Fizzy drinks should be banned in schools according to a new poll
Drinks high in sugar are bad for our health, so much so that two thirds of people are supporting a ban on sugary drinks in all UK schools and academies.
The Populus poll, carried out for the BBC, found out that more than four out of 10 people would support a tax on sugary drinks. And 59% said warnings on packaging, like those on cigarettes, would encourage them to choose more healthily.
Government policy bans the sale of fizzy drinks, crisps and sweets in local authority-run schools, but leaves the decision of whether children can bring them into schools up to head teachers. But the poll proved that the majority of people in the UK want a harder approach.
Julian Cooper, Head of Food Science, AB Sugar comments on the research: “AB Sugar is supportive of measures that help people better manage their diet, including reformulating products whereby it reduces the total calorie content. However, introducing fixed limits on the amount of sugar allowed in certain foods is not a straight forward proposition. Sugars occur naturally in a lot of different types of food and drink. Limiting the amount of sugars could lead to, for example, having to reduce the number of tomatoes in a tomato pasta sauce, where over 90% of the sugars come from tomatoes.
“Crucially, there is no unique, “one size fits all” replacement for the sugar that could be used in products. But sugar doesn’t just make foods sweeter, it has many different functions, including structure, texture, flavour and preservation. In fact, reducing the amount of sugar in food can lead to an increase in calories if we’re not careful.
“When sugar is removed, fat becomes a higher proportion of the product per 100g as sugar is four calories per gram, as opposed to fat at nine calories per gram. Therefore reformulation could actually result in an increase in calories.
“Instead, we believe it is important to focus on total calories rather than a single ingredient.”