Case Study Of Coco-Cola And Obesity

Obesity is an ailment that occurs when an individual consumes too much sugar and fat. According to WHO (World Health Organization), “obesity is the leading cause of preventable illness and death in North America. ” (Canada, 2016) Statements like the one above are concerning because “one in four adult Canadians” are considered obese. (Public Health, 2011) Obese individuals have an increased risk of cancer, heart problems, stroke, and diabeteses. If left uncheck obesity will limit an individual’s life in many ways and can eventually cause death. (1, 2014) Obesity develops when people consume sugar and fat above the daily recommended intake and not exercising enough. In a 2015 survey over 47% of men and 19% of women aged 19-30 reported consuming a soda beverage the previous day. (StatCan, 2011) These numbers are important because science has proven that soda contributes to serious health issues such as obesity. In this case study, I am going to analyze Coca-Cola’s involvement in the public health debate about the rising obesity epidemic and whether their new …show more content…
John Pemberton the creator of Coco-Cola intended to sell his product as an over the counter medicine a far departure from today’s product. Coco-Cola produces sixteen different cola products which are sold in as many as 200 nations around the world. Coco-Cola spends billions each year marketing their product to the consumer. So I am not surprised they would spend thousands of dollars funding a conference on obesity. In my opinion, Coco-Cola supports these events to generate positive press and give the impression that they a trying to solve the obesity problem. Alarmingly, each Coke product contains 38 grams of sugar (corn syrup) which equate to ten teaspoons. To put the amount of sugar per can in context Coco-Cola revenues were $44.294 billion dollars in 2015 including a net income of $7.3 billion. (O 'Reilly,