News • Children's Food Campaign
Tesco sets out sugary drinks reformulation plan
The Children's Food Campaign welcomes Tesco's commitment to reduce the sugar content of its own soft drinks range year-on-year. One of the big failures of the Government's Responsibility Deal has been the unwillingness of companies to commit to quantifiable pledges - reducing fat, sugar and calories by a specific amount within a specific time frame. Even companies like Coca Cola admit that proper targets, publicly made and held accountable, help override internal resistance to reformulation. Read more...
However, experience shows that voluntary commitments are too easily broken or ignored without a government body relentlessly putting pressure on companies to act. That is one of the lessons of the Responsibility Deal that the Health Secretary and the Public Health Minister should heed.
Reformulation is only one weapon in the battle to reduce sugar consumption. Using pricing to change buying habits, such as through the introduction of a 20p per litre duty on sugary drinks, is another fruitful avenue that should be explored; alongside tougher restrictions on the marketing of high sugar products to children.
Published Monday 18 May 2015
Children's Food Campaign: Better food and food teaching for children in schools, and protection of children from junk food marketing are the aims of Sustain's high-profile Children's Food Campaign. We also want clear food labelling that can be understood by everyone, including children.
