America's top three soda makers have agreed to cut down soda calories by 20%. In an agreement signed by representatives of Coca cola, Pepsi and Dr. Pepper Snapple Group Inc, the soft drink manufacturers declared they would be reducing the calories consumption of soda lovers across the United States by 20%.
The declaration was made on Tuesday in New York at the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting. The agreement was announced in the presence of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, an alliance founded by the American Heart Association together with the Clinton Foundation.
The aggressive move by the soda makers, seen in part as an acceptance of their role in America's growing obesity index, will be conducted in various forms over the next ten years. The plan will see a 20% reduction through widening the availability of low and zero calorie beverages and also through the manufacture of drinks that are smaller in size. The education, marketing and packaging changes will see a 20% decline in the calories consumed by Americans by 2025.
The American Beverage Association will appoint an evaluator to ensure that the agreement is followed to the latter. However, it remains unclear how much a 20% drop in figures amounts to.
The move is not the first of its kind by the soda makers. In the year 2006, the American Beverage Association partnered with the Alliance for a healthier Generation to reduce the beverage calories in schools. In 2012, an independent analysis by the American Journal of Public Health recorded, over the years from 2006-2010, a 90% reduction in the calories from beverages shipped to schools.
"Our work with beverage companies to reduce the number of calories shipped to schools by 90% demonstrates the power of creative cooperation," former President Bill Clinton stated.
In 2013, a decline in U.S sales of carbonated drinks accelerated, falling by 3% to 8.9 billion sales. The agreement would be in line with what the three sugary drinks manufacturers agreed to achieve earlier which was a reduction to American's exposure to sugary drinks.
