USA Today reports that Coca-Cola plans to “start placing calories-per-serving and servings-per-container on the front of nearly all of its bottles sold in the USA and Mexico. That will be extended to all of its beverages sold worldwide by 2011.”
"Now more than ever, people expect facts about the product they consume to be both readily available and visible," says Muhtar Kent, Coke's chairman and CEO, in a prepared statement. "This global commitment is about making it easier for consumers to quickly see the calories information for our beverages."
Analysts say that while this makes Coke the first company to announce the policy shift, other soft drink companies could actually implement similar moves faster – if they so choose.
While the move is designed to silence – or at least assuage – people who say that products like Coke are partly responsible for the nation’s obesity crisis, not all critics are impressed.
It's a useful step," Michael Jacobson, executive director at the consumer group Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), tells USA Today. "But listing calories on the front of a Coke is like putting lipstick on a pig. Coca-Cola is basically ... liquid candy."
"Now more than ever, people expect facts about the product they consume to be both readily available and visible," says Muhtar Kent, Coke's chairman and CEO, in a prepared statement. "This global commitment is about making it easier for consumers to quickly see the calories information for our beverages."
Analysts say that while this makes Coke the first company to announce the policy shift, other soft drink companies could actually implement similar moves faster – if they so choose.
While the move is designed to silence – or at least assuage – people who say that products like Coke are partly responsible for the nation’s obesity crisis, not all critics are impressed.
It's a useful step," Michael Jacobson, executive director at the consumer group Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), tells USA Today. "But listing calories on the front of a Coke is like putting lipstick on a pig. Coca-Cola is basically ... liquid candy."
- KC's View:
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Sometimes, it seems to me, companies like Coke can’t win. Even when they put the calorie information on the front of the package, they get slammed.
At some point, you have to say that people are responsible for what they eat and drink, as long as they have been provided with comprehensive and appropriate information in an atmosphere of transparency. This is a good step in creating that transparency.
