The biggest target of obesity in North America? Soda. Many experts now claim that soda is the new tobacco -- indeed, Google those terms and you get more than 7 million hits. For them, Coke is the new Camel. Let me take a step back and note the basic problem in fighting obesity like we fought tobacco.

Coca-Cola Canada has come out this week accusing the City of Ottawa of unfairly targeting its products in the city's campaign to promote healthy living. By crafting this attack on the city's healthy lifestyle campaign, Coca-Cola, has shifted the heart of the discussion away from evaluating the nutritional content of fizzy sugary water to the city government's intrusion on the rights and liberties of its citizens. Somehow, amidst attempts to fight obesity, diabetes and heart disease, the City of Ottawa, and not Coca-Cola has become the bad guy!

Coca-Cola Ltd. is changing its iconic can — and pledging millions of dollars — to help scientists plan how other icons such as polar bears can sur...