So it is that the term, «sugar free» is being exploited to death by soft drink manufacturers because of the mistaken public perception that choosing artificially
sweetened drinks would be a healthier choice.
The sweetness of artificially
sweetened drinks would also have to be reduced, as there is increasing evidence that artificial sweeteners stimulate appetite.
Conclusions A 20 % tax on sugar
sweetened drinks would lead to a reduction in the prevalence of obesity in the UK of 1.3 % (around 180000 people).
The rising trend for taxes on
sweetened drinks has prompted beverage industry giants like PepsiCo and Coca - Cola to spend billions of dollars on advertising and lobbying campaigns against the measures.
A tax on sugar
sweetened drinks has been proposed as one means to reduce consumption and raise revenue; it is gaining traction both politically and among health advocacy organisations
The growing evidence of the negative health effects of sugar
sweetened drinks has led to calls for action to limit consumption.1 2 Several options exist, including controls on the marketing of sugar sweetened drinks, limits on portion sizes, and taxation.3 In the United Kingdom, the sale of sugar sweetened drinks in schools and their advertisement during children's television is banned.
In terms of substitution effects, the major difference between our estimates and those from the US is that our data indicate that diet soft drinks are a substitute for sugar sweetened drinks, whereas US data suggest that diet soft drinks are a complement (as the price of sugar sweetened drinks goes up, consumption of diet drinks goes down).18 22 This may explain why a US tax on sugar
sweetened drinks has been so heavily resisted, as a «double whammy» on sales of both diet soft drinks and sugar sweetened drinks would occur.18.
Dr. Casperson said: «We were surprised by the impact that the sugar -
sweetened drinks had on metabolism when they were paired with higher - protein meals.
Individuals who didn't drink sugar -
sweetened drinks had lower average BMI compared to individuals who drank more than 1 of these beverages daily.
Not exact matches
An equivalent rate
would be collected on the syrups used to
sweeten fountain
drinks sold by restaurants, convenience stores and fast - food outlets in the city.
Tesco's move goes way beyond what companies in the U.S.
have done to reduce the consumption of sodas and
sweetened drinks, but that may soon change.
Starbucks spokeswoman May Kulthol said the
drink has less than 90 calories when unsweetened, or less than 230 calories when
sweetened.
As it gets set to distribute the new stevia -
sweetened soft
drink Coca - Cola Life, the Australian food and beverage group Coca - Cola Amatil (CCA)
has announced its own focus for production in the years to come will be on products that align with the increasing desire from consumers for «healthy» and «premium» products.
Although I wish they
'd use dates to
sweeten this
drink instead of agave, the flavor of the milk was mild and pleasant, and not overly sweet.
I never thought I
would like it, but I do and for more reasons than just to
sweeten my
drink!
Although sales taxes on soft
drinks in Ireland and France
have both been associated with a reduction in consumption, the health effects
have not been studied.15 16 No significant effect on obesity of US state sales taxes
has been found, although the level of taxation there
has probably been too low to affect health.13 17 The modelled estimates of the health effect of a 20 % sugar
sweetened drink tax in the United States vary, but such a tax
has been predicted to reduce obesity by up to three percentage points.13 18 The effect of a sugar
sweetened drink tax in the UK
has not, until now, been formally estimated.
The markedly different levels of consumption of sugar
sweetened drinks in the United States and the UK (735 kJ / person / day in the US compared with 209 kJ in the UK) suggest that a tax may
have a lesser effect in the UK.12 19
In January 2013 the non-governmental organisation Sustain, supported by 61 health organisations, called for a 20 pence per litre excise duty on sugar
sweetened drinks.4 In February, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges called for a 20 % tax on sugar
sweetened drinks as part of its enquiry into clinical and public health solutions to the obesity epidemic.1 Although the UK government
has indicated a preference for voluntary approaches to the control of obesity, it
has not ruled out fiscal measures.14 Clearly, the idea of a sugar
sweetened drink tax is gaining traction in the UK, but its effect on health remains uncertain.
The rise in sugar
sweetened drink consumption
has been noted to
have displaced milk from the diet, and this may partly account for the apparent detrimental effects of regular sugar
sweetened drink consumption on bone health.57
The lower levels of baseline sugar
sweetened drink consumption in the UK compared with the US may in part explain why the effect on obesity that we estimate in the UK is much less than that estimated in the US.12 The differences with respect to other modelling studies may also be partly explained by their use of higher own price elasticity values for sugar
sweetened drinks than we
have calculated and used here.18 22 52 We can not make direct comparisons between the results of our study and the results of recent studies of the effect of reducing sugar
sweetened drink consumption on body weight in children, 5 7 as the relation between energy balance and change in body mass index in children who are growing is different from that in adults.
We chose to model the effects on body weight because good evidence (from both trials and epidemiological studies) links regular consumption of sugar
sweetened drinks to weight gain.8 10 12 Moreover, data from longitudinal studies support the idea that changes in the price of sugar
sweetened drinks are linked to changes in body weight.20 Other groups
have used this form of modelling to estimate the effects of a sugar
sweetened drink tax on obesity.18 21 22
However, other authors
have voiced concerns about consumption of artificial sweeteners, because they may promote an appetite for sweet things, they harm bone and dental health, and their long term safety profile is not precisely clear.55 However, the European Food Safety Agency recently concluded that aspartame, the most common artificial sweetener, is safe at present consumption levels.56 The shift to milk consumption as sugar
sweetened drink consumption falls might be expected.
