Singapore will become the first country in the world to ban adverts for
high sugar drinks, as part of measures to reduce sugar intake from
sugar-sweetened beverages.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) will prohibit advertising of ‘the least
healthy SSBs’ on mass media channels. It will also introduce mandatory
front-of-pack nutrition labels on such beverages.
The new measures will cover most pre-packaged soft drinks: including
carbonated beverages, malted drinks, juice drinks and juices, cultured
milk and yogurt drinks, 3-in-1 or 2-in-1 instant beverages, and Asian
drinks (RTD beverages which are typically brewed from herbs, fruits or
flowers found in Asia, such as chrysanthemum tea, jasmine tea, bandung
and barley drink).
The MOH is also continuing to explore an excise duty or ban on high
sugar drinks. “We urge SSB manufacturers to consider reformulating their
drinks to contain less sugar even as we further study these measures,”
says the ministry.
On average, Singaporeans consume twelve teaspoons (around 60g) of sugar daily, with more than half of this coming from sugar-sweetened beverages.
Nutritional labelling
The measures follow a public consultation ran earlier this year, which
had also explored other measures such as an excise duty on manufacturers
and importers; or a ban on higher-sugar drinks.
The MOH found 84% of respondents supported mandatory front-of-pack
labels; while 71% supported regulations on advertising to reduce their
influence on high sugar beverage purchases.
The graded, colour-coded front-of-pack nutrient-summary label will be mandatory for ‘less healthy’ SSBs.
This will be determined by the nutritional quality of a drinks: with
sugar being the main (but not only) factor. Beverages which do not fall
into the ‘less healthy’ category will also be encouraged to use the
label voluntarily.
“This label aims to help consumers identify less healthy SSBs and make
more informed, healthier choices,” says the MOH. “It also encourages
manufacturers to reformulate SSB products.”
Advertising ban
Beverages with the poorest front-of-pack label grade will also be
subject to an advertising ban on all local mass media platforms:
including broadcast, print, out-of-home and online.
“This aims to reduce the influence of such advertisements on consumer preferences,” says the MOH.
The MOH believes the measures will encourage the industry to reformulate.
"Together, these two measures [nutritional labelling and advertising
restrictions] will provide consumers with nutrition information,
particularly on sugar content, to make informed choices, and reduce
influence from advertising, thus encouraging healthier choices and
spurring industry reformulation."
Further measures?
The MOH describes the two measures as the 'start' of its efforts to
tackle sugar intake, while it looks into more complex measures such as
an excise tax or full out ban on high sugar drinks.
While 65% of respondents in the public consultation supported an excise
duty to encourage reformulation, there were also concerns on increased
costs for both manufacturers and consumers. And although 48% of
respondents supported a ban on sales of higher sugar drinks, others
believed this would deprive consumers of choice.
"The industry expressed particularly strong views against the duty and
the ban, as they felt that these measures would be ineffective in
reducing sugar intake and adversely affect businesses," says the MOH in
its consultation results.
An excise duty on manufacturers and importers of sugar sweetened
beverages could take one of two forms: either a flat duty with the same
rate for all drinks over a threshold; or a tiered duty with a high rate
for higher sugar beverages. The majority of consultation respondents
(85%) favoured a tiered approach as it would provide greater incentive
to reduce the sugar in high sugar drinks.
Another option being considered by the MOH is a nationwide ban on high
sugar drinks. While some responded felt this would be the most effective
way to curb consumption, others felt it was too extreme and would
impact consumer choice. A compromise could be the ban of high sugar
drinks in certain settings, such as hospitals or schools, instead of a
nationwide ban.
The industry disagreed with a nationwide ban: particularly if it would
introduce a threshold more stringent than its existing 12% sugar level
pledge (Coca-Cola, F&N Foods, Malaysia Dairy Industries, Nestle,
PepsiCo, Pokka and Yeo Hiap Seng all pledged in 2017 to reduce sugar in
their products to 12% or less by 2020).
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