Katharine Mieszkowski

A "ReThink Your Drink" poster hangs on the bulletin board near a Coke machine at the Mayfield Community Center in San Jose.

A group representing U.S. soda makers claims the Santa Clara County Public Health Department is using federal funds to promote a "misleading" educational campaign that "may not be based in science." But the health department defends the research behind its anti-obesity initiative that encourages people to drink water instead of soda. 

The county's “ReThink Your Drink” campaign has drawn the industry's attention. The health department is among several agencies nationwide, including in Seattle, Philadelphia and New York, that have been the subject of public records requests from the American Beverage Association, as previously reported by Reuters.

“We made the requests of a few cities, because they are using federal taxpayer money on misleading advertising campaigns that single out and attack our products,” said Chris Gindlesperger, spokesman for the American Beverage Association. 

“The impact of sugar on weight gain in general has been well documented,” said Aimee Reedy, division director of programs for Santa Clara County Public Health Department. “The increased consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages has also been well documented.”

Sugar-sweetened beverages are playing a role in the nation’s obesity epidemic, Reedy said. “It’s one factor, but it’s one of the factors that we can address. It’s one factor that we know has increased, and obesity rates have also increased."

The beverage industry is now attempting to raise doubts about the science behind those claims.

“We’re making these requests because we want to know more about the campaigns,” said Gindlesperger. “They’re centered on our products. A lot of them are not based in science.”

In a request dated May 19, 2011, lawyers from Latham & Watkins asked for “any and all public records and writing” related to specific claims made by the Santa Clara campaign. Among those claims are:

“Excess sugar intake may contribute to weight gain which may in turn contribute to the development of diabetes.”

“[S]ugar-sweetened beverages contribute to weight gain and to the growing obesity epidemic.”

“All sugary foods, including sodas, can cause tooth decay, especially if they are consumed frequently and without regular brushing”

To comply with the request, Santa Clara County sent about 300 pages of documents on June 2, 2011, and has not heard from the beverage industry since then.

Earlier this month, the American Beverage Association sued the New York City public health department charging that it had failed to fully comply with a similar request. 

“My reaction is that they’re trying to protect the industry that they represent,” said Reedy. “I’m not sure what their next move is. We have the experience of the tobacco industry over decades trying to prevent tobacco policies.” 

Gindlesperger said he resented the comparison to the tobacco industry. “It’s beyond a stretch to try to compare the soft drink industry to tobacco,” he said. “You can be a healthy person and have a soft drink, the same can’t be said for smoking. And beyond that, I’ve never heard of anyone getting sick from second-hand soda.”

“This is not even close to a tobacco tactic. Other organizations and groups, even the media, use public records request to get information. If anything, we’re taking a page from the media playbook,” Gindlesperger explained.

But Cynthia Hallett, executive director of Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights, said that the tobacco industry has a long history of making such requests to fight anti-smoking efforts, and she provided documentation dating back to the early 90s to prove it. 

“It’s a bad case of déjà vu,” she said of the requests public health department are now facing about their anti-soda campaigns. “I’ve been working on smoke-free issues for 20 years. The use of public records requests is absolutely a strategy used by the opposition to intimidate, distract and deter. I’m not surprised to hear this is happening again now with the food and nutrition policy efforts.”

For several years, Santa Clara County has used its "ReThink Your Drink" campaign to educate residents about how much sugar is in the likes of Coke and Gatorade, while promoting water as a healthy alternative.

In 2010, Santa Clara received $3.9 million from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention initiative called Communities Putting Prevention to Work to boost the county's efforts to combat obesity. The funding came from the Affordable Care Act, better known as federal health care reform. Similar campaigns in other cities have received federal stimulus funds.

More than half of adults and a quarter of middle and high school students in Santa Clara County are obese or overweight, according to the county's health department.