"We applaud First Lady Michelle Obama for her commitment to ending childhood obesity in America with her ‘Let's Move!' initiative. Childhood obesity is a complex issue, and we know that everyone has a role to play in reducing it - including government, industry, schools, the public health community and parents. Two years ago today, we proudly stepped up to support the First Lady's comprehensive approach with our Clear on Calories initiative - and we're delivering on that commitment. By placing clear calorie labels on the front of every bottle, can and pack we produce, our industry is making it easier for parents and individuals to choose the beverage that's right for them and their families. This effort, along with our industry providing more choices and fewer calories, will have a meaningful and lasting impact."

"In early 2010, our industry announced it had successfully implemented national School Beverage Guidelines, reducing beverage calories shipped to schools by a dramatic 88 percent. In fact, when it comes to elementary schools, the guidelines removed full-calorie soft drinks and allow for only bottled water, low-fat milk and 100 percent juice in 8 ounce containers."

"To be clear, this study does not show that consuming diet soft drinks can cause adverse health effects. It simply shows a correlation which is easily explained by other factors in the study - most notably age. Importantly, medical experts, including the American Dietetic Association, recommend diet soft drinks as a weight management tool, particularly for people at risk for vascular events or stroke."

"The authors of this commentary attempt to address the critical global health issue of non-communicable diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. However, in doing so, their comparison of sugar to alcohol and tobacco is simply without scientific merit. Moreover, an isolated focus on a single ingredient such as sugar or fructose to address health issues noted by the World Health Organization to be caused by multiple factors, including tobacco use, harmful alcohol use, an unhealthy diet and lack of physical activity, is an oversimplification. There is no evidence that focusing solely on reducing sugar intake would have any meaningful public health impact. Importantly, we know that the body of scientific evidence does not support that sugar, in any of its various forms - including fructose, is a unique cause of chronic health conditions such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease or metabolic syndrome."

"This is a Danish study of just 47 already overweight people, which the authors themselves acknowledge limits ‘the power' of their analysis. In fact, the findings cannot prove cause and effect, nor can they be applied to the public at-large.

Let's be clear - there is nothing unique about soda, whether sweetened with sucrose or HFCS, when it comes to obesity or other obesity-related health conditions such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease or metabolic syndrome. All this study shows is the need for controlling weight gain by balancing the calories we take in from all foods and beverages with those we burn through physical activity. Those are the keys to a balanced, healthy and active lifestyle."

"Taxing sugar-sweetened beverages will not reduce obesity, nor will it have a truly meaningful impact on obesity-related health conditions such as diabetes or coronary disease. In fact, using assumptions based on ‘lacking or inconclusive' evidence, the authors estimate their proposed tax would result in an average weight loss of less than one pound per year - an insignificant amount for an obese person. Importantly, a wide range of factors contribute to these health conditions and singling out one set of products in such an overly simplistic manner only undermines efforts to combat them."

"With our Clear on Calories initiative, the beverage industry is already providing calorie information at the fingertips of consumers. We agree that consumers should be armed with information about the calories contained in the foods and beverages they choose. By placing new calorie labels on the front of every bottle, can and pack we produce, we're helping consumers - especially parents - choose the beverage that is best for them and their families. This is an effort that supports First Lady Michelle Obama's ‘Let's Move!' campaign."

In response to "Emergency Department Visits Involving Energy Drinks," a paper appearing in today's issue of The DAWN Report, the American Beverage Association issued the following statement:

On America Recycles Day and every day, the non-alcoholic beverage industry is committed to further minimizing its environmental footprint by reducing, reusing and recycling.

"Our industry's commitment to recycling shows not only through our 100 percent recyclable packaging, but also through our efforts to minimize waste and to support recycling programs," said Susan Neely, American Beverage Association president and CEO.

In response to "Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption and Incident Cardiovascular Risk Factors: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis," an abstract released today and to be presented on Wednesday at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2011, the American Beverage Association issued the following statement:

"By looking at data from 2004 and 2007, this study ignores the dramatic changes in the school beverage landscape achieved by our industry over the last five years, making it effectively useless. In fact, by offering only juice, low-fat milk and water in elementary and middle schools, with the addition of lower-calorie and portion-controlled beverages in high schools, the signatory companies drove an 88 percent reduction in beverage calories shipped to schools since 2004. President Clinton called this ‘breathtaking progress' and applauded industry for its' ‘good faith and aggressiveness' in implementing the guidelines."

"The people at our member companies - many of whom are parents themselves - are delivering on their commitment to advertise only water, juice and milk on programming for children under 12. In fact, recent research supports that there has been a dramatic change in food and beverage advertising during children's programming, with advertisements for soft drinks decreasing by 96 percent between 2004 and 2010 alone.
This report is another attack by known critics in an ongoing attempt to single out one product as the cause of obesity when both common sense and widely accepted science have shown that the reality is far more complicated."

"The authors of this study failed to factor out other important considerations and, importantly, did not prove cause and effect. The fact remains that there is no scientific evidence to support that young adults who consume sugar-sweetened beverages are more likely to carry a weapon or perpetrate violence. The conclusions of the authors, who surveyed less than 1,900 Boston public high school students, are not representative of the broader teen population. In a world where eight teens ages 16 to 19 die every day from motor vehicle injuries according to CDC, this study may result in false misperceptions about sugar-sweetened beverage consumption with no scientific evidence."

America's non-alcoholic beverage industry is comprised of some of the most innovative and well-respected companies in the world. Our presence is felt in every corner of every community in America - from our products in the aisles of neighborhood stores, to our local delivery drivers who distribute them, to our support of local food banks, community initiatives and more. We're an industry that takes extraordinary steps to be part of the solution, whether it's helping meet a community need, doing our part to address childhood obesity or making our calories more clear for consumers.

"We commend the Committee for focusing on fact-based nutrition information. We also agree that giving people more helpful information about nutrition and healthy eating is important, especially when it comes to calories and serving size. The beverage industry is already doing this with its Clear on Calories initiative, which places new calorie labels on the front of every bottle, can and pack we produce."