The U.S. food system, which provides the majority of domestically purchased foods and beverages, requires about one-third of the Nation’s total freshwater use.
Crop production uses over half of the water for food, while later supply chain stages also require a substantial amount of water.
Freshwater usage varies by the food categories that make up U.S. diets. If the U.S. population were to adopt healthier dietary patterns, food-system water use could substantially increase or decrease, depending on the dietary patterns realized.
Something to consider. But all this is why PepsiCo is making such a big point about trying to reduce its water use (it takes many gallons of water to make one gallon of a bottled drink).
I received this inquiry from a reporter wanting a comment:
Hi, Marion, I’m doing a story about the trend of waters that claim to have extra health benefits because of their added “molecular oxygen” or “molecular hydrogen.”
Another reporter asked
I’m looking for comment on whether regularly drinking bottled water with a pH as low as 4 could stress the system, etc….the story I’m writing goes into more detail on the how and why of low-pH waters and how they may or may not affect health.
My first reaction: you have to be kidding.
I think these waters are hilarious—products of brilliant marketing.
The basic facts:
Water is two atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen, neutral in acidity. The body has a terrific buffering system to keep the blood at exactly the right level of neutrality (pH 7.35-7.45).
Stomach contents are extremely acid: pH 1.5-3.5.
Gases in water quickly equilibrate with air.
At the Fancy Food Show, I picked up a plastic pouch of hydrogen-infused water
clinically proven [no references or data given] to help reduce inflammation and is a powerful source of antioxidants. It’s perfect for your workout, beauty, and overall daily routine.”
This product also claims to provide anti-inflammatory benefits, relieve fatigue and jet lag, improve fitness performance, boost energy, and enhance circulation and cell function.
Here is another one of FoodNavigator-USA’s Special Editions, meaning collections of its articles on specific topics written mostly from the perspective of food beverage companies. This one is on trends in commercial beverages, and is highly relevant to food politics.
Few sections of the store are as dynamic as the beverage aisles. Meanwhile, the pressure to ‘clean up’ labels continues unabated. But how can we distinguish passing fads from sustainable trends? And who are the entrepreneurial companies driving innovation in this category?
Bone broth sales more than tripled in 2016, albeit off a very small base: The bone broth category (shelf-stable and refrigerated) is pretty small in the scheme of things, but it’s growing rapidly, with US retail sales more than tripling to $19.7m in the 52 weeks to Jan 22,* fueled by a small but highly engaged set of health conscious consumers, Paleo enthusiasts and Whole30 fans, says one fast-growing player… Read
AQUAhydrate targets ‘everyday warriors’ as premium pH segment continues to grow: Celebrity-backed AQUAhydrate has doubled its distribution over the past 18 months from around 30,000 to 60,000 outlets by appealing to a broad set of ‘everyday warriors’ it claims are seeking out more premium products and aspirational brands in the bottled water set… Read
Could molecular hydrogen infused water carve a niche in the functional beverages category?In regular water, hydrogen is bound to oxygen (H2O) making it “difficult for our bodies to enjoy the [antioxidant/anti-inflammatory] benefits of hydrogen,” claims the company behind Hfactor, which contends that dissolving hydrogen gas into water via a patent-pending process enables Hfactor to deliver a variety of potential health benefits… Watch now
Two California state senate bills would mandate controversial warnings on some foods and beverages, and if enacted could start a domino effect among other like-minded states, potentially creating a patchwork of laws and compliance headache for national brands… Read
Sparkling ICE unveils $37m ad campaign, queries soda tax inconsistencies: ‘It’s a mess’: Talking Rain Beverage Co has unveiled a $37m national ad campaign that president Kevin Klock says will give Sparkling ICE a stronger brand identity – something it has historically lacked, despite its meteoric growth (estimated retail sales have surged from around $10m in 2011 to well over $600m today)… Read
Ag Committee weighs whether SNAP should pay for sugary drinks: Prohibiting the purchase of sugar-sweetened beverages and other “unhealthy” foods and beverages with SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps, likely would not discourage their consumption, but would be costly and difficult for retailers to implement, industry stakeholders argued on Capitol Hill last week. .. Read
Soup-To-Nuts Podcast: Countering the impact of climate change on coffee: Every year more people wake up to coffee or use it to fuel their day, but according to a comprehensive report recently published by the Climate Institute. this early morning ritual, and everything that goes into making it possible, face significant threats from climate change. .. Listen now
Living in New York as I do, I miss the fun in Washington, DC, of which there was much yesterday related to the First Lady’s “Drink Up” campaign with the Partnership for a Healthier America. Here’s one of ObamaFoodorama’s tweets on the event.
