An example of the lack of oversight and dishonesty was when a bill was passed in 2003 that prohibited the sale of soft drinks in the Los Angeles, California's public school system (Simon, 2006, p. 174). The soda industry hired the Center for Consumer Freedom to lobby against the bill without disclosing the affiliation with the industry. The expert's testimony favored the soft drink companies and this effort eventually resulted in the sales being reinstated in high schools. The argument that high students had the ability to make choices outweighed the fact that students who drink soda are more likely to become overweight and this caused the law to become basically useless since prior to the bill, most of the sodas sold were in high school.
