Soft drink makers talk their book on sugar

Soft drink makers have hit out at calls for Australia to follow the UK and implement a tax on sugary soft drinks, claiming that it would cost jobs and be ineffective in tackling obesity. From The Canberra Times:

Coca-Cola Amatil – which produces The Coca-Cola Company's products across Australia and the Asia-Pacific region and which the US company owns about 29 per cent of – told Fairfax Media taxing sugary drinks would not help shrink waistlines.  

"A tax on a select group of beverages, like the sugar levy announced in the UK … would be ineffective in combating obesity and could negatively impact the local beverage manufacturing sector and increase prices for consumers," a spokesman said...

"A sugar tax is not the solution to this complex problem. We know that there has been a 26 per cent decline in per capita sugar contribution, from carbonated soft drinks, from 1997 to 2011. Yet, over the same time obesity rates have increased.  

Australian Beverages Council spokesman Geoff Parker warned that following Britain's lead could lead to job losses across Australia's non-alcoholic drinks manufacturing sector, which employs about 46,000 people.

It's worth taking a step back and considering the data on sugar consumption, as well as where it comes from. And in this respect there is no better source than Credit Suisse's October 2013 report entitled Sugar: Consumption at a crossroads.

The key findings of this report were that:

1) Australia has one of the highest sugar consumption rates, along with the USA, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico. These countries each clock in at more than double the world’s average sugar consumption.


2) 43% of added sugar intake in the USA comes from sweetened beverages.

3) Australia is one of the most obese nations on earth:




4) There is a direct link between sugar consumption and soaring health costs, with over 86% of doctors from around the world agreeing that sugar is linked to the development of obesity, type II diabetes, and non-alcoholic fatty liver:

The costs of diabetes on our health systems is particularly high:

"Diabetes type II is now affecting close to 370 million people worldwide, with one in ten US adults affected by it. The costs to the global healthcare system are a staggering USD 470 billion according to the most recent estimates from the International Diabetes Federation, and represent over 10% of all healthcare costs. In the USA alone, the healthcare costs tied to diabetes type II are estimated at USD 140 billion, compared to USD 90 billion for tobacco-related healthcare costs. even more worrisome is that these numbers are growing at a rate of 4% a year, much faster than for obesity (1%–2%). By 2020, the annual cost to the healthcare system globally will reach USD 700 billion and the people affected will be close to 500 million..."

I noted on Friday that a tax on sugary drinks is a great start. However, it would miss the many other sources of concentrated sugar in Australians' diets. A classic example is fruit juices, which are in many cases as high in sugar as soft drinks:

Sugar is also being added to a whole bunch of processed foods, including those that are marketed as "healthy", such as low fat yogurts and cereals, many of which erroneously receive a high "health star rating" by the Australian Government.



These minor issues aside, the beverage industry's arguments against a "sugar tax" are weak, and the growing incidence of diabesity (diabetes and obesity), and its punitive cost on our nation's health system, demands a public policy response.

Jamie Oliver is right to tell Australians to "pull your finger out" and follow the UK's lead.

This article first appeared on MacroBusiness.com.au.

Should Australia levy a sugar tax?

Following the UK Government's decision to implement a tax on sugary soft drinks, celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver, has called on Australians to "pull your finger out" and do the same.

Oliver's call has been backed by the Obesity Policy Coalition (OPC) CEO, Jane Martin:

"Yes. We have high consumption, we have a problem with obesity and a tax on sugary drinks is something that should be implemented," she said... 

"People are concerned about sugar. Eighty-five per cent of people surveyed support a tax on sugary drinks if the money is used to support programs for childhood obesity," Ms Martin said.

"I think with our public, it shows that they understand that price is a way of influencing behaviour."

But as expected, the beverage industry has hit out at the idea:

"If the Government was to introduce a tax here, which we hope they'll err on the side of reason, it would be a slippery slope," the council's chief executive Geoff Parker said.

"The average Australian gets less than 2 per cent of their daily kilojoules from soft drinks, so simply to slap a tax on the 2 per cent whilst ignoring the 98 per cent — as well as the issue around the lack of physical activity — we think really is a bandaid solution for a far more complex problem."

Personally I believe that a "sugar tax" on soft drinks is a great idea, although it is not without problems.

First, what about fruit juices, which are in many cases as high or higher in sugar than soft drinks (see below graphics)?


Second, what about all of the so-called "healthy" low fat goods on the market that contain oodles of sugar, such as low fat yogurt?

Nevertheless, the growing incidence of "diabesity" (diabetes and obesity) is a growing issue in Australia, and a tax on sugary beverages is at least a start.

On a side note, I believe the whole food rating system in Australia to be a farce. How, for example, can natural greek yogurt receive only a 1.5 start health rating when sugary low fat yogurt receives a high rating? Similarly, how can butter - which has only three ingredients (cream, water and salt) - receive only a 0.5 star rating, when margarine created through an industrial process containing dozens of weird ingredients receives a high rating?

If the government wants to stop diabesity, the answer is fairly simple: encourage people to cut-out refined carbohydrates (including sugar) and replace them with unprocessed natural foods that are high in fat (including saturated fats). This way of eating keeps blood sugars low, lowers the body's insulin response, and prevents insulin resistance and diabetes (see below chart).



I have been following a low-refined carbohydrate, high fat natural foods diet for the past year and have never felt better. My body weight and fat (which was already in the healthy range) has dropped considerably, my visceral fat (i.e. fat around my organs) has shrunk to negligible levels, and my blood pressure has dropped. I have also taken my fitness (boxing) to a new level, such that I am now planning on undertaking my first amateur fight late this year (at age 38).

In short, implementing a sugar tax is a good start, but the public health focus really needs to be on getting people off processed foods and to stop fearing fat derived from natural sources, including saturated fat.

Below is the video from Catalyst that kicked my Low Carb, High Fat journey off:



And below are a list of great books that I have read on this topic:

THE BIG FAT SURPRISE: Why Butter, Meat & Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet - By Nina Teicholz

Good Calories, Bad Calories - By Gary Taubes

Why we get fat - By Gary Taubes

The Art & Science of Low Carbohydrate Living - By Jeff Volek and Stephen D Phinney

That Sugar Book (also a film) - By Damon Gameau

And my favourite podcast on the topic: The Livin La Vida Low Carb Show with Jimmy Moore and guests.

This article first appeared on MacroBusiness.com.au. You can read it here.