SUGAR AND SOFT DRINKS
Some stark new guidelines have been issued by the American Heart Association in response to justified concerns about the advance of obesity.
According to Reuters, it found that the main sources of added sugar in the US diet were:
It advised women not to consume more than 25 grams (100 calories) of added sugar per day and men to keep the amount below 37.5 grams (150 calories).
Since a can of Coke reportedly contains 140 calories from 39 grams and a can of Pepsi 150 calories from 41 grams, this not only puts pressure on consumers to cut back, it also implies soft drinks companies should reduce their standard serving sizes.
The message echoes parallel moves in the United Kingdom, where the Government-backed Food Standards Agency proposed smaller portion packs in July.
To be fair, soft drinks producers have constantly adapted their pack sizes according to changing demands and have invested heavily in promoting lighter or zero calorie versions.
A third insight of the past few days is the revelation by PepsiCo that all its UK Pepsi brand advertising for the past five years has been devoted to Pepsi Max and Diet Pepsi, with nothing at all spent on marketing regular Pepsi.
Salman Amin, the PepsiCo UK & Ireland President, was quoted in The Observer newspaper as stating: “The obesity challenge was years in the making and it will take years to change that. But you have to start somewhere and one of the places you can start is by saying : ‘You know what ? I’m going to stop promoting my full sugar products.’”
That’s quite a statement. All the more so, since he’s just been appointed as PepsiCo Inc Executive Vice President for Sales and Marketing.
Regular soft drinks | 33% |
Sugar and candy | 16% |
Cakes, cookies and pies | 13% |
Fruit drinks | 10% |
Dairy desserts | 9% |
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