J. D. Heyes
Natural News

Wendy’s, too, encourages the purchase of sugar-for-diabetes research (Photo Infowars.com).

(NaturalNews) It could be one of the most ironically insulting “gifts” ever, but what it is, for certain, is a pathetic shame.

You might think that KFC is doing a good thing by pledging to help fund diabetes research, but when you figure out they are doing much more to cause diabetes than actually cure it, you have to shake your head in disbelief.

According to a recent advertisement spotted in a KFC store, the fast-food chain says it will donate a buck to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation for every meal it sells – along with a “Mega Jug” of Pepsi Cola that contains about 800 calories and about 56 spoonfuls of sugar.

Yes, that’s right. KFC will donate the dollar to JDRF, but only if customers buy a half-gallon of soda. So despite the “good intentions” behind the donations, clearly by forcing consumers to drink so much soda, the chain is violating the spirit of its campaign by contributing to the very disease it claims to be helping cure.

It isn’t as if a link between excessive soda consumption, fast food and diabetes isn’t well-known. In fact, some of the latest research shows that hundreds of thousands of diabetes cases have been linked directly to soda consumption.

“The finding suggests that any kind of policy that reduces consumption might have a dramatic health benefit,” said senior study author Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, the associate professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

But this isn’t the first time the soda- and junk-food industry has teamed with diabetes research organizations. In 2005, for instance, the American Diabetes Association teamed up with Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages under the guise of wanting to combat obesity and diabetes in America. Though the deal was that the ADA logo could only be placed on the company’s diet soda, the fact is Cadbury Schweppes at the time was the world’s third-largest manufacturer of soft drinks and one of the largest makers of sugary candies.

The company spun it this way, according to CSAB Senior Vice President of Marketing Jim Trebilcock: “I acknowledge that it is a little bit of a tricky dance here, given that we also sell sugared beverages, it’s about communicating the choice. And it’s also really about doing the right thing. And the right thing is we do offer products that are great for diabetic patients or people who are overweight and we want to get that message out, but done in a way that contributes to an overall solution.”

Whatever you say, Jim.