Coca-Cola Co., under fire from critics who have linked the sale of soft drinks to rising U.S. obesity levels, said on Monday it was establishing an institute to promote nutrition and help develop healthy beverages.
The world's largest soft drink maker said its Beverage Institute for Health & Wellness, based in Houston, Texas, would be global in scope and support nutrition research, education and outreach, with a primary focus on beverages.
"The Coca-Cola Company will utilize the results of our research to develop new beverages to meet the nutritional needs of consumers worldwide," said Coca-Cola Vice President Donald Short, who will oversee the activities of the institute.
The institute will not develop new beverages on its own, but will help identify opportunities, ingredients and possible formulas that address particular health or nutritional needs, the Atlanta-based soft drink maker said.
Coca-Cola has established the institute comes three years after agreeing to start selling water, juices and other nutritional drinks in school vending machines and cafeterias.
Health experts had lambasted the soft drink maker and its rivals for aggressively marketing sugar-laced soft drinks in schools and contributing to a rising number of diabetes diagnoses and other health problems in U.S. children.
Obesity in children in the United States doubled between 1980 and 1994.
