(Hot news Today Wednesday 23 August 2017)
Soft drink producers have been cutting sugar from products ‘over the years’
SINGAPORE — Major soft drinks producers said yesterday that they have been cutting down their products’ sugar content over the years, and only a handful of products currently exceed the 12-per-cent sugar cap that the industry will commit to by 2020.
In 2005, for instance, homegrown firm Malaysia Dairy Industries reformulated Vitagen, rolling out a healthier option rebranded as Vitagen Less Sugar with half the sugar content of regular cultured-milk drinks, said its general manager Leong Yin Hoe.
That same year, it introduced its Marigold Peel Fresh No Sugar Added range of juices to satiate consumer demand for healthier options.
F&N Foods general manager Jennifer See said that over the last 12 years, the company has slashed the sugar content of its products by 29 per cent. Among other things, it rolled out healthier options including sugarfree, reduced-sugar and low-fat variants, as well as beverages with low Glycemic Index, which measures the impact of foods on blood sugar.
At Pokka, more than 40 per cent of its drinks contain 6 per cent or less sugar, Pokka International chief executive Alain Ong said.
“Our innovations in the last decade have been geared towards achieving this or at least having total sugar ... below 12 per cent,” he added.
Meanwhile, Yeo Hiap Seng has partnered the Health Promotion Board to devise products with less sugar since the board’s Healthier Choice initiative was rolled out in 2001, said its group chief executive Melvin Teo.
Right now, 60 per cent of its product volumes carry the Healthier Choice symbol. “We’ve made progress in reducing sugar in our existing beverage portfolio,” he said.
In 1985, Coca-Cola introduced its first cola beverage without sugar, Coca-Cola Light, to consumers here, said Mr Tony Del Rosario, the firm’s general manager for Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and Cambodia.
Now, 40 per cent of Coca-Cola Singapore’s 40 beverages are lower- or no-sugar options, including Zico coconut water. Nestle Singapore marketing communications and corporate afaffairs director Chow Phee Chat said the company has “for many years” invested in making its products healthier, such as by reducing sugar.
Mr Chow said: “We share the Government’s concern over rising health risks and increases in non-communicable diseases, including diabetes.”
The company had made a global commitment to cutting down added sugars in its products by 5 per cent by 2020.
Smaller players, such as Allswell Trading, also said they were exploring reducing sugar in their drinks.
Allswell’s commercial director Chia Bee Luan said three of its six Allswell Asian drinks are available in reducedsugar variants — Water Chestnut and Sugar Cane, Plum, as well as Plum and Passion Fruit — and have been approved for sale in primary and secondary schools since last year.
Mdm Chia said it was looking into a reduced-sugar variant for its Longan, Red Date and Goji Berry beverage, which is popular with women post-pregnancy.
Cutting sugar will allow the company to introduce the products to hospitals and clinics, she said. For the other beverages — Golden Pear with Aloe Vera and Starfruit — she acknowledged it was not an easy task.
“We’ve difficulties (bringing) the sugar down and yet still keeping the right taste of it, so we’re still exploring (that),” she said. KENNETH CHENG
Comparison of sugar levels
HIGH-SUGAR DRINKS
Kickapoo (12.8% sugar), A&W Sarsaparilla (12.4% sugar), Sinalco (12.3% sugar), Pokka Soursop Juice Drink (12.3% sugar),
Schweppes Bitter Lemon (12.1% sugar), Fanta Strawberry (12.1% sugar)
LESS SUGAR-LADEN DRINKS
Vitagen Less Sugar (8.5% sugar), Pokka Jasmine Green Tea (6% sugar), Pokka Oolong Tea (0% sugar), Coca-Cola Light (0% sugar), Sprite Zero (0% sugar), Schweppes Soda (0% sugar)