‘Healthy’ orange juice made to look sweeter than Coke

By Emily Smith

Date: 08/06/06

Under the new food nutrition and health claims regulation, a canned fruit drink could be labelled "high in sugar" even if it contained no more sugar than the cola next to it on the shelf.

This is because fruit and herb-based drinks are currently more likely to play up their vitamin content than for example Fanta or Sprite. But the new rules will mean any mention of the good nutrition in a sugary drink has to be balanced by a warning of the bad.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is about to decide what level of sugar will be defined as "high" under the new law, but soft drink companies have been unhappy for a long time.

"We were against the nutritional profiles [that will define high sugar levels] but our position was scrapped," says Alain Beaumont, secretary general of EU soft drinks company representatives UNESDA.

Beaumont concedes that the deal approved by member states and MEPs will be "a liveable compromise". But he says the new rules will be complicated and are likely to mislead shoppers.

For example, he points out that most soft drinks have similar sugar levels. "But think how it will look if a can of ice tea, which contains vitamin C, is on the shelf next to Fanta and cola but is the only one that has to say it is high in sugar, will that not hurt the consumer?"

Beaumont says the average soft drink contains between 7% and 11% of sugar. It is not yet known whether this range - or any part of it - will be considered "high".

The secretary-general thinks it should not. "We will of course follow the law, but the ideal would be if the sugar level in non-alcoholic drinks was considered 'normal' and not 'high'."

For UNESDA, "soft drinks are not a health issue", Beaumont says "Scientific evidence shows increasing or decreasing soft drink consumption has no effect on weight."

He warns that tough labelling laws for sugary soft drinks would "not be welcomed by the consumer".

It is possible, he says, that consumer resentment could even eventually lead to the law being repealed, "but that would take a long time".

Author explains why under the new food nutrition and health claims regulation, agreed in May 2006, a canned fruit drink could be labelled 'high in sugar' even if it contained no more sugar than the cola next to it on the shelf.
Article is part of a European Voice Special Survey, 'Nutrition and health claims'.

• Primary Source

European Commission: PreLex: COM(2003) 424, Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on nutrition and health claims made on foods, 16.7.03 http://ec.europa.eu/prelex/detail_dossier_real.cfm?CL=en&DosId=184390

European Commission: DG Health and Consumer Protection: Overview: Food and Feed Safety: Health & Nutrition Claims http://ec.europa.eu/comm/food/food/labellingnutrition/claims/index_en.htm

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