Article
Portion Control: A practical strategy to reduce sugar in drinks
Food and Nutrition
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There is a gradual rise in public health concerns due to high sugar consumption & demand for reduced sugar options. Policy-based approaches such as portion control contribute to limiting sugar consumption. Brand owners focus on strategies such as reducing portion size to meet the regulatory requirements. This article focuses on controlling sugar consumption via a portion control approach.
Introduction to sugar reduction
The consumption of sugary drinks is rising dramatically due to widespread urbanization and beverage marketing. Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) or “soft” drinks include soda, pop, cola, tonic, fruit punch, lemonade (with other ‘ades,’) sweetened powdered drinks, and performance improving drinks such as sports and energy drinks. These drinks include added sugar or sweeteners such as high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), sucrose, and fruit juice concentrates. As a result, they are among the largest sources of calories and added sugar in the U.S. and other countries.
Need to reduce sugar in products
High sugar consumption and rising public health concerns resulted in implementing policies to reduce sugar in the products. Exhibit 1 lists the factors driving reduced sugar products in the market, including raising public health issues linked to sugar consumption, sugar economy, supply and pricing, agricultural policies, and consumer demand.
Currently used sugar reduction strategies
An average can of sweetened drink provides about 150 calories; added sugar accounts for over 80% of these calories. There is sufficient clinical evidence that limiting sugar consumption can reduce obesity and obesity-related diseases. Although consumption of sugar-based drinks in the U.S. has decreased dramatically, about 50% of the population continues to consume sugar-based beverages that account for the following:
- 1 in every four people consume at least 200 calories from sugar-based drinks
- 5% of the population gain about 567 calories, equivalent to four cans of soda
These intake levels exceed dietary recommendations for consuming no more than 10% of total daily calories from added sugar.
In 2015, WHO introduced a guideline recommending reducing free sugar intake to under 10 percent to reduce the risk of unhealthy weight gain and dental caries at all stages of life. This guidance equals a maximum of 50 g of sugar per day (at a calorie intake of 2,000 kcal) for an average adult. Governments in different countries and product manufacturers have adopted various strategies to meet the recommended levels of sugar intake, as depicted in exhibit 2 and 3.
Regulations that help limit the sugar consumption
Other Regulatory Developments
Public Health England (PHE) announced a 3% sugar reduction in supermarket, café, and restaurant products over the last three years. The PHE provided a detailed assessment report for 2015 to 2019 on the food industry’s progress towards 20% reduction targets by 2020 for the sugar reduction program. This program encouraged all food industry sectors to reduce sugar by 20% in products contributing to the highest sugar intake among children up to 18 years.
Strategies adopted by brand owners
Rising healthcare costs have led public authorities to suggest policies and implement guidelines reducing sugar in commercial products such as beverages, confections, and other processed foods. Driven by market and financial considerations, manufacturers have employed approaches different than reformulations and substitutions, which focus on portion control as depicted in exhibit 3.
Sugar content in different drinks is high, and portion control emerges as one of the many solutions to limit sugar consumption. Exhibit 4 illustrates the amount of sugar present in 600ml of different sugar-based drinks.
Portion control strategy
The sugar tax/levy rule does not ban sugary drinks or limit the number of sugary drinks a customer can buy but sets a cap on the containers’ size in which food service establishments can serve sugary drinks. According to the rule, food service establishments cannot sell, offer or provide sugary drinks in cups or containers containing more than 16 ounces. Players such as Coca-Cola have introduced smaller packs with higher costs and have adopted strategies to leverage consumer awareness regarding sugar consumption and portion control to limit sugar consumption.
In 2013, Coca-cola launched an “anti-obesity” advertisement that recognizes sweetened soda and other products contributing to obesity. Additionally, Coca-Cola advertised its calorie-free drinks and encouraged consumers to make conscious consumption decisions. Exhibit 5 depicts similar approaches/initiatives and their impact on the sugar drinks consumption trend.
References
- Consumption of sugar drinks in the United States, 2005-2008
- Changes in Consumption of Sugary Beverages and Artificially Sweetened Beverages and Subsequent Risk of Type 2 Diabetes: Results from Three Large Prospective U.S. Cohorts of Women and Men
- Sugary Drinks
- Food Politics, NYC
- WHO Guideline: Sugar intake
- FutureBridge Internal Database
- Company Websites
- Press Releases
- Government Databases & News Updates
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