by Candice Choi
March 16, 2015
from
Huffingtonpost Website
NEW YORK (AP)
Coca-Cola is working with fitness and nutrition experts who
suggest its soda as a treat at a time when the world's biggest
beverage maker is being blamed for helping to fuel obesity rates.
In February, several of the experts wrote online posts for
American Heart Month, with each including a mini-can of Coke or
soda as a snack idea.
The pieces - which appeared on nutrition blogs and
other sites including those of major newspapers - offer a window
into the many ways food companies work behind the scenes to cast
their products in a positive light, often with the help of third
parties who are seen as trusted authorities.
Ben Sheidler, a Coca-Cola spokesman, compared the February
posts to product placement deals a company might have with TV shows.
"We have a network of dietitians we work with,"
said Sheidler, who declined to say how much the company pays
experts. "Every big brand works with bloggers or has paid
talent."
Other companies including Kellogg and
General Mills have used strategies like providing continuing
education classes for dietitians, funding studies that burnish the
nutritional images of their products and offering newsletters for
health experts.
PepsiCo Inc. has also worked with dietitians
who suggest its Frito-Lay and Tostito chips in local
TV segments on healthy eating.
Others use nutrition experts in sponsored content;
the American Pistachio Growers has quoted a dietitian for the
New England Patriots in a piece on healthy snacks and recipes
and Nestle has quoted its own executive in a post about infant
nutrition.
For Coca-Cola Co., the public relations strategy with health experts
in February focused on the theme of "Heart Health & Black History
Month." The effort yielded a radio segment and multiple online
pieces.
One post refers to a,
"refreshing beverage option such as a mini can of
Coca-Cola."
Another suggests,
"portion-controlled versions of your favorites,
like Coca-Cola mini cans, packs of almonds or pre-portioned
desserts for a meal."
The focus on the smaller cans isn't surprising.
Sugary drinks have come under fire for fueling
obesity rates and related ills, and the last time Coke's
annual U.S. soda volume increased was in 2002, according to the
industry tracker Beverage Digest.
More recently, the company is pushing its mini-cans
as a guilt-free way to enjoy cola. The cans also fetch higher prices
on a per ounce basis, so even if people are drinking less soda, Coke
says it can grow sales.
In a statement, Coca-Cola said it wants to,
"help people make decisions that are right
for them" and that like others in the industry, it works with
health experts "to help bring context to the latest facts
and science around our products and ingredients."
It said any communications by the experts it works
with contain the appropriate disclosures.
Most of the pieces suggesting mini-Cokes say in the bios that the
author is a "consultant" for food companies, including Coca-Cola.
Some add that the ideas expressed are their own.
One column is marked at the bottom as a "sponsored
article," which is an ad designed to look like a regular story. It
ran on more than 1,000 sites, including those of major news outlets
around the country.
The other posts were not marked as sponsored content,
but follow a similar format.
Kelly McBride, who teaches media ethics at The Poynter
Institute, said the phrasing of the disclosure that the author
is a "consultant" for food companies, including Coca-Cola, doesn't
make it clear the author was specifically paid by Coke for the
column.
"This is an example of opaque sponsored content,"
McBride said.
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, a
professional group for dietitians, says in its code of ethics that
practitioners promote and endorse products,
"only in a manner that is not false and
misleading."
A spokesman for the academy, Ryan O'Malley,
said he couldn't say whether the posts on mini-Cokes meet those
guidelines because there is a formal process for submitting and
reviewing such cases.
Meanwhile, a group called Dietitians for Professional Integrity has
called for sharper lines to be drawn between dietitians and
companies. Andy Bellatti, one of its founders, said companies court
dietitians because they help validate corporate messages.
The message that Coke can be a healthy snack is debatable. A
mini-Coke is 7.5 ounces and has 90 calories, all of it from
high-fructose corn syrup. That's compared with 140 calories in a
regular 12-ounce can.
Alice Lichtenstein, a professor of nutrition science and
policy at Tufts University and a member of the nutrition committee
at the American Heart Association, said a smaller can of soda might
be a,
"move in the right direction" for someone who
regularly drinks soda.
Still, she wouldn't recommend soda as a snack.
The 'health experts' who wrote the pieces mentioning Coke stand by
their recommendations.
Robyn Flipse, the dietitian who wrote the sponsored article
for Coke, said she would suggest mini-cans of Coke even if she
wasn't being paid.
Although she doesn't drink soda herself, she said the
smaller cans are a way for people who like soda to enjoy it
sensibly.
"I absolutely think that I provided valuable
information," she said.
Flipse said the idea to mention mini-cans of Coke in
the post was hers and came about after a public relations agency for
Coke suggested a piece on heart health and asked what she might
"work in."
Flipse has worked with Coca-Cola and the American Beverage
Association for years; her roles have included sending out
messages on social media refuting the idea that sugary drinks are to
blame for obesity and making herself available as an expert for news
outlets.
If a story says something negative about artificial
sweeteners, Flipse said she might contact the PR agency and ask,
"Do you want me to do something about that?"
Sylvia Melendez-Klinger, a dietitian who wrote
another piece mentioning mini-cans of soda, said it's important that
health professionals share their expertise with companies and that
her work reflects her own views.
She said she could not recall if she was paid for her article
mentioning mini-sodas.
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