Category Archives: Soft Drinks

Tax unhealthy foods to tackle obesity, say campaigners

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Health and children’s groups urge UK ministers to impose levies on products containing too much salt or sugar

Dozens of health and children’s groups have urged ministers to tackle obesity by imposing taxes on foods containing too much salt or sugar.

New levies based on the sugar tax on soft drinks would make it easier for consumers to eat more healthily by forcing food manufacturers to reformulate their products, they claim.

74% think food firms are not honest about the health impact of their products.

61% worry about the amount of sugar and saturated fat in what they eat.

Only 13% believe producers will make their food more nutritious without government intervention.

72% worry about high levels of processing used in food production.

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Doctors warn Australia risks being ‘odd one out’ if it resists sugar tax on soft drinks

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Exclusive: Peak medical body claims Australia could collect $814m annually through a sugar tax, which it says 85 other countries have already implemented

The federal government is at risk of being the “odd one out” internationally if it resists implementing a tax on sugary soft drinks, the Australian Medical Association says, reigniting its calls for a 16 cent levy for every can in an attempt to slash obesity cases and raise funds for public health campaigns.

The AMA said Australia could collect $814m annually by implementing a sugar tax on fizzy drinks, a move it says 85 jurisdictions around the world have already taken.

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‘Hydration is a simple thing’: has the quest to improve water actually worked?

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From alkaline waters to beauty elixirs, added oxygen and probiotics, many brands claim they have ‘enhanced’ water – but what do the experts think?

Today, when I woke up, I made myself a cup of warm lemon water. After lunch I dropped a Berocca into a glass to power me through the afternoon haze. Running errands I considered treating myself to a Coke but opted instead for an expensive, vegetable-tasting water.

H2O classic may be a prerequisite to all known forms of life, but countless brands insist they have found ways to “improve” water. From a business standpoint, it’s working. Industry researchers IbisWorld estimate Australia’s “functional beverage” industry is worth $445.6m; and as people become more health conscious, the growth of the sector is outpacing the economy overall.

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The real thing: my battle to beat a 27-year Diet Coke addiction

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I have been obsessed with the sugar-free soda since I was four, spending £500 a year on up to seven cans a day. This is what happened when I tried to quit

The greatest love story of my life has been with a carbonated beverage.

I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t addicted to Diet Coke. Some memories: I am sitting at the kitchen table at my grandmother’s house in northern Cyprus, screaming because my mother won’t refill my yellow-and-green patterned glass. I am four or five years old. My grandmother looks on, disturbed, as I wail disconsolately. My mother does not give in.

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Soft drinks, including sugar-free, linked to increased risk of early death

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Drink more water, say experts as they argue study proves need for curbs on consumption

People who regularly consume soft drinks have a higher risk of an early death, researchers have found, with the trend seen for both sugared and artificially sweetened drinks.

While experts say the study cannot prove soft drinks are a driver of an increased risk of death, they say the work – which is the largest study of its kind – supports recent public health efforts to reduce consumption of soft drinks, such as the UK’s sugar tax.

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Wait, What? Matthews Compares Republicans to Jonestown Followers, North Korean Soldiers

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A day after MSNBC's Hardball host Chris Matthews called out President Trump for "coming out like a kiss butt" in dealing with North Korea's Kim Jong-un, the liberal pundit reveled on Wednesday in comparing Republicans to North Korean soldiers and comments by Tennessee Republican Senator Bob Corker that GOPers are part of a "cult" for enthusiastically backing President. Not surprisingly, Matthews seemed a little confused about whether to make the Republican comparison to those who committed mass suicide in Jonestown by first ruling at 7:21 p.m. Eastern that "Corker's not exactly a bomb thrower and he's not comparing this guy to James Jones and drinking the kool-aid and cults and that's pretty deep."