Soda Science

“Brava! Greenhalgh’s Soda Science is a deeply researched, well-documented exposé on how Coca-Cola and other major food corporations hired mercenary scientists to mislead the public into believing that as long as you exercised, you could consume plenty of calories and not gain weight. That initiative fell apart in the United States, but Coca-Cola and its accomplices were able to infiltrate the public health system of China, helping stop the world’s most populous country from instituting programs that would make its people healthier.” -- David Michaels, author of The Triumph of Doubt: Dark Money and the Science of Deception “Soda Science is a brilliant story of corporate science, carefully researched and compellingly told. When the US obesity epidemic was a set of statistical warning signs, Coca-Cola and other makers of ultraprocessed food and drink started up scientific research programs focused on exercise. A squad of industry-supported scientists and research organizations steered discussions away from calories consumed and toward calories spent. They taught people to think in terms of small changes in daily activity—ten or fifteen minutes of moderate exercise each day. Through seemingly independent non-profits, the industry then exported the model, to Mexico, Latin America, and especially to China, the world’s biggest market and biggest fan of science-based policy.” -- Sergio Sismondo, author of Ghost-Managed Medicine: Big Pharma’s Invisible Hands