• LemUser@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    A 2 liter bottle of soda costs pennies to produce and they sell it for three bucks. An 8 ounce glass of it in a restaurant will cost you three or four bucks. I haven’t purchased soda in about five years. It is the biggest ripoff and not even good for you.

    • SirEDCaLot@lemmy.today
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      23 hours ago

      and not even good for you

      Dude, soda isn’t ‘not good’ for you. It’s fucking toxic. Corn sugar makes you fat and screws up your metabolism, added caffeine is addictive, and the rest is just an artificial chemical bath that rots you from the inside out.

      There was a lawsuit a while back, a dude sued claiming he found a dead mouse in his can of soda. Pepsi’s defense was that in the amount of time between when that particular can was bottled and when he drank it, the soda would have completely dissolved the mouse. They won the lawsuit.

      https://www.theatlantic.com/national/2012/01/pepsi-says-mountain-dew-can-dissolve-mouse-carcasses/333399/

      And that’s what you are drinking…

        • SirEDCaLot@lemmy.today
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          9 hours ago

          Because 90% of consumers don’t give a fuck what’s in their food. They buy whatever is on the shelf and eat it without a second thought. And the government doesn’t regulate such things much, so the EU version of something has 5 ingredients and the US version has 20 and most of those 90% never read the list.

          The next 5% would like to eat better but are burned out. It’s fucking hard, because every other ‘natural’ ‘healthy’ product is the same shit just a little bit less son. I’m in this group. I can’t tell you how many times I buy something that looks natural and healthy only to realize it’s the same chemical shit just in a different ‘healthy looking’ package.
          I don’t drink soda though. Probably 95% of what I drink is water, the rest is some variant of coffee or tea.

          The last 5% are the ones who really pay attention- who still check every ingredient, who spend a bunch of time cooking regularly, who buy mostly organic products or natural foods (which are significantly more expensive). Most of these people don’t drink soda anyway no matter how it’s sweetened so soda companies don’t bother with them.

      • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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        20 hours ago

        Yeah, if there is one (uncontroversial) thing to cut out of your diet it’s probably soda. I have not verified the claim above, but adding all that refined sugar into your diet in a way that doesn’t even curb your hunger is bound to spell trouble.

      • village604@adultswim.fan
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        16 hours ago

        Just because the mouse would have been dissolved doesn’t mean that the ingredients responsible are harmful to consume. It’s just citric acid.

        There’s a pretty big difference in doses between drinking a soda and soaking in a vat of it for months.

        People still shouldn’t drink soda, but your argument against it is on par with freaking out because McDonald’s burgers don’t grow mold (because there’s not enough moisture and lots of salt).

  • gnomesaiyan@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    They can eliminate all of their products for all I care. I’m still boycotting PepsiCo and all related products.

  • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    Maybe that activist investor should be pushing them to leave the Russian market like competitors such as Coca Cola due to the invasion of Ukraine. Pepsi is actively increasing their market in the country and thereby helping fund the war with increased tax revenue.

  • A_norny_mousse@feddit.org
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    1 day ago

    the fuck’s an “activist investor”? No, I read the article and clicked the link, it’s some “activist investment company”, which still leaves the question open. Maybe I should ask “What the fuck is activist investing”?

    • The_Lurker@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Requiring the company to do more than provide short term stock growth. Generally they want the company to behave somewhat responsibly or ethically. A desire to not simply maximize profits. They have to have a big chunk of stock or proxy votes since the only way they can influence the company is by removing or adding board members.

    • almost1337@lemmy.zip
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      1 day ago

      Investment group buys a significant portion of stock (large enough to sway shareholder voting), then they demand changes in the company with the threat of ousting the current executives/board via their voting power. Their goal is to make the stock valuation go up, then sell off the stock for profit.

    • dogslayeggs@lemmy.world
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      19 hours ago

      Do you know what the word “activist” means? Do you know what the word “investor” means? Put the two together and you have your answer. This isn’t rocket science.

    • vateso5074@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Someone who buys significant shares of a company and leverages them to convince a coalition of other investors to demand changes.

      You think a company could make better decisions, so you buy a large (but not controlling) chunk of shares. With a relatively large chunk of shares, you can then start making demands from the board and hope that other shareholders bandwagon behind you. Ideally stock price goes up as a result and then people sell higher than they bought for.

      Basically people who believe they have all the answers to running a successful business, yet don’t feel the need to apply that towards just running a successful business themselves.

      • SuiXi3D@fedia.io
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        1 day ago

        When the solution to the problems are ‘low prices sell more product’ and literally every company seems to be ignoring that, maybe this is the way to finally get things moving in the right direction.

        • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
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          1 day ago

          When the solution to the problems are ‘low prices sell more product’ and literally every company seems to be ignoring that

          Its not that simple. Selling more product at a lower price may not result in higher profits. These companies generally don’t care about sales as much as they do profits. Selling 10x the amount of product, but at break-even or a loss would be worse to the company than it is now with their declining sales. PepsiCo’s problem as I see it, is PepsiCo makes only a few products (some of their minor food brands) that would actually be a necessary purchase to live. Everything else they make is a luxury that people can skip if they can’t afford it.

          Everyone is getting squeezed with rising costs in housing, transportation, actual food, and medical care costs that can’t be skipped, so it is PepsiCo products (and brands like them) are the first things we cut out.

    • lemming741@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      For real food, yes. I want to see soda taxed out of existence, and junk snacks taxed to endangered.

  • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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    20 hours ago

    PepsiCo said it also plans to accelerate the introduction of new offerings with simpler and more functional ingredients, including Doritos Protein

    Oh, FFS, this shit again. Holy shit I am so tired of the obsession with protein. You’d think there was some kind of shortage or that this was a miracle macronutrient.

    Protein is now like Idiocracy’s electrolytes.

    It was already crazy stupid having conversations about things like vegetarianism prior to all this dumb marketing (and never mind the fad diets like keto and carnivore and paleo and ancestral, JFC), but now it’s like you have all that background noise to deal with when the topic of being a vegetarian comes up - “do you supplement with PROTEIN? You don’t? How are you even alive?”

    /facepalm

    • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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      14 hours ago

      Yeah the protein thing is wild as a pescatarian who only treats fish as a treat. Beans are great for protein as are mushrooms and you honestly don’t need that much. I’d also be worried about having too much given that serious overdose of protein contributes to kidney stone risk.

      I remember the tail end of the Atkins craze and don’t understand the modern protein thing. Eat a balanced diet, and remember that veggies are very good for you.

      • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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        13 hours ago

        Prior to becoming vegetarian, I remember reading a book meant to be paired with Bowflex, but it could be really applied to any general weight training program. He apparently was a body builder while going to school and thought he had to take lots of protein powder. One of his professors challenged him to measure the protein in his urine, IIRC. He was surprised that he was basically pissing lots of money away. The author obviously had a pragmatic counter to all the protein hysteria that was prevalent even back then.

        Also, as you point out - the kidney stone risk.

        Oh, and the Atkins thing, LOL. I remember that, too. I’ve often wondered if the manner of his death resulted in not hearing much about it for a while, and then, what seemed like an Atkins remix - the Paleo diet started to become the next fad.

        I cannot tell you how many people I knew on the “paleo” diet were gobbling bacon like no one’s business, telling me it was way “healthier” than eating “rabbit food”. Never mind that even according to the supposed diet, bacon is not on the list, LOL. I saw the same thing on Atkins, though I think bacon was on the list of things that were okay to eat. Honestly, I just think some people want a permission structure to eat food that is so very obviously horrible for you. I mean, bacon? Healthy? It doesn’t even pass the laugh test.

        I guess the thing about these fad diets is this, and of course it’s anecdotal, but I cannot name one single person that has been on one of these things for decades. Paleo, keto, Atkins, carnivore (lol), etc…I don’t know anyone that did it for more than 6 months to maybe a year. There are peopleI know personally that have been vegans or vegetarians for decades. Large studies can be done on groups like Seventh Day Adventists, large populations in India, etc…I don’t know of any such thing for these fads…

        • Rcklsabndn@sh.itjust.works
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          4 hours ago

          Reminding me of my ex that lost 20 pounds eating lettuce wrapped bacon cheeseburgers from Wendy’s and sugar free candy then gained 50 pounds on the rebound.

    • dogslayeggs@lemmy.world
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      19 hours ago

      My answer every time that came up, which is about once a week, is protein is in nearly everything you eat. Peanut butter, bread, rice, oats, eggs, ice cream, pizza, beans, etc. Also, humans don’t need nearly as much protein as people think, unless they are athletes or have a dietary condition. Most Americans eat far more protein than they need.

      • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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        19 hours ago

        Yes. Yes to all of this. The silly bro science from gym rat types has infected a lot of the public mind, that’s for sure…

        Another corollary to this is the one people use is that “but I’m an athlete”. LOL, no. Just because you have a gym membership and go for a bi-yearly jog does not make one an athlete. People seem to have severely perverted that term for one, and secondly, except for the very most extreme of athletes, the protein in the typical diet (omnivore or otherwise) is probably more than sufficient.

        But yeah, if someone has done even one pushup in the past year they think they have to maximize their protein intake to keep their muscle gains, bro!

    • ryathal@sh.itjust.works
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      20 hours ago

      It makes sense when you realize people are dumb. They can charge 50% more for all product that is almost identical with half a cent of protein powder mixed in per bag.

      • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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        19 hours ago

        Oh yes. The marketing people have hit the absolute jackpot on the protein myth, that’s for sure.

        I’m just surprised that Tyson or others have not started selling specially-branded chicken breasts (with EXTRA PROTEIN!) for all the gym bros that throw back lots of chicken breasts as-is. I haven’t actually looked, maybe they are already doing that.

        I remember having a bit of chuckle over the “protein bars” in the 90s and instead of laughing, maybe I should have started my own version of these candy bars protein bars to sell to marks consumers.

          • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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            15 hours ago

            Wow, that’s a wild grift. People are so gullible. I have no idea when and how the protein thing started, but it seems to somehow be getting even stupider.

    • DBT@lemmy.world
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      23 hours ago

      PepsiCo is making the changes after prodding from Elliott Investment Management, which took a $4 billion stake in the company in September.

      What exactly does Trump have to do with this?

    • KoboldCoterie@pawb.social
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      1 day ago

      PepsiCo said it also plans to accelerate the introduction of new offerings with simpler and more functional ingredients, including Doritos Protein and Simply NKD Cheetos and Doritos, which contain no artificial flavors or colors. The company also recently introduced a prebiotic version of its signature cola.

      I mean, no, they don’t, but it’s at least a small step in the right direction.

  • tgcoldrockn@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    more free ads disguised as news for dyed sugar water, fried corn shit and single use plastic waste purveyors? hail megacorp.