Ironically-named food hero Marion Nestle just calculated that PepsiCo, which pumps enough high fructose corn syrup into the American public to turn out one Ghostbusters-size Stay Puft marshmallow man every 18 hours (I made that up; you get the idea), spends $3 million a year lobbying Congress.
So what is Pepsi doing dumping all that loot on 1-percenters who supposedly represent the American public on Capital Hill?
One motivation, according to the Sunlight Foundation, is the company's effort to stop the government's Interagency Working Group from proposing guidelines on food marketing aimed at kids.
As Nestle explains (emphasis mine):
As I keep pointing out, food companies have to market to kids to sell products and grow sales every quarter.
If they don’t sell products to kids in the U.S., they will intensify efforts to sell products to kids in developing countries, thereby outsourcing childhood obesity.
Surely it’s time for mandatory rules about marketing junk foods to kids? If not now, how about soon?
Or, if not soon, how about PepsiCo gives you $3 million to shut your yap?
