News Releases & Statements

American Beverage Association Statement in Response to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Ad Campaign

"The messages being spread about beverages by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene are so over the top that they are counterproductive to serious efforts to address a complex issue such as obesity.  Like most foods, soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages are a source of calories. Simply naming one food source as a unique contributor minimizes a disease as complex as obesity.  The key to energy balance and maintaining a healthy weight is counting calories in and calories out, not focusing on specific foods or abstaining from any one food or beverage in particular.

While we support the campaign's desire to help people lead healthier lives, we do not believe the campaign imagery represents a serious effort to address a complex issue such as obesity. There is no miracle diet for weight loss.  Calories matter when it comes to losing weight, not the latest fad or ad campaign encouraging the arbitrary elimination of certain foods versus others from the diet.  Balancing calories consumed with calories burned, regardless of the source, is the only generally proven approach to maintaining a healthy diet. Further, the beverage industry provides an array of beverages with a wide range of calories, including zero calories. This ranges from regular and diet soft drinks, bottled water, flavored waters, enhanced waters, diet beverages, teas, sports drinks, low-calorie and mid-calorie juice drinks - all of which can be part of a balanced lifestyle."

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The American Beverage Association is the trade association representing the broad spectrum of companies that manufacture and distribute non-alcoholic beverages in the United States.

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