Proof The Bible Is True

People are drinking less liquid sugar than in previous decades, and the soda industry is doing everything it can to get back in the game.

Did your grandparents ever tell stories of how soda used to cost a nickel, and was served in a small, 8-ounce glass bottle, typically enjoyed on Saturdays as an afternoon treat?

Well, those days died quickly.

Over the span of the last century—particularly from the 1950s into the first 10 years of the new millennium—soda will go down in the history books as a driving force in the obesity epidemic. We demonize fat, but sugar is probably the bigger threat. I’d go so far as to coin this period “the years of liquid sugar”—aka, when big soda won.

But in 2015, liquid sugar may have met its match. A new culture of health is booming, and has been for the past few years. It’s one where powerhouse health advocates, entire cities (Berkeley, San Francisco, New York City), and the media finally understand the effects liquid sugar plagues on the body and brain.

More importantly, we understand the arsenal—marketing, lobbying, and philanthropy that big soda companies have used to cast a spell on society, enchanting the masses to consume what once was a special occasion 8-ounce bottle of soda pop, into a daily addiction.

“[Soda companies] are scrambling to figure out what to do,” says Marion Nestle, a professor in the department of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University, whose new book Soda Politics: Taking on Big Soda (and Winning) comes out October 5.

Nevertheless, the big players in the game—Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, backed by the American Beverage Association and the sugar industry—are doing everything they can, like shifting blame for obesity away from bad diets, to prevent sales from falling even flatter. But sales have been falling flat for the last decade.

Read More: The Shady Politics of Big Soda – The Daily Beast