Doctors, researchers, and health officials have been telling the public to cut back on soda consumption for years, and it appears that people have been listening. Soda no longer tops the list of Americans’ favorite beverages; it has been replaced by bottled water.
As the health risks of sugar consumption became common knowledge and concerns about public water supplies grew, the market for bottled water exploded.
Last year, bottled-water consumption reached 39.9 gallons per capita, while soft drink sales fell to 38.5 gallons per person. The data are from industry tracker Beverage Marketing. [1]
Still, there’s no reason for major beverage companies PepsiCo and Coca-Cola to worry. Soft-drinks still generated more revenue last year than bottled water. Besides, those two companies sell the top TWO bottled water brands in America – Pepsi “makes” Aquafina, which it admits is glorified tap water; and Coca-Cola “makes” its own expensive tap water, Dasani.
Michael Bellas, chairman and CEO of Beverage Marketing, said:
“Bottled water effectively reshaped the beverage marketplace. When Perrier first entered the country in the 1970s, few would have predicted the heights to which bottled water would eventually climb. Where once it would have been unimaginable to see Americans walking down the street carrying plastic bottles of water, or driving around with them in their cars’ cup holders, now that’s the norm.” [2]
Water definitely beats soda when it comes to health, even if it’s from the tap, so this is a positive trend. Soda is linked to so many health problems I couldn’t even begin to list them here, but type 2 diabetes is certainly at the top of list. Even sodas made with artificial sweeteners have been linked to the disease.
Sources:
[1] Market Watch
[2] USA Today