Listen to what the First Lady is saying in these selected quotes, some of which deal with the current furor over school meals:
When the Drink Up campaign was launched last year, it had one simple goal – to get kids and families excited about drinking water.
As Drink Up encourages more people to drink more water, we also want to help make choosing water an easier choice…water for more people wherever they are, whenever they want it, however they want it – be it tap, filtered or bottled.
In a number of school districts, participation in the lunch program has actually risen. And there’s a simple reason for that: It’s because those districts actually put some effort into marketing the new meals to the kids. They didn’t just sit back and say, well, the kids like junk food so let’s just give them junk food.
Instead, they embraced higher standards and more nutritious options, and they worked hard to get the kids excited about them. They did taste tests. They came up with new recipes. They did everything they could to make healthy eating fun.
Today, we’re seeing the results, especially among younger kids…They’re getting used to healthier food, and they’re developing healthy habits early on that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. And that’s our job as adults… And no matter what, we don’t give up on our kids. And we don’t give up on their health and their futures.
We need to keep pushing to market healthy products to children and families. We need to keep working together within industries and across industries to help our kids lead healthier lives.
Even better, The California Endowment announced that it will increase community access to water in South Kern County and the Eastern Coachella Valley by installing hundreds of taps and dispensers to fill reusable water bottles in schools and public places.
Let’s have more tap-water initiatives, please.
The more people drink tap water, the greater will be public support for maintaining the quality of municipal water supplies.
Rumors are flying that Let’s Move! will announce significant accomplishments this week.
From what I can piece together from ProPolitico and press conference announcements, they go on all week.
Tuesday: School wellness policies
Wednesday: Food assistance programs other than SNAP
Thursday: The Nutrition Facts label
These promise to be more useful than Mrs. Obama’s visit to the New Museum in New York to celebrate a pop-up exhibit organized by WAT-AAH!, a company that makes bottled water—marketed specifically to kids.
The company is a supporter of Let’s Move!’s Drink Up! campaign.
Its bottled waters are “functional,” meaning ostensibly nutritionally enhanced in some way.
For example, its “Power” product says it is:
Ultra pure water!
Bone-building magnesium!
Absolutely NO SUGAR!
Taste like pure clean water!
Sounds like plain, ordinary water to me (unless the amount of magnesium is substantial, which seems unlikely—I can’t find a Nutrition Facts label for it).
The idea here is to get kids who won’t drink water to drink bottled water aimed specifically at them—at $1.50 a pop.
This was great publicity for the company, but I sure wish Drink Up! would emphasize how terrific tap water is, especially in New York City, where it really is terrific.
Added comments: A reader points out that WAT-AAH!’s health claims are difficult to substantiate (e.g., boosted oxygen level, brain function), and are just the kinds of claims that concern the FTC.
And, despite Drink Up!’s public stance on how tap water is just fine, WAT-AAH! puts down tap water. To check both the claims and the put down, go to the website, click on WAT-AAH! Drinks!, then on Just the Facts, and scroll on down.
You will find plenty of highly iffy health claims, along with this:
OK, so this is about marketing so what’s the big deal? I can think of several reasons for concern:
It’s marketing bottled water.
It’s marketing directly to kids.
It’s marketed with absurd health claims.
It claims to be substantially better for kids than tap water.
It’s endorsed by the First Lady.
The FTC has gone after health claims just like these. Can it go after WAT-AAH!’s claims and, thereby, take on the First Lady?
This is what happens—all too often—when health programs try to partner with private industry. The private industry invariably wins, and the health partner loses credibility.
Michele Obama’s Let’s Move! campaign to end childhood obesity within a generation has taken on a new angle: Drink Up. It issued a press release yesterday urging Americans to drink more water.
Let me be absolutely clear: I am totally in favor of encouraging kids to drink water.
But:
Water deficiency is not a public health problem in the United States. Childhood obesity is the problem.
Drinking water will only help to counter childhood obesity if it substitutes for sugary sodas.
