“How Soda Companies Are Running America Like The Mob.” - @TheFoodBabe Vani Hari | The Spillover
What this video covers
In this February 2024 episode of The Spillover, host Alex Clark interviews Vani Hari for nearly two hours, framing the conversation around the claim that soda companies operate with mob-like tactics — a comparison to the tobacco industry’s playbook that runs through the episode. Clark asks Hari point-blank whether Coke and Pepsi run big food “like the mob”; she answers “absolutely,” claiming they pay Harvard scientists to shift blame from food, sugar, and soda onto kids not moving enough — her claim.
Hari recounts the origin of her activism: the confrontation with Chick-fil-A that, she says, led to a personal invitation to the company’s headquarters — a story verified by contemporaneous reporting at the time. She adds color from the visit: the company “rolled out the red carpet,” picked her up in a cow-covered “cow mobile,” and toured her through what she calls a museum-like headquarters before the ingredient meeting. She revisits her Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte campaign — she says it targeted caramel color Level 4 — and says calling out Starbucks made her “Public Enemy Number One,” suggesting Coca-Cola and Pepsi have the most lobby money influencing media. She also gives a memorable articulation of her MSG argument: man-made MSG is added to create “irresistibility,” to “hijack your taste buds, hijack your brain so you remember the flavor.”
The conversation turns to children: Hari argues processed food should be kept away from kids, that parents are “in control,” and that young brains are being “hijacked” by food marketing. She also discusses GMOs, Apeel (the produce coating), and what she calls labeling scams. Hari founded Truvani, the plant-based protein brand mentioned in the episode; she sold her stake in the company in 2023.
Key points
- Clark asks whether soda companies run big food “like the mob”; Hari says “absolutely,” claiming they pay scientists to blame inactivity rather than food, sugar, and soda — her claim.
- She recounts the Chick-fil-A confrontation that led to an invitation to company headquarters and subsequent recipe discussions, including the “cow mobile” pickup anecdote.
- She revisits her Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte campaign, which she says targeted caramel color Level 4 — and says the backlash made her “Public Enemy Number One.”
- Her MSG argument, in her words: man-made MSG creates irresistibility to “hijack your taste buds, hijack your brain so you remember the flavor.”
- She discusses GMOs, Apeel, and labeling practices she describes as scams — her claims, presented as such.
- Hari is the founder of Truvani; she sold her stake in the company in 2023.