Publisher’s Toast: How Sweet It Is

I grew up in the 1950s, a post-war Baby Boomer. It was a simpler — and to my, mind, better — time than today in so many ways, but that’s for another conversation. My column will only deal with one aspect of it, a beverage-centric one. Among my fondest memories was coming home from a day of sports and play, opening the refrigerator and taking out an ice cold Coke, in those iconic glass bottles (I often accompanied them with a liverwurst and onion sandwich, which made for some excellent entertainment. There was nothing better than that. Cane sugar was the sweetener of choice, actually the only choice. Life was good back then.

A few years later, the diet drink era began. Artificial sweeteners entered into the equation, but while weight control was a noble intent, there was little thought of the consequences and impacts of these formulated alternatives. We now know that most of them were bad for us. My mother put three saccharine tablets in every cup of coffee — until the day the government emphatically told consumers how bad they were. She did live to 90, so I can’t blame saccharine for her demise, but it certainly didn’t help, and the evidence was there and the sweetener was phased out.

Fast forward to today. We are in a sweetener revolution, necessitated by epidemic obesity. As it gets worse, we are constantly rolling out “new and improved” sugar substitutes. Sadly, many still don’t do enough research first. Too often we hear scares, and beverages are pulled on the grounds that their sweeteners – or other ingredients – might be harmful. Marketers then have to scramble and reformulate to keep their brands alive.

While the intentions are good, marketers are still shooting craps with efficacy, and we all suffer: the consumer, the investor, the brand, the industry. There is no trust, and there needs to be. Stronger industry and government regulation would give us a greater sense of well-being, but we must also tackle this in a holistic way. A little less consumption of “crap” would go a long way. So would healthy exercise habits.

I’m not hopeful for my generation, but the ones to follow should heed the clarion call to take care of yourself. Let’s drink, real stuff, to a healthier life.