Mexico has one of the cities most addicted to the famous Coca-Cola soft drink. In the state of Chiapas, drinking water is generally a scarce and expensive luxury. Given this reality, a large part of the population has substituted water for chronic consumption of Coca-Cola, making it an essential part of their daily lives.
Specifically, in the city of San Cristóbal de las Casas, most residents consume up to two liters of soda a day, equivalent to more than 800 liters a year, according to research conducted by the Multidisciplinary Research Center of Chiapas and the Southern Border.
The logo and the characteristic red color of this beverage can be found in every store, market, and street in the city. It is even said that families have learned to replace basic drinks like water or milk, in the case of babies, with this soft drink.
Near San Cristóbal, in the town of San Andrés, Coca-Cola is considered “liquid gold” and is part of the local traditional rituals. Shamans use it in religious ceremonies, and the soda is believed to have healing properties.
According to research conducted on this beverage, the consumption crisis is due to another, even more serious crisis: the lack of drinking water in every home.
It is estimated that water reaches many Chiapas communities, including the town of San Andrés, very infrequently during the week or not at all. The fact that families lack access to water forces them to consume industrialized beverages like Coca-Cola, which is even cheaper than bottled water.
Adding to the crisis is the fact that Femsa, the company that produces and distributes Coca-Cola in Latin America, has permission to extract more than 1.3 million liters of water daily, while local communities struggle to obtain drinking water for basic use.
This dependence on soda and lack of water has triggered an unprecedented health crisis in Chiapas. Reports indicate that rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes, diseases linked to the excessive consumption of sugary drinks like Coca-Cola, have skyrocketed in recent years. Across the state, diabetes is estimated to be the second leading cause of death, behind only heart disease.
Mexico, for its part, is one of the countries with the highest rate of childhood obesity in Latin America, according to UNICEF. Sugary drinks and junk and ultra-processed foods account for 40% of children’s daily calories, and a third of them are overweight or obese.
Although Coca-Cola has become a deadly factor for public health in Chiapas, its consumption continues to grow, driven by the lack of water, cultural tradition, and the powerful reach of the soft drink industry, which is accused of extracting drinking water and unleashing more social and health crises.
Source: viveusa
