The backlash against sugary drinks continues with a UK supermarket poised to remove them from its shelves and San Francisco requiring health warnings on soft drink advertising.
Tesco will axe drinks with added sugar that target children including the well known UK brand Ribena.
The supermarket will now only sell no-added-sugar drinks in the kids' juice category.
It has also committed to reduce the sugar content of its own-brand soft drinks by five per cent, and has also removed confectionery and chocolate from checkouts.
Meanwhile, legislation has been passed in the city of San Francisco that requires soft drink advertisements to include a mandatory health warning label that says: “WARNING: Drinking beverages with added sugar(s) contributes to obesity, diabetes and tooth decay.”
The industry is fighting back however. The American Beverage Association (ABA) is suing San Francisco, claiming the label is unconstitutional and violates the First Amendment.
The ABA also notes that the labels single out sweet beverages, while sugar-sweetened foods need not carry any warnings.
Closer to home, the Australian Dental Association has issued a warning about the impact of sports drinks on oral health.
Australian Dental Association’s Dr Peter Alldritt said players in active sports should stick to water to avoid erosion and tooth decay.
However Australian Beverages Council CEO Geoff Parker pointed out that any food or drink that contains fermentable carbohydrates (sugars and some starches), including sports drinks, can play a role in the development of tooth decay, if proper dental hygiene is not practised.
“Dietary sources of fermentable carbohydrates include many popular foods and drinks, including bread, cereals, dried fruit, confectionary, biscuits and a range of snack foods and drinks,” Parker said.
According to Parker, recent ABS data for the Australian Health Survey shows that just 1.3 per cent of Australians consumed a sports drink on the day of the survey.
