Additional strategies beyond a soft drinks levy will be needed to reduce obesity, particularly in older boys and younger children, according to new Cambridge University research that some have called ‘speculative’.
Beverage giant Suntory believes that a focus on ‘forward-looking’ sugar reduction will remain crucial for firms to overcome the risk of sugar taxes and achieve significant, long-term growth in the region over the coming few years.
Having already removed more than 16% of sugar from Australian portfolios since January 2015, a set of beverage giants (including Coca-Cola and PepsiCo) are now targeting a 25% reduction by 2025 - up from the previous target.
Cutting the amount of sugar in our diet continues to be a priority for many consumers. With experts insisting the sugar reduction trend isn’t coming off the boil, FoodNavigator asks what ingredients are shaping the future of sugar reformulation.
Curbing consumption of sugary beverages and sweet baked goods could take center-stage in future obesity-fighting campaigns while chocolate and confections move to the wings after new research from Georgetown University reveals the former are more likely...
Redirecting existing sugar cropland to ethanol production can yield significant greenhouse gas emission savings, according to fresh research out of Barcelona.
The soft drinks category will be affected by new HFSS legislation coming into force in England. But having already done plenty of work in reformulating and innovating for the UK sugar tax, the sector is well placed to turn a challenge into an opportunity,...
Drawing on two new studies of Seattle’s soda tax, researchers from the University of Illinois Chicago say such taxes have a large, sustained impact on reducing volume and grams of sugar sold.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a US consumer advocacy organization, is urging the country’s top food retailers and sugary drink manufacturers to remove sugar-laden drinks from impulse buy locations in stores.
Most sugary drink taxes have a ‘fatal flaw’, suggest US researchers: they’re only effective at reducing purchases if price tags at stores tell consumers they’re paying the tax.
Researchers are calling on the beverage industry to close loopholes that allow limited advertising of sweetened beverages to children after discovering sales of children’s beverages with added sugar and non-nutritive sweeteners continue to outpace those...
The UK’s Soft Drinks Industry Levy is responsible for a reduction in intake of nearly 6,500 calories from soft drinks per annum per UK resident, according to a new study. And the authors say much of the reduction came from manufacturers’ reformulation...
South Africa has seen large reductions in purchases of sugary beverage volumes since the country’s sugar tax was announced in 2016, according to a new study published this month.
Singapore’s beverage sector is seeking increased industry engagement and a more holistic approach to sugar reduction, after the government opened public consultations for its proposed ‘Nutri-Grade’ sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) labelling scheme.
Displaying health warnings on sugar-sweetened drinks could be an effective way of reducing consumption, suggest US researchers, who found a 14.5% decline in consumption among students when warning labels were displayed on drinks in a college cafeteria....
UK bosses of global food manufacturers, including General Mills, Associated British Foods and PepsiCo have called for the Government to extend its consultation on plans to ban online advertising for 'unhealthy foods'.
Europe’s soft drinks industry has reduced added sugars in drinks by an average of 14.6% between 2015 and 2019; contributing to a reduction of 26% since 2000.
By Danielle Jackson, Strategic Planner, ZEAL Creative
The soft drinks category has been working through a challenging year. Danielle Jackson, strategic planner at UK brand activation marketing agency ZEAL Creative, asks what lessons the industry can learn and take into 2021.
The list of food additives authorised for use in the UK will not change at the end of the Brexit transition period, according to the country's food safety regulator, while the EFSA insists that aspartame does not pose a safety concern at current...
The UK has seen a 44% reduction in sugar content per 100ml in drinks covered by the UK’s sugar tax: a much greater reduction than sugar reduction achieved across food categories, according to a government report.
Per-capita liquid refreshment beverage (LRB) calories have declined 5.6% over a five-year period (from 203 calories per person per day in 2014 to 191.8 calories in 2019), according to the American Beverage Association’s latest Beverage Calories Initiative...
Despite sugar reduction being a major consumer health trend impacting nearly every corner of the CPG industry, many food and beverage products in Canada have seen limited changes in sugar content, a recent study by the University of Toronto suggests.
Researchers in Thailand have called for the government to pursue more aggressive public health policies in addition to imposing sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) taxes in the country after an advanced simulation model revealed that this would have little...
Sugar taxation has remained the most effective for of food taxation when it comes to reducing diet-related diseases as compared to taxes on salt, saturated fat and junk food, according to a recent New Zealand study.
