Cut size of juice cartons to tackle child obesity, say health chiefs

CARTONS of fruit juice and smoothie drinks may have to be made smaller to tackle childhood obesity, health chiefs have warned.

Public Health England (PHE) is to urge fruit juice and smoothie manufacturers to reduce the size of the cartons in order to cut the amount of sugar being consumed with each drink.

The move would be part of the Government’s strategy to combat obesity in children and adults by reducing the amount of sugar contained in prepackaged food and drink.

The strategy is designed to reduce the amount of sugar in milkshakes, flavoured coffees, yogurt drinks, juices and smoothies.

PHE, which has been meeting industry bodies and manufacturers to discuss ways of tackling the problem, says this could be achieved by either reducing the actual amount of sugar contained in the drink, or by cutting the size of the carton or bottle it comes in. Dr Alison Tedstone, PHE’s chief nutri- tionist, has told the industry that urgent action is needed, with a third of children now leaving primary school overweight or obese and a similar proportion suffering from tooth decay.

She told industry representatives that “the amount of sugar in some milkshakes and coffee drinks is indefensible”. Children currently consume around triple the recommended daily sugar intake – five to seven teaspoons for children aged two to 11 – with juice alone accounting for more than 10 per cent of the sugar consumed by children and young people every day.

PHE is particularly concerned that many people are drinking entire cartons of juice intended for sharing – thereby massively daily sugar intake.

Dr Tedstone said: “We all know there are some products that are marketed to be shared, but are not really consumed that way.”

In March PHE proposed a voluntary limit of 120 kilocalories (kcal) allowed in an individual yogurt carton, with a maximum of 175kcal.

“I could envisage this also going across fruit juices. That would be across all products, not just for children,” Dr Tedstone told The Grocer magazine.

The Action on Sugar campaign group has already called for a ban on all fruit juice and smoothie products of more than 150ml.

Researchers at the University of Liverpool last year found that almost half of the 203 fruit juices, fruit drinks and smoothies stocked by seven major supermarkets – Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer, Waitrose, the Co-op and Morrisons – contained the entire recommended daily intake of sugar for under-sixes of nearly five teaspoons. increasing their