Beverage Suggestion: while enjoying a meal with any carbs (pasta, potatoes, bread) it's best to avoid
sweetened drinks and
have water or unsweetened tea or iced tea.
This is partly because the meta - analysis predominantly included studies with a high baseline consumption of sugar
sweetened drinks, in which a tax may
have greater potential to reduce energy intake.
I love
having healthier alternatives for
sweetening foods and
drinks.
That means simpler pour - overs and espresso - based
drinks have elbowed
sweetened, flavored blends off of menus, and come with new choices of alternative milks and sugars.
The Australian Beverages Council
has responded to a study by the Harvard Medical School, published in the Human Reproduction journal, which looks at the correlation between sugar -
sweetened drinks and the age at which girls
have their first period, saying that girls who consume «sugary
drinks» tend to start their menstrual periods earlier.
As a result, sugar contribution from carbonated soft
drinks has dropped between 1997 and 2011 by 26 % per capita as consumers switch from sugar -
sweetened to non-sugar
sweetened soft
drink.
Morningstar analyst Daniel Mueller believes Coke Life, which is
sweetened with stevia and
has 60 per cent fewer calories than regular Coke, will appeal to consumers demanding low - calorie low - sugar alternatives to sugary soft
drinks.
The company already announced it
would remove full - calorie,
sweetened drinks from schools worldwide by 2012.
The product
has however been recently re-branded under the name «Coca - Cola with Stevia» with analysts saying it better communicates that the
drink has less sugar and is
sweetened with stevia instead.
«Moreover, sugar contribution from carbonated soft
drinks has dropped by around a quarter (26 %) per person as consumers switch from sugar -
sweetened to non-sugar
sweetened soft
drink,» concludes Parker.
«According to the 2007 Australian National Children's and Physical Activity Survey, a mere 1.6 % of the average kid's energy (kJ) intake is from sugar -
sweetened soft
drinks and just 2 % from fruit juice, and the juice contribution of energy to a kid's diet hasn't changed since 1995.
«Our research shows there
has been a shift from sugar -
sweetened towards non-sugar
sweetened drinks over 15 years leading to a significant drop in the sugar contribution from water - based beverages, especially soft
drinks.
Sugar contribution from carbonated soft
drinks has dropped by around a quarter (26 %) for each person as consumers switch from sugar -
sweetened to non-sugar
sweetened soft
drink
«Australians» beverage preferences change according to life stage and we
have witnessed a significant shift from sugar -
sweetened towards non-sugar
sweetened drinks in the last 15 years.
MEDIA RELEASE 7 January, 2018 Beverage industry responds to AMA calls for a soft
drinks tax The Australian Beverages Council, representing the nation's non-alcoholic beverage industry,
has today released the following statement in response to calls from the Australian Medical Association (AMA) for a tax on sugar -
sweetened beverages: «It's disappointing that in 2018 with both -LSB-...]
Q
Drinks says new Q Orange, Q Grapefruit and Q Lemon beverages are lightly
sweetened with organic cane sugar and
have more effervescence, depth and complexity than traditional fruit - flavored sodas.
Media Statement 20 May, 2015 Australian Beverages Council responds to Labor's calls for restrictions on sugar -
sweetened beverages Responding to the latest calls from the Labor Government to phase out sugary
drinks from Tasmania's schools, Australian Beverages Council CEO Geoff Parker said: «One
has to question the effectiveness of choosing to phase out or effectively ban -LSB-...]
29 January 2015 Media Statement Australian Beverages Council responds to Harvard Medical School Study The Australian Beverages Council
has responded to a study by the Harvard Medical School, published in the Human Reproduction journal, which looks at the correlation between sugar -
sweetened drinks and the age at which girls
have their first period, saying that girls -LSB-...]
The View from A Farr — A carbohydrate conundrum The use of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) as a
sweetening agent in food and
drink has become a hot potato in the US.
We love to use simple syrup to
sweeten our chilled
drinks, and it is something easy to
have on hand.
Japanese convenience stores and groceries also
have a wide availability of bottled
drinks, which are typically lightly
sweetened and pre-blended with milk.
In addition, we
have already adopted policies to limit marketing of sugar -
sweetened carbonated soft
drinks to primary schools and to not directly market these same products to primary school children in the media.
«I
would say that this is an extension of
drink mixes; and there are mixes available that consumers use to flavour and
sweeten their water,» said the analyst.
I love
drinks with naturally -
sweetened taste.It's funny when chai latte doesn't
have chai tea but I love how simple it is, adding some cacao powder is perfect!
In Mexico, business owners warn that the tax on sugar
sweetened soft
drinks has affected the competitiveness of the industry, leading to the loss of 1700 jobs since the tax was introduced in 2014.
This beverage
has only two grams of sugar but is
sweetened with stevia, which is listed as an «artificial sugar substitute» in the sugary -
drinks - tax legislation.
Grocery sales
have also indicated a fall in the market share of SSBs and a rise in intensely
sweetened (diet) soft
drinks (16).
Currently, Australia appears to
have one of the highest ratios of diet beverages to conventional sugar -
sweetened soft
drinks whereby > 1 in 2 carbonated beverages that are purchased are intensely
sweetened (27).