A fresh study has revealed that children in France are most exposed to advertising for products with a Nutri-Score ranking of D and E – meaning foods of lower nutritional quality. The findings, says Santé Publique France, support the need for food marketing...
The Philippines is considering implementing higher sugar taxes as well as new taxes on ‘junk food’ high in sodium and trans fat to offset the costs incurred by the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak this year.
A citizen petition filed by The Sugar Association to the FDA is calling for “complete and accurate labeling of low- and no-calorie sweeteners on food packages,” which would require food manufacturers to add the term ‘sweetener' in parenthesis after...
The UK’s soft drink tax has probably been of greatest benefit to the Childhood Obesity Plan, says Association for the Study of Obesity Chair Dr Maria Bryant, and similar principles should ‘absolutely’ be applied to sugary milk drinks.
Volume sales of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) have declined over the past 22 years in Australia by almost one-third despite the country's ongoing obesity problem, with industry leaders claiming this calls into question repeated calls for a sugar...
Researchers at universities across the world have not found any link between sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption and dementia based on results from the world’s first ethnic-Chinese specific study.
PepsiCo is hiring 6,000 new, full-time employees over the next month and is providing additional compensation to the more than 90,000 frontline employees – those who “make, move, and sell” PepsiCo products – at both PepsiCo Beverages North America and...
Indonesia might be taking a novel approach to implementing a sugar tax: if a proposal in front of parliament goes ahead, it will lump an additional levy on soft drinks in with environmental protection measures to fill a gaping hole in public finances.
Carbonated beverages sweetened with sugar, natural or artificial sweeteners will be taxed in British Columbia under the Provincial Sales Tax Act as of July this year.
Sugary drink consumption in Chile fell nearly a quarter after the country introduced a raft of regulatory measures on foods high in sugar, fat, salt and calorie content. The affect was slightly greater among middle and high socioeconomic groups.
Many APAC governments have explored sugar taxes to some extent over the past few years, but experts now say that although on the surface these appear to have been effective in driving reformulation, consumer behaviour and not taxation is likely to be...
Popular RTD cocktails and pre-mixed spirits contain ‘unnecessarily high and hidden sugar and calories’, according to UK campaign group Action on Sugar. It says such drinks should reformulate in line with the parameters set out by the sugar tax - or else...
An Oxford University study has found the total amount of sugar sold in soft drinks in the UK dropped by 29% between 2015-2018. “Sustained pressure on business, including fiscal measures, has led to a striking reduction,” say the researchers.
By Rachel Arthur, Elaine Watson, Niamh Michail, Gary Scattergood, Flora Southey
Sugar taxes continue to hit the headlines, so we take a spin around the globe to look at some of the markets where taxes have been introduced or are under debate.
With trendy plant-based alternatives such as soy milk or almond milk, consumers often find a health halo around indulgent coffee shop drinks. But festive favourites such as hot chocolate and sweetly-spiced lattes contain ‘huge’ amounts of sugar, says...
Panama passed a new law this week that creates a national health improvement action plan and increases taxes on the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages.
Singapore will become the first country in the world to ban adverts for high sugar drinks, as part of measures to reduce sugar intake from sugar-sweetened beverages.
England’s outgoing Chief Medical Officer says the Soft Drinks Industry Levy has been successful in reducing sugar in children’s drinks: and is calling for the levy to be extended to milk-based drinks.
The Philippines Senate panel has recommended that a bill to increase taxes on alcohol and other ‘sin’ products under Phase 2 of the controversial TRAIN law be passed, amidst government lauding of the first phase’s success.
What would happen if alcohol and sugary drinks had to introduce plain packaging? A report from Brand Finance estimates the potential value loss to beverage businesses could reach around $430bn.
Public Health England’s latest progress report on the food and drink industry’s sugar cutting efforts reveal significant changes in areas where the sugar tax applies, but a disappointing lack of progress with the voluntary sugar reduction programme.
While soda may have dominated shelves in the 1990s, today’s shoppers are seeking increasingly sophisticated functional beverages. Data company Kantar has analyzed consumer behavior in a new report that highlights the last three decades in the US beverage...
Taxing high sugar snacks – such as sweets, cakes and biscuits – may be more effective at reducing obesity than taxing sugary drinks, according to a new study published in the BMJ.
