Coca-Cola to reveal investments in sugary drinks

Coca-Cola says it will begin disclosing its investments in scientific research and advocacy about the impact sugary soft drinks have on public health, reported Reuters.

On Wednesday, according to The Wall Street Journal, Muhtar Kent, chief executive of Coca-Cola, said the company would assemble a panel of independent advisers on its financial support for academic research.

"As we continue to learn, it is my hope that our critics will receive us with an open mind," Kent wrote. "At times we will agree and at times we will passionately disagree."

The New York Times article revealed the financial ties between Coke and the Global Energy Balance Network, a nonprofit advocacy group that contends people worry too much about what they eat and not enough about how much they exercise.

Coca-Cola provided the seed money that started the group and its vice president, Steven Blair, appeared in a video in which he chastised "the media" for blaming overconsumption of fast food and sugary drinks for the country's high rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

In the video, Blair said, "There's really virtually no compelling evidence that that, in fact, is the cause."

Blair, a professor at the University of South Carolina, suggested that the problem was not too many calories but rather not enough physical activity and exercise and Coca-Cola has spent millions of dollars over the past several years in marketing to persuade people to get more active and on improvements to parks and playgrounds around the country.