7 Beverage Companies In Singapore Have Pledged To Reduce Sugar Content In Soft Drinks
The Singaporean Ministry of Health (MOH) is also planning to introduce other measures, including a sugar tax and warning labels.
By John Lim — 24 Aug 2017, 05:58 PM
In a bid to fight diabetes, seven beverage manufacturers have pledged to limit the sugar content of drinks they sell in Singapore
The Singaporean Ministry of Health (MOH) made the announcement after the republic's prime minister Lee Hsien Loong urged Singaporeans to cut back on sugary drinks in his National Day Rally speech.
The beverage firms which have agreed to reduce sugar are Coca-Cola, F&N Foods, Malaysia Dairy Industries, Nestle, PepsiCo, Pokka, and Yeo Hiap Seng.
The companies would cap the sugar content of their drinks at 12% by 2020
The 12 percent cap could translate to a maximum of 30g - or about 7.5 teaspoons - of sugar in a 250ml canned drink.
However, The Straits Times said the majority of beverages sold by the seven companies already fall within the 12% limit.
Apart from the reduction of sugar content, the ministry is also planning to introduce other measures, including a sugar tax, warning labels, and advertising restrictions
Financial Times reported that the country is one of the first countries in Asia to display such commitment in regulating sugary drinks.
"These players make up 70% of the total pre-packaged sugar-sweetened beverages market in Singapore. This move could potentially reduce sugar consumption from (such beverages) by about 300,000kg per year," MOH said in a press release.
Among Asian countries, Brunei has taken steps to tackle the issue of sugary drinks as well
Brunei's sugary drink tax, which took effect from April this year, imposes a fee of 4 Brunei dollars (RM12) per 10 litres for drinks with a sugar content of 6g (or more) per 100ml.
This means that a can of soft drink costs roughly 13 cents more.
Following Brunei's move, the Philippines recently introduced a bill that aims to increase a tax on sweetened drinks.
Meanwhile, the president of Consumers’ Association of Subang and Shah Alam (Cassa) said Malaysia should step up its effort in enforcing curbs on sugar intake
“It is sad this is continuing to happen in the year 2017, despite fast advancing technology and cross border sharing of information between nations.
The information is there but Malaysia is slow in taking action. Those responsible for upholding Malaysian consumers’ healthcare are not doing their job well enough," Cassa president Dr Jacob George told FMT.
In Malaysia, statistics have shown that about 3.5 million or 17.5% of citizens aged 18 years and above have diabetes
"In 2011, there were 15.2% diabetic patients compared with 11.6 per cent in 2006... showing an increase in the number of cases each year," Deputy Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahya said as quoted by The Star Online.