Candy & Energy Drink Reform
John Pinelli
Chief Energy Officer @ Punch'd Energy | Start-ups, Product Development, Strategy
I’ve been nominated for a position on Bobby Kennedy’s Team and I’m pretty damn excited by that!
Most of you know that I’m here in South Florida, so I’m just a hop, skip and a jump from the summer White House. I see this as a real opportunity for change in our health system, and another way to position my Punch’d Platform in the realignment of categories in the industry.
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This is near and dear to me and I’m hoping you will support me as you’ve done throughout my life.
VOTE ME IN HERE! (link) https://nominees.mahanow.org/t/john-pinelli/36633?u=johngeep
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My 3-STEP PLAN to reform the Energy Drink & Candy Industries:
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Why are we ignoring lawsuits against Hershey’s Chocolate? Lead & Cadmium are deadly poisons. They’re actually killing us. Is this why it’s called Cadbury?
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Why is Kellogg’s ignoring our requests to make us at least as health conscious as Europe? The UK recognizes how bad allergens, chemical additives, genetic engineering, antimicrobials and pesticides are, why doesn’t the US? Why have we added and ignored so many terrible ingredients and chemicals in our food system over the past 4-5 decades?
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Mars Candy is still adding Titanium Dioxide to Skittles & Starburst and many other candies. All the Halloween candy we give our kids like Swedish fish, Trolli gummies and Sour Patch Kids are causing irreparable harm. Red dyes, Potassium Bromate, Propylparaben, monoglycerides and diglycerides, artificial sweeteners, synthetic ingredients and more have been slowly destroying us and cutting our lives short.
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TBHQ is a food preservative that is used in Reese’s peanut butter cups, Pop-Tarts, Cheez-Its and more than a thousand other processed foods and it’s effecting our immune systems. When Reese’ first invented the peanut butter cup in the 70’s it had 8 ingredients, now it has 14 which means 6 of those ingredients need to be questioned. Same with Snickers, Butter Finger and Almond Joy.
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According to Bama Health Foods the 10 most toxic ingredients found in candy include: Artificial Colors, t-Butylhydroquinone, High Fructose Corn Syrup, High amounts of sugar, Polysorbate 60, Carnauba Wax, Sucralose, BHT/BHA, Aspartame and Sodium Nitrate. We concur.
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BHT in Rice Krispies Treats and Charms Blow Pops has been shown to cause cancer and is an endocrine disruptor.
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Red No. 3, Red No. 40 and Yellow No. 5 can be found in over 2,000 products causing cancer and behavioral difficulties.
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Did you know that Twizzlers was invented in the 1920’s? It had 4 ingredients, and now it has 20?! 16 ingredients that aren’t needed for the success of the candy, so why do we let this happen? We can’t pronounce more than 10 of those added ingredients, get them out of the food system for good.
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On the surface, I think Energy Drinks mean well. This is still a fairly new category with RedBull starting out as the Champion, unlike Coca-Cola & Pepsi who have strayed too far from their mission. The key to energy drinks as a whole is moderation, smaller amounts of natural caffeine in doses that can actually provide benefits and not problems. Too many artificial and synthetic ingredients do more to harm than help, and exploring better sources of taurine, guarana, b-vitamins, l-theanine or other performance enhancing supps.
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We are living in extraordinary times. This is the time of great change and we will all be living in much different and healthier times as we work our ways out of these legacy systems. This is our legacy. This is our leap forward. And I am starting here with Energy Drinks & Candy.
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I want the original Swedish Fish candy we all grew up with, but I want them more natural, with functionality benefits. And I want my kids and grandkids to have this too.
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MAFA! Make America Fun & Functional Again.
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