How one man tried to slim down big soda from the inside

A decade ago, South African doctor Derek Yach was working at the World Health Organization in Switzerland, leading the WHO in an effort to combat health problems that stem from smoking and bad diets. Yach was a particular critic of sugary and fatty fast food, and had become known as a serious gadfly to the world food industry. That is, until he was hired by PepsiCo to help transform the company from within to the world's most healthy food manufacturer. What happened, however, is that Yach ran into paralyzing opposition within Pepsi and alienated himself from his former colleagues, all while Pepsi made a little progress on improving its food, while reaping outsized reputational gains. For Yach, trying to fix Pepsi in the name of improving overall health became an object lesson in the old saying: No good deed goes unpunished.