Industry bid to counter proposed tax

THE beverage industry is cutting down sugar content in cold drink products in the face of the proposed sugar tax by the government.

In a newspaper advert, the Beverage Association of South Africa said they were “taking action” to reduce sugar in their products to counter the sugar tax.

The advert, headed “beating obesity”, claimed “even though the sugar-sweetened beverages were just 3% of the average South African’s daily calories, the beverage industry was working to reduce calories.

“This is four times more effective than a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) would be. All done with no negative impact on the economy or on jobs.”

Speaking to the Saturday Dispatch yesterday, BevSA’s general manager of operations, Tshepo Marumule, said they were in partnership with the department of health to implement the Healthy Food Options (HFO) initiative.

“In terms of these initiatives, industry has implemented reformulation to reduce sugar content, the introduction of smaller packs, and increase light and no-sugar options,” Marumule said.

“These interventions from industry will result in double the impact that government wants to achieve through the introduction of the SSB tax. Therefore, a tax will be counter-productive.”

He said the industry would protect and preserve existing jobs, encourage continued investment to grow the industry and GDP growth, and ultimately contribute to new job opportunities in the future.

“Should the tax go through, it will have the unintended consequence of job losses, discouragement of investment and increase barriers for new players to enter the industry.”

Marumule said all BevSA members fully supported the initiative, and all members had implemented reformulation, introduction of smaller packs, light and no-sugar products.

In contrast, Healthy Living Alliance co-coordinator Tracey Malawana said they supported the proposed sugar tax because of the effect of sugar on South Africans.

“South Africa is one of the top 10 consumers of sugary drinks in the world; we’re the most obese nation in Sub-Saharan Africa and diabetes is the biggest killer of women in our country,” Malawana said.

“This is a health crisis and we should use all the tools available to us to prevent disease and save lives.

“A 20% tax on sugary drinks is an essential first step to tackling obesity prevention in South Africa.”

East London-based diabetes doctor Sean Murray said the less sugar people consumed, the better.

“Sugar tax is good if it will change how people take sugar,” he said.

Murray said if an adult ate a sandwich of two slices of bread and drank a 500ml soft drink in a single meal, they would consume the equivalent of 16 teaspoons of sugar – more than double the recommended seven teaspoons a day. — siyat@