human conditon, when our DNA was formed it was from nutritious natural vegetables, fruits, wild meat and fish - what was available and finding food was their life. Salt was minimal, sugar, if any, was in fruits, and wild animals and fish were lean. Human bodies and brains developed on healthy carbohydrates and ratios of essential fats now know but minimally consumed. Many others have recently written of our monolithic agribusiness and practices to make foods tasty with no regard to consequences to human health and every regard to profit. AND TAXPAYERS SUBSIDIZE IT (mostly through corn). It is not only critical to tax sugary drinks but all sugar, fat and salt added to food or conventially farmed animal products wherever sold. It should not be calculated by ounces but rather grams of fat, sugar, $.005/gram and per 100mg of sodium/serving as that is how it is placed on the nutritional labels which need to be on everything we buy. Call it a RISK tax - reduction in sickness kitty. Display it prominently on all packages and receipts. This should be a national campagin greater than global warming. Over half of health care costs are due to chronic degenerative diseases from our food supply. That these diseases make agribusiness, pharmaceutical companies and others rich is preverse. It is more pervasive than cigarette smoking was and must be addressed as forcefully. And no, people cannot start silly lawsuits against agribusiness for being obese. It is through individual responsibilty and using the revenue to pay for the care and establish healthy food choices in poor neighborhoods. It may happen enough when it is ultimately found that certain pesticides and and other chemicals, now found to be safe, are directly linked to diseases. A RISK tax is the only way to jump start a reversal of our destructive food culture.

Chronic degenative disease caused by our diet, is a preexisting disease different from all other preexisting diseases and cost more than all others put together and must be paid for through a tax on the now known substances that cause them. If things stay the way they are with regard to our food supply, taxpayers will continue to pay and pay more for all the chronic degenerative diseases (far more prominent as we age) regardless of how much they do to stay healthy. We will never move forward as a country.

Dorothy Smith of FL 3:03PM October 08, 2009