Bottled water companies such as Dasani (owned by Coca-Cola) and Aquafina (PepsiCo), and their trade group The American Beverage Association (ABA), are the main supporters of this initiative.
This makes the message sounds like “drink bottled water,” without much attention to environmental implications.
Staying hydrated is important to staying in balance, and bottled water provides people with a convenient and popular choice. By supporting this new initiative, our industry is once again leading with meaningful ways to achieve a balanced lifestyle.”
Hydrated? Not an issue for most people (exceptions—elite athletes, people at high altitude, the elderly).
Bottled water? In places with decent municipal water supplies, tap water is a much better choice; it’s inexpensive, non-polluting, and generates political support for preserving the quality of municipal water supplies. See, for example, what Food and Water Watch has to say about bottled water.
James Hamblin’s critical account in The Atlantic indicates that the press conference must have been tough going. Sam Kass, White House chef and executive director of Let’s Move! took the questions.
Another reporter: “Why aren’t we talking about obesity?”
Another reporter: Are we talking about replacing sugary drinks and sodas with water?”
Lawrence Soler, president and CEO of Partnership for a Healthier America, fielded that one. “It’s less a public health campaign than a campaign to encourage drinking more water. To that end, we’re being completely positive. Only encouraging people to drink water; not being negative about other drinks. “
I consider Let’s Move! to be a public health campaign, and a very important one.
Hamblin concludes:
I know we’re just trying to “keep things positive,” but missing the opportunity to use this campaign’s massive platform to clearly talk down soda or do something otherwise more productive is lamentable. Public health campaigns of this magnitude don’t come around every day…Keeping things positive and making an important point are not mutually exclusive, you fools.
My interpretation
Let’s Move! staff have stated repeatedly that they must and will work with the food industry to make progress on childhood obesity. I’m guessing this is the best they can do. Messages to “drink less soda” (or even “drink tap water”) will not go over well with Coke, Pepsi, and the ABA; sales of sugary sodas are already declining in this country.
I’m thinking that the White House must have cut a deal with the soda industry along the lines of “we won’t say one word about soda if you will help us promote water, which you bottle under lots of brands.” A win-win.
Isn’t drinking water better than drinking soda? Of course it is.
But this campaign could have clarified the issues a bit better. Jeff Cronin, communications director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest circulated a poster created by Rudy Ruiz (of the communications firm Interlex) for a public health campaign in San Antonio:
Public health partnerships with food and beverage companies—especially soda companies—are fraught with peril. Let’s hope this one conveys the unstated message like the one in San Antonio: My balance is less soda and more tap water.
Food corporations are pushing corporate social responsibility (CSR) as hard as they can. This seems like an oxymoron to me, but here’s what they say:
CSR #1: Nestlé (no relation) says it is creating shared value by “optimizing water use and productivity, Italy.”
In the Piacenza and Parma region of Italy, in recent years, water has become scarcer, especially during the summer. Nestlé Italia decided to engage more closely with its tomato suppliers, to secure its supply of tomatoes and significantly reduce the amount of fresh water used for irrigation.
The three-year project with Consorzio Interregionale Ortofrutticoli, a cooperative of tomato farmers, aims to maximise tomato production and optimise irrigation in 10 pilot farms with differing soil conditions, by using solar-powered CropSense Soil Moisture Monitoring technology. Data at root level is collected daily and used to provide the exact amount of water needed to optimise crop revenue and water use.
Data collection will continue into 2011, and additional farmers are already keen to join the project based on the initial results: yields have nearly doubled, the tomato quality (sugar content) increased by 15% and the water used to produce one tonne of tomatoes fell by 45%.
The food industry is one of the most well-respected industries in terms of social responsibility, according to a new survey from research-based consultancy Penn Schoen Berland… Read
Corporate responsibility is now accepted as a major part of doing business, even when the economic climate is less than ideal. FoodNavigator.com rounds up the main messages of some of the world’s biggest food and beverage companies… Read
Science is fundamental to the food industry, from supporting claims in the health and wellness sphere to tasting panels to evaluate a new product, but scientists can never forget the ethical implications of their experiments… Read
A new ranking of major food and beverage companies by their corporate social responsibility is published today, with Unilever, Nestle and Danone occupying the top three spots… Read
Developing a corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy offers huge scope for innovation and revenue-building – but there is no one-size-fits-all approach, according to a US supply chain management professor… Read
