CEO DATELINE - Fitness giant to take on American Beverage Association
CEO DATELINE - Fitness giant to take on American Beverage Association
- December 5, 2016 |
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Walt Williams
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The wildly popular fitness regimen and business CrossFit has hired lobbyists as part of its war against soda makers, which will pit the company against the American Beverage Association, The Hill recently reported.
CrossFit CEO and founder Greg Glassman has described himself in a "holy war" against the soda industry, blaming it for funding allegedly bogus scientific studies downplaying soda's health effects. The company has hired the Podesta Group—a lobbying firm—to take on the industry at a federal level, according to the newspaper.
ABA is the soda industry's main advocate in Washington, D.C. In the past, the association has defended the studies it helped fund, saying the research "adheres to the highest standards of integrity for scientific inquiry."
CrossFit can point to at least one recent success in the advocacy realm. Last year the company helped defeat a proposed Washington, D.C., regulation that would have required fitness instructors and personal trainers to obtain a professional license. http://bit.ly/2ggSpKz
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