Sweet and Deadly: How Coca-Cola Spreads Disinformation and Makes Us Sick

If we knew that Coca-Cola was among the deadliest products in our diet, would we continue drinking it in such great quantities? The Coca-Cola Company has gone to extraordinary lengths to make sure we don’t find out. This program will discuss the findings of extensive research and deep investigative reporting, that uncovered the damage Coke does to America’s health, and the remarkable campaign of disinformation conducted by the company to keep consumers in the dark.

Murray Carpenter is the author of Sweet and Deadly; How Coca-Cola Spreads Disinformation and Makes Us Sick (MIT Press, March 2025), and Caffeinated, How Our Daily Habit Helps, Hurts and Hooks Us (Penguin USA, 2014). As a journalist focusing on science, health, climate, and environmental stories, he has reported for The New York Times, the Washington Post, Wired, National Geographic, NPR, and Maine Public Radio. His work has taken him across the United States, and to Guantanamo, the Colombian llanos, and a factory town in China. He holds a BA in psychology from the University of Colorado and an MS in Environmental Studies from the University of Montana, and lives in Belfast, Maine.
This program begins at 1:00 PM, both in-person and via Zoom. The in-person event will be held at Pinnacle Living, 45 Forts Ferry Road, Latham, NY. It is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be available starting at 12:30 PM. Please bring your own beverage.
If you wish to attend via Zoom and are not a current member of CDHS, email your request to [CDHS.Albany@gmail.com](mailto:CDHS.Albany@gmail.com) no later than Thursday, July 10th, to receive the link via email. You do NOT need to RSVP here, the link will not be on the Meetup page. You must send the email request to attend online.

The Capital District Humanist Society provides a supportive community for exchanging ideas, heightening our knowledge of the world and ourselves, fostering moral and ethical growth, and promoting the principles of non-theistic humanism. CDHS is a member organization for people with humanist values. Our values include commitment to free inquiry, rational thought, life-long education, democracy, social concern, and fellowship.
To learn more about us, please go to www.humanistsociety.net