Does the Prevalence of Obesity Affect the Demand for Soft Drinks? Evidence from Cross-Country Panel Data

The impact of soft drinks on obesity has been widely investigated during the last decades. Conversely, the role of obesity as a factor influencing the demand for soft drinks remains largely unexplored. However, understanding potential changes in the demand for soft drinks, as a result of changes in the spread of obesity, may be useful to better design a comprehensive strategy to curb soft drink consumption. In this paper, we aim to answer the following research question: Does the prevalence of obesity affect the demand for soft drinks? For this purpose, we collected data in a sample of 97 countries worldwide for the period 2005–2019. To deal with problems of reverse causality, an instrumental variable approach and a two-stage least squares method were used to estimate the impact of the age-standardized obesity rate on the market demand for soft drinks. After controlling for several demographic and socio-economic confounding factors, we found that a one percent increase in the prevalence of obesity increases the consumption of soft drinks and carbonated soft drinks by about 2.37 and 1.11 L per person/year, respectively. Our findings corroborate the idea that the development of an obesogenic food environment is a self-sustaining process, in which obesity and unhealthy lifestyles reinforce each other, and further support the need for an integrated approach to curb soft drink consumption by combining sugar taxes with bans, regulations, and nutrition education programs.

Dietary Determinants of Dental Caries Prevalence and Experience in Saudi Schoolchildren: Frequency versus Quantity

Background. Sugar-added diet has been associated with increased risk of developing dental caries. Objective. To investigate the dietary determinants of caries prevalence and experience based on the frequency versus the quantity of consumption among Saudi schoolchildren. Methods. This is a cross-sectional study that invited 12- to 15-year-old intermediate school students (N = 3000) in four cities in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Data collection comprised a pretested questionnaire and clinical examination. Caries was diagnosed based on the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria and was recorded as a decayed, missing, filled tooth (DMFT). The questionnaire included questions regarding the consumption of different quantities and frequencies of multiple sugar-containing food items. Multiple logistic and linear regression models were used to assess the influence of sugar-containing food on the dental caries experience (DMFT) and prevalence of decayed teeth. SPSS version 20.0 was used to analyze the data at 5% significance level. Results. Of 3000 invited students, 2262 participated with a participation rate of 75.4%. Our study found that the frequency of soft drink consumption was significantly associated with increased caries prevalence (adjusted OR = 1.33, 95% CI 1.07–1.65) and experience (adjusted B = 0.46, 95% CI 0.16–0.76). The frequency of consumption of fruit juice was statistically significantly associated with increased caries experience (adjusted B = 0.48, 95% CI 0.16–0.79). The interaction terms between the frequency and the quantity of consumption of energy drinks, soft drinks, and sweetened milk were statistically significantly related to caries experience and prevalence. Conclusion. Although the frequency of consumption of sugar-containing drinks was more associated with caries experience and prevalence, the interaction between frequency and quantity was highly related to the prevalence and experience of dental caries.

Orange dye Removal Efficiency by Few-layer Graphene: an Investigation by UV-Vis Spectroscopy-=SUP=-*-=/SUP=-

Nowadays, few-layer graphene (FLG) has been introduced as a new type of adsorbent. In this research, the orange dyes including, methyl orange (MO) as an industrial dye and the soft drink orange dye (orange Fanta soda) as a food dye, have been removed by FLG adsorbent. In all steps, UV-Vis spectroscopy as a valuable and fast method has been applied. The optical absorption coefficient has been decreased from 0.9 to less than 0.2 by FLG adsorbent for 50 ppm MO dye solution. Therefore, the MO solution with 50 ppm concentration converts to about 10 ppm output solution using 0.05 g of FLG adsorbent in a few minutes. It is about 80% adsorption dye removal efficiency. Also, MO dye removals have been performed in the range of 10 ppm to 500 ppm concentrations, but as the concentration of the solution increases, the dye adsorption ability of FLG decreases. The maximum efficient and optimum MO dye concentrations are about 100 ppm and 50 ppm, respectively, due to 0.05 g FLG adsorbent. It has been completely saturated at about 500 ppm concentration MO dye solution. Also, it has been observed that, for 50 ppm MO dye solution, increasing the amount of mass adsorbent from 0.05 g to 0.25 g can cause the output MO concentration to decrease from 10 ppm to 3 ppm. It has been revealed that about 94% of MO dye can remove by 0.25 g FLG adsorbent. The contact time due to 94% MO removal process is less than 5 minutes. Therefore, only by 0.25 g of FLG adsorbent we can purify wastewater containing 50 ppm MO dye to less than 3 ppm dye concentration, at less than a few minutes. Finally, the FLG glass tube filter can remove more than 90% food orange dye in less than 90 seconds for 50 ml of soft drink solution. Therefore, the FLG tube filtration process is so fast, easy, and high efficient. Keywords: adsorption, Few-Layer Graphene, methyl orange, UV-Vis spectroscopy, orange dye.

