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In These Times is committed to remaining fiercely independent, but we need your help. Donate now to make sure we can continue providing the original reporting, deep investigation, and strategic analysis needed in this moment. We're proud to be in this together.
An interview with RAWA’s Sahar Saba.
Thousands of U.S. troops are headed to Central Asia, and they're not leaving anytime soon.
Give Us 0.01 Percent
It’s time for the Tobin tax.
Pedal Revolution
LOCAL MOTION: New York rediscovers the virtues of car-free public space.
Web Exclusive | Greens or Green (Egalitarian) Democrats?
A Commentary on the Nader 2000 Campaign.
Editorial
Stand Up for Peace.
The West Wing’s workaholics
No Logo
IMF: This time it's personal.
Appall-o-Meter
Amnesty International targets INS for treatment of 9/11 detainees.
Half Measures
NGOs reject U.N. Monterrey Consensus.
Plan Colombia, globalization stir unrest in Ecuador.
House Arrest
Indigenous organizers jailed in Baja California.
Political Prisoners
In Person: The Angola Three.
BellyWashers Vitamin C Drink.
Cuba Confidential
BOOKS: Cuban literature is back ... and looking for answers.
BOOKS: Mark Nesbitts short but Gigantic stories.
FILM: Taking Time Out from work, identity and reality.
Walking the Talk
The living legacy of the radical past.
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March 29, 2002
Disturbing Product Department
Bellywashers™: Take This Candy from your Baby!
“What’s thaaat?” I asked. “A vitamin C drink,” the woman wrapping my bagel answered eagerly,
sensing a sale. Uhh? I picked it up. “Looks like a toy, or something,” I muttered,
confused even more by the name on it: “BellyWashers. 100 Percent Vitamin
C.” Between the little ears was a push-pull plastic nipple, but the thin plastic
sheath glued to the bottle, plus the plastic head and ears, turned the package
into a toy, a replica of The Powerpuff Girls. I swiveled the bottle to look at the label. Zero percent juice. One hundred
and fifty calories in 12 ounces. Water and sugar and artificial flavors, and
something called “cochineal.” Not a significant source of any nutrient
but the added Vitamin C. I got it: I had in my hand a 2002 version of Kool-Aid plus a vitamin pill packaged
to attract proto-consumers, children so young they’re just learning to
tell a dime from a quarter. I immediately pictured a little girl sucking in that flavored sugar water while
imagining a Powerpuffs’ adventure. Milk? How boring! And all for $1.99! Disturbed, I had to have it. Down in our nation’s capital, the Center for Science in the Public Interest
released a report some time ago called “Liquid Candy, How Soft Drinks are
Harming Americans’ Health.” The report deplored the 40 percent drop
in milk consumption during the past 20 years by teens who, meanwhile, have ratcheted
up their consumption of soda pop. In addition to a host of other possible adverse health effects, the report
spoke darkly about a future generation of women plagued by an epidemic of osteoporosis.
It seems that human bones are built in childhood and adolescence, with 92 percent
of their mass in place by age 18. If girls haven’t consumed enough calcium
by then, too bad. They’re destined to break vertebrae, hips, etc. While criticizing the soft drink industry’s marketing to teenagers, the
report noted that at least it had not “gone after four-year-olds by advertising
on Saturday morning television.” Admirable restraint? No! A marketing opportunity for Atlanta-based In Zone
Brands, Inc., inventor of BellyWashers. On its web site, In Zone describes BellyWashers as “...the ‘liquid
Pez’ experience kids have been waiting for,” developed specifically
“with kids aged 4-11 in mind.” In Zone proudly announced it had obtained
licenses to make the bottles in the images of some of the most popular cartoon
characters that populate Saturday morning and after-school TV hours. But since four-year-olds don’t usually buy drinks for themselves, the
clever folks at In Zone added Vitamin C to allay any concerns of “today’s
nutrition-conscious moms” who just might be thinking milk or real juice
would be a better—and less expensive—choice. Maybe, like smokers, Moms need to see a warning on the label of creations like
In Zone’s: “Caution: This product should not be consumed by children
in place of milk. Overuse can lead to obesity, soft bones, and tooth decay.”
Asked about the potential adverse health effects of its product, Christina
Sharkey, In Zone’s marketing manager, said the company had nothing to add
to a written statement. “BellyWashers shares the same ingredients as many of the most popular
fruit-flavored drinks on the market today,” says the statement. “In
fact, a 12-ounce serving of BellyWashers contains fewer calories, less sodium,
less sugar and fewer carbohydrates than most similar drinks you’ll find
in stores. We have the added benefit of a dishwasher-safe, reusable and collectable
bottle that can be refilled with any drink and enjoyed beyond its initial purchase.”
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It
was standing on the counter in the bagel store, next to the wrapped pieces of
coffeecake. Curvaceous like a baby bottle, it had the head of a cartoon figure
whose red ears sprouted improbably from the top. 