I personally feel that SODA and its INEXPENSIVENESS in America, is one of the many causes of the huge obesity problem in the U.S.A. Don’t get me wrong, Australia has a big problem too but the stats don’t lie, the U.S.A. is the fattest nation on earth and it is because junk food is so cheap and accessible. According to MSN Health & Fitness who got its source from Beverage Digest, Americans spent $68.1 Billion USD on carbonated soft drinks last year which averages it as 828 8-ounce servings per capita!!! That is crazy. What a load of empty calories that is!
Soda is one of those things that you can get extra super duper sized in America. At 7-eleven stores in most parts of the U.S.A., you can get buy their “Double Gulp” soda in 64 ounces (1.89 litres or 1/2 gallon)!! Also, if you are on the market for a brand new car in the states, check out how much larger their cup holders are…big enough to at least fit a “Big Gulp”. In Australia, our cars are big, much like in the states but cup holders are still small and the biggest sized plastic soda drink it will fit are the 500ml (16 oz) bottles. If you go to fast food restaurants here like at McDonald’s, a “small” drink is what I remember a small was in my childhood – I think they are now called “kiddie” size in the U.S.A. I was surprised to have gone home recently and ordered a “medium” drink and they gave me this HUGE thing that was not medium in my head.
I am not against soda – in fact I do love a frozen coke as a treat but I rarely buy soda for the house. Part of the reason is because it does nothing good for my body and the other is because it’s so bloody expensive. When I first moved here, I was shocked at just how much little bottles of soda cost ($3) and was able to curb my American taste for sugary drinks. Now, I go to the supermarket and marvel at the prices of 6-packs of Coke. As you see in my picture, a 6-pack of Diet Coke, on Special, is $7.54!! Now how much is that with the conversion rate you ask? Well, up until last month, the Australian vs. U.S. Dollar were nearly 1 to 1 but the Aussie $ has slipped this week so as of Sept. 3 ($1US = 0.82AU), the 6-pack costs $6.22 at a GROCERY store. I’ve seen 36 cans of name-brand soda on sale for $10 in the U.S.A. and it gets way cheaper than that if you go to the big wholesale stores or Wal-Mart and especially if you buy generic brands.
I think I’ve made enough comparisons and I’m done w/my ranting. I just find the cultural differences so interesting and I think that American beverage companies should raise the price of soda to help with the nationwide obesity problem and perhaps, people might start losing weight!
Desperately Seeking Crab 
I agree! I was shocked by how expensive coke is when we first moved to AU. In fact, some times I’m STILL shocked. The 7/11 near my place in Bondi Junction sells a 600ml bottle for 3.50. I could get a 6 pack of diet coke for that much in the States. But, the price has helped me cut WAY back on soda, so it’s really a very good thing. More like the “true” cost of the food.
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SarahKate, I know what you mean! I was too shocked when I first got here and I too still get shocked. I went to the pub the other night and my soft drink was like 60 cents less than my husband’s beer!! Yes, it has helped me cut way back as well and you are very right about the “true” cost of food – unlike food subsidized by the gov’t to keep prices artificially low. BTW, you live near Bondi Junction? Lucky. 🙂
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Hey Michelle, I had no idea it was so expensive in america. I thought it was funny you write soda, i’m not used to hearing that. Here, soda is like soda water. I grew up calling it “cool drink”, so i’m learning things from your blog all the time. Hehe soda. I’ll have to try that one out.
The best thing we ever bought was a water filter, it cools the water and filters all the bad tastes out but leaves the fluoride and essentials. Because it’s always cold, we just walk past and get a drink. Yasu has cut down his soda to just about nil, and i hardly ever drink it either. Before that we consumed about one 1.5 litre bottle per day!! It was pepsi max or coke zero, but it’s still pretty bad…at least now we are much healther. I have lost 5kg just from switching from soda to water. 🙂 It’s economical too as we use tap water for filtering, so all those bottles of drink not being bought by us are resulting in more money in our bank. 🙂 Great post.
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Azumarisan, did you mean “I had no idea that it was so INexpensive in America?” Soda is DIRT cheap in America. Good to hear you have a water filter. We used to have a Puratap at our old house but we can’t have it here. We use a BRITA water filter now at home…not as good but still good.
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Oh yeah, i meant so cheap. That’s what i get for blogging at night…
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You need to get with the times, sister. Australia recently passed the United States for the title of the world’s fattest nation.
See article here:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23890071-12377,00.html
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Hi Brian,
Thanks for that link. I hadn’t actually read about that. Per population AU is fatter than the US but honestly, you just don’t see the same KIND of obesity as often in Australia as you do in the states. I still think that in the US, there are way more GROSSLY and MORBIDLY obese people than in Oz.
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Soda is definately a huge contributor to obesity in the US, as are all refined carbohydrates. Our health education in the states in the US is so warped. In the schools in CA they have taken out soda and replaced high fat chocolate chip cookies with low-fat ones-but they are still high in sugar! Fat is still considered the enemy but refined processed carbohydrates are not. So, the high sugar cookies are deemed ok, whereas the high fat ones are not. Neither are healthy. If the US wants to reduce it’s obesity Americans need to start eating unprocessed foods. There needs to be a focus on vegetables, low-fat proteins, and the right fats (oils vs. animal fats and hydronated fats).
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