Quality, Price, and Competition Strategy Effects on Performance of Soft Drink Enterprises in Rwanda

Amidst market performance challenges of declining customer numbers and sales for some soft drinks enterprises in Rwanda, that has caused a big concern for academics and professionals, the study set to empirically investigate the effect of quality, price and competition strategies on sales and customer retention performance for these enterprises. The study was quantitative and cross-sectional where researchers obtained data at a single point in time on more than one case. A sample size of 118 marketing managers was taken from these enterprises in the central districts of Kigali that produce carbonated drinks, mineral water and juice. Due to corona virus pandemic, virtual means of data collection were used through telephone-based questionnaire survey. Despite the positive and significant relationship between quality and price strategies with market performance, ( =0.500, t=1.09, p<0.01) for quality, ( =0.23, t=3.05, p<0.01) for price, results for competition strategies ( =0.23, t=3.05, p=0.281), show nonsignificant relationship with market performance in the studied context. This finding manifests a big gap in managing competition and therefore advise these enterprises to revisit their competition management decisions and make investment in those positioning alternatives that impact on consumer perceptions.

Effect of soft beverages on the in vitro dissolution of gastro-resistant tablets containing low dose Acetylsalicylic acid

The need for additional fluids for easy absorption is typical for elderly patients and those with dysphagia. Most often, these patients take their medication with a glass of orange juice or another liquid instead of a glass of water. We conducted a dissolution test with gastro-resistant tablets acetylsalicylic acid where different kind of orange juice or soft drink wеre added to the release medium. As a control, release medium - buffers 1.2, 4.5 and 6.8 were used. The released aspirin was determined after HPLC analysis. The obtained data were fitted to different kinetic models. The results of the dissolution test in medium buffers with added different beverage showed results similar to those obtained in pure buffer, where it is used an artificial sweetener and different, when sugar or glucose-fructose syrup was used to sweeten the beverage. The most significant change was observed in the release kinetics of the active substance.To exclude the possibility that the other beverage ingredients or excipients used to make the tablets affect the release profile of acetylsalicylic acid, we conducted a beverage-like dissolution test. Instead of a original beverage, we used water and sugar syrup, in a concentration that is declared on the label of the original beverages. The results obtained confirm that different sugar concentrations alter the release profile of acetylsalicylic acid from gastro resistant tablets when they are taken with a glass of sugar-containing beverage instead of a glass of water.

PREDICTION OF SHARE OF VISUAL INVENTORY USING STORE DISPLAY, CHANNEL, AND PRODUCT VARIABLES

The purpose of this study is to predict the share of visual inventory (SOVI), which is defined as the number of stock-keeping units (SKUs) of a company’s products, calculated as a percentage of the total SKUs on the display of all products. Research studies in the past have focused mainly on the impact of inventory, which includes back end and visual inventory, on sales but less attention has been given to the impact of SOVI on sales. To address this research gap, this study attempted to create an analytics model to predict SOVI at the category of soft drinks level using four predictor variables namely point of purchase display, channel/sub-channel, package group, product category, and derived variable gross national income (GNI). The results were encouraging confirming the effectiveness of such a model. The researchers utilized a data set collected over a period of 18 months (February 2016 to July 2017) by a soft drink firm headquartered in the United States. Based on the findings, it is suggested that this prediction model can be utilized by other researchers and practitioners to predict SOVI of other soft drinks, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), and food and beverage companies.

Two Stages Thermal and Catalytic Cracking of Polyethylene Terephthalate to Fuel Production

PET (polyethylene terephthalate) is made up of polymerized repeating units of the ethylene terephthalate monomer (C10H8O4). PET is a recyclable plastic with the number 1 as its identification code. PET, which has a molecular weight of 192 gm/mole and contains 62.5 percent carbon, 33.3 percent oxygen, and 4.2 percent hydrogen, is utilized as synthetic fiber, polyester, plastic packaging, and soft drink containers all over the world. The main purpose of this study is to convert PET waste into liquid hydrocarbon fuel. Because PET use has risen significantly over the world, and the bulk of garbage is thrown into the soil rather than recycled, posing an environmental risk. During the heat breakdown phase, PET decomposes. It creates very strong and solid non-biodegradable terephthalic acid and benzoic acid complexes. To obtain liquid hydrocarbon fuel from PET, at 250-300℃, calcium hydroxide Ca(OH)2 is used as a catalyst in this study.