242 Drinks Reformulated To Contain Less Sugar Under The Healthier Choice Logo Initiative
Drinks including Cola-Cola, Pepsi, Ribena, and Nescafé have been reformulated to contain less sugar.
A total of 242 beverage products have been reformulated to contain less sugar for the Malaysian market
According to Bernama, this is a part of the Healthier Choice Logo (HCL) initiative, following the introduction of the sugar tax on sugary drinks.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said this was revealed in the Impact and Effectiveness Assessment of the Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax conducted in 2022, two years after the tax's implementation in 2019.
"Producers of sugary drinks have reformulated their products to lower sugar levels in order to avoid paying the tax," he said during a question-and-answer session in the Dewan Negara yesterday, 16 December.
Image via Bernama
Dr Dzulkefly noted that studies showed the 40 sen per litre sugar tax had a minimal impact on market prices, resulting in a 2.24% increase instead of the expected 8.83%
"What's more significant is that the tax had successfully reduced sugary drink consumption, particularly among adolescents, with a decline from 36.9% to 16.4%," he remarked.
Additionally, he mentioned that youths and individuals from the B40 group are the largest consumers of sugary drinks and have benefited the most from this initiative.
The Health Ministry anticipates even greater reductions in sugar consumption with the government's recent announcement to raise the sugar tax to 90 sen per litre, Dr Dzulkefly added.
The 242 drinks include products from Coca-Cola, Fanta, 100PLUS, Ribena, and Nescafé, among others
Here are some of the drinks that have been reformulated:
- Heaven & Earth Iced Lemon Tea
- Heaven & Earth Iced Passionfruit Tea
- Minute Maid Refresh Orange
- Lipton Lemon Ice Tea
- Pepsi
- F&N Ice Cream Soda
- MILO Original Can
- Nescafé Original
- Tropicana Twister Apple Fruit Drink
The full list of the beverages can be found here.
Earlier this year, the Health Ministry announced that it will soon introduce a grading system for sugary drinks to combat diabetes and obesity in the country:
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