-- by Gus West, for the San Diego Union-Tribune,

The Obama administration will soon be looking for a new top telecommunications cop. Federal Communications Commission Chair Julius Genachowski recently announced that he’d soon be leaving his post.

Some are calling for the next FCC chair to aggressively police the Internet and exert a tighter regulatory hold over the firms that have built its backbone.

Individuals Must Change Diet, Exercise Habits

WASHINGTON, April 24, 2013 – Regulation of big sugary drinks and processed foods  can help reduce alarmingly high rates of obesity among Hispanics, but changes in individual  behavior and support from community organizations are also crucial, according to a new report released today by The Hispanic Institute.

The report, “Obesity: Hispanic America’s Big Challenge,” criticizes the processed food industry for its complicity in flooding stores with drinks that are too sugary and foods that are too salty and fat. It also urges national organizations not to accept funds from companies whose products hurt the people they represent.

Read the Full Report [PDF]

“Of course, we’re responsible for what we eat and drink, but we’re also subject to the effects of massive advertising and misleading promotional campaigns – especially on our children and the poor,” Gus West, president of The Hispanic Institute, said in announcing the report. “Education and awareness can make a difference, but we also need the community organizations to walk away from funding by the processed food and big sugary drink companies. Community Organizations did it in the ‘90s, when they broke with tobacco companies; they can do it again now with these companies,” he added.

The report applauds public officials like New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whose much publicized effort to control the sale of big sugary drinks was blocked by a court ruling on an appeal brought by the sugary drink manufacturers, supported by Hispanic and African American Organizations.

“Obesity: Hispanic America’s Big Challenge” details the impact of diabetes and heart disease on the Hispanic community, which suffers from those obesity-related conditions at rates surpassed only by those of non-Hispanic African-Americans, and it offers some solutions. The positive roles of diet and exercise and technology are also examined

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About the Hispanic Institute:

The Hispanic Institute (http://www.thehispanicinstitute.org /) is a 501 (c) 3 designated  nonprofit organization that provides an effective education forum for an informed and empowered Hispanic America. 

Press Contact:

XiNomara Velazquez Yehuda, COS
202-544-8284
xinomara@thehispanicinstitute.net

-- from Industry Today:

Like most Americans, Gus West always thought of yogurt as a nutritious and healthful food item rather than something that could be unhealthier for you than a bowl of sugarcoated cereal.

But, to his great surprise, he found out that, at least in some cases, it is the latter.

That is the last time he will buy that particular brand of yogurt for his child.

“I’m the leader of a national organization and you think I would be more knowledgeable of things like this,” he said. “But I didn’t know that, and I feel like I should have.”

Now, as the board chair and president of The Hispanic Institute, he is directing a campaign to help better educate fellow Hispanics about the dangers lurking inside a wide range of processed foods and sugary products.

The newly-launched campaign is based on a recent report by the organization, titled “Obesity: Hispanic America’s Big Challenge,” which strongly criticizes the processed food industry and its countless list of manufacturers for its complicity in flooding stores with drinks that are too sugary and foods that are too salty and contain too much fat.

Read the Full Story

-- by Nicholas Confessore, The New York Times:

The decision by a New York State judge striking down the Bloomberg administration’s ban on large, sugary drinks this week was not just a high-profile victory for the soda companies in their pitched battle against anti-obesity policies that are aimed at their products. It was also a victory for the industry’s steadfast, if surprising, allies: advocacy groups representing the very communities hit hardest by the obesity epidemic.

Dozens of Hispanic and African-American civil rights groups, health advocacy organizations and business associations have joined the beverage industry in opposing soda regulation around the country in recent years, arguing that such measures — perhaps the greatest regulatory threat the soft-drink industry has ever faced — are discriminatory, paternalistic or ineffective. 

Many of these groups have something else in common: They are among the recipients of tens of millions of dollars from the beverage industry that has flowed to nonprofit and educational organizations serving blacks and Hispanics over the last decade, according to a review by The New York Times of charity records and other documents...

“A lot of these organizations have particular niches that they use to service the communities,” said Gus K. West, president of the Hispanic Institute, a policy advocacy organization based in Washington that supports tighter regulation of sugary drinks. “And they’re getting funded by the soda industry. They’re taking the money and looking the other way on obesity, diabetes, heart disease. They look the other way or issue statements that have no teeth or don’t go after the industry.” 

Officials at PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, whose products dominate the beverage market, said there was no connection between the grants to community groups and their positions on soda regulation.

“We never ask our foundation or community relations partners to engage in public policy issues on our behalf,” said Jeff Dahncke, a spokesman for PepsiCo. “The nature of these relationships is focused on diversity and inclusion.”

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