French turn off tap on unlimited sugary drinks

RESTAURANTS in France face prosecution if they offer unlimited fizzy drinks to customers in the latest Gallic crackdown on obesity.

France had already enforced a tax on sweet drinks in 2012.

Now a decree makes it illegal to sell unlimited amounts of drinks with sugar or sweetener at a fixed price — or give it away for free.

The ban, which came into force on Friday, applies to all soft-drink “fountains” in areas open to the public, including restaurants, fast-food chains, schools and holiday camps. It outlaws unlimited “flavoured fizzy and non-fizzy drinks, concentrated drinks like fruit syrups, drinks based on water, milk, cereal, vegetables or fruit”, as well as “sports and energy drinks, fruit nectar, vegetable nectar and similar products”.

Home improvement chain Ikea has removed drink fountains from its 33 centres in France, but other vendors, including fast-food chain Quick, waited until Friday to change their drink fountain set-up.

Five Guys, a newcomer in France, added microchips to cups so that when customers try to get a refill from its fountains, they automatically switch off.

Parliament approved the ban in April 2015 and enshrined it in law in January last year as part of a drive to reduce obesity.

A recent study suggested that half of French adults are overweight. But only 15% are technically obese.

Health Minister Marisol Touraine has championed the ban on unlimited refills, telling MPs: “This habit is common in other countries and is increasingly taking hold in France. I understand it can be attractive for young people who are offered unlimited sugary drinks, which contain an excessive amount of sugar or sweeteners.”

France started a campaign against obesity in 2004, when it limited school vending machines to selling fruit and water. In 2011 it banned tomato sauce from school cafeterias and only allowed chips once a week. A soda drink tax followed.

It appears the measures are working. The French consume fewer soft drinks per person than any other country in Western Europe bar Portugal, recent research suggested. — ©