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Margot Sanger-Katz reports in the NYT that soda consumption is experiencing a serious and sustained decline as sales of full-calorie soda in the United States have plummeted by more than 25 percent over the past twenty years. Nearly two-thirds of Americans say they are actively trying to avoid the drinks that have been a mainstay of American culture and bottled water is now on track to overtake soda as the largest beverage category in two years. The changing patterns of soda drinking appear to come thanks, in part, to a loud campaign to eradicate sodas. School cafeterias and vending machines no longer contain regular sodas. Many workplaces and government offices have similarly prohibited their sale.
For many public health advocates, soda has become the new tobacco — a toxic product to be banned, taxed and stigmatized. "There will always be soda, but I think the era of it being acceptable for kids to drink soda all day long is passing, slowly," says Marion Nestle. "In some socioeconomic groups, it's over." Soda represents nearly 25% of the U.S. beverage market and its massive scale have guaranteed profit margins for decades. Historically, beverage preferences are set in adolescence, the first time that most people begin choosing and buying a favorite brand. But the declines in soda drinking appear to be sharpest among young Americans. "Kids these days are growing up with all of these other options, and there are some parents who say, 'I really want my kids to drink juice or a bottled water,' " says Gary A. Hemphill. "If kids grow up without carbonated soft drinks, the likelihood that they are going to grow up and, when they are 35, start drinking is very low."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 04 2015, @04:51PM
Agreed. I don't doubt that there is a company here and there who have done it in order to set or shape their image, or perhaps small companies run by people who feel very strongly about it, but I would like to hear of any significant number of private companies that have done this. First off, it would have to be a company that is large enough to support having vending machines.
It is true, at least here on the East Coast, to see school districts and local governments do this. I also don't have any issue with it. I don't buy into the "nanny State" criers that there is somehow some inherent right to have sugary drinks available in vending machines, or to have vending machines at all. If a State House or school system doesn't want them in vending machines on their properties, I don't see what the issue is. Personally, I don't see why a school should have vending machines in the first place. When it is done with a little too much exuberance, then it gets silly, such as when the ban is too widely written to cover things like vendors set up at events like a County Fair.
(Score: 2) by WildWombat on Sunday October 04 2015, @06:15PM
Kaiser Permanente has no sugary sodas in their vending machines.