Coke a good snack?

NEW YORK — Coca-Cola is working with fitness and nutrition experts who suggest its soda as a treat — at a time when the world’s biggest beverage maker is being blamed for helping to fuel obesity rates.

Several experts wrote online posts for American Heart Month, with each including a mini can of Coke or soft drink as a snack idea. The pieces — which appeared on nutrition blogs and other sites, including those of major newspapers — offer a window into the many ways food companies work behind the scenes to cast their products in a positive light, often with the help of third parties who are seen as trusted authorities.

Coca-Cola spokesman Ben Sheidler compared the posts to product placement deals a company might have with TV shows. “We have a network of dietitians we work with,” said Mr Sheidler, who didn’t reveal how much the company pays experts.

Some companies including Kellogg Company have used strategies like providing continuing education for dietitians, funding studies that burnish the nutritional images of their products and offering newsletters for health experts.

Others use nutrition experts in sponsored content; Nestle has quoted its own executive in a post about infant nutrition.

For Coca-Cola, the public relations strategy with health experts yielded a radio segment and multiple online pieces.

One post refers to a “refreshing beverage option such as a mini can of Coca-Cola”. Another suggests “portion-controlled versions of your favourites, like Coca-Cola mini cans, packs of almonds or pre-portioned desserts for a meal”.

Sugary drinks have come under fire for fuelling obesity rates and related ills, and the last time Coca-Cola’s annual soft-drink volume in the United States increased was in 2002, according to the industry tracker Beverage Digest.

More recently, the company is pushing its mini cans as a guilt-free way to enjoy soft drinks. The cans also fetch higher prices on a per ounce basis, so even if people are drinking less soda, Coca-Cola says sales can grow.

Most of the pieces that includemini Coca-Colas have bios where the author is a “consultant” for food companies, including Coca-Cola. Some add that the ideas expressed are their own.

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, a professional group for dietitians, says in its code of ethics that practitioners promote and endorse products “only in a manner that is not false and misleading”. A spokesman for the academy said he couldn’t say whether the posts on mini Coca-Colas meet those guidelines because there is a formal process for submitting and reviewing such cases.

Meanwhile, a group called Dietitians for Professional Integrity has called for sharper lines to be drawn between dietitians and companies. Mr Andy Bellatti, one of its founders, said companies court dietitians because they help validate corporate messages.

The message that Coca-Cola can be a healthy snack is debatable. A mini can of Coca-Cola is 7.5 ounces (222ml) and has 90 calories, all from high-fructose corn syrup. A regular 12-ounce can has 140 calories.

Still, the health experts who wrote the pieces mentioning Coca-Cola stand by their recommendations. Ms Sylvia Melendez-Klinger, a dietitian who wrote a piece mentioning mini cans of soft drinks, said it’s important that health professionals share their expertise with companies and that her work reflects her own views.

She said she could not recall if she was paid for her article mentioning mini soft drinks. AP