Health experts urge Olympics to cut ties with Coca-Cola

Two health experts on Tuesday called for Olympic organisers to cut ties with Coca-Cola, saying the current big money sponsorship deal allows the US company to “sportswash” unhealthy sugary drinks.

Events at the Paris Games have been lined with advertising for the ubiquitous fizzy drinks of Coca-Cola, which has been sponsoring the Olympics since 1928.

But these sugary drinks “offer little or no nutritional value” and promoting such unhealthy products has no place in sport, according to Trish Cotter and Sandra Mullin of global health group Vital Strategies. 

Sugary drinks are a “key driver” of a range of serious health problems affecting people across the world, including obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, the pair wrote in a commentary in the journal BMJ Global Health.

Coca-Cola’s products also contribute to global plastic pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and use up a huge amount of water, they added.

“By continuing its association with Coca-Cola, the Olympic movement risks being complicit in intensifying a global epidemic of poor nutrition, environmental degradation and climate change,” the authors wrote.

“It’s time for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to cut ties with Coca-Cola in the interest of athletes, spectators and the planet.”

Coca-Cola did not respond to a request for comment.

In 2020, the US food and drink giant signed a joint deal worth a reported $3 billion to extend its sponsorship of the Olympics.

The partnership will last until at least 2032.

Cotter and Mullin noted that last year Coca-Cola had more sports sponsorships than any other brand, including sportswear companies such as Nike.

“This strategy culminates in a gold medal opportunity to ‘sportswash’ an unhealthy product,” they wrote.

The World Health Organization has called for countries to tax sugar-sweetened beverages. 

A petition launched ahead of the Games called “Kick Big Soda Out of Sport” has more than 109,000 signatures, and been backed by a range of public health organisations including the World Obesity Federation.