Tesco commits to 5% sugar reduction in own label food and drinks

By Nathan Gray

- Last updated on GMT

Tesco commits to 5% sugar reduction in own label food and drinks

Related tags Soft drinks Retailing

UK-based retail giant Tesco is the first to commit to reducing added sugars by 5% incrementally a year in all own label soft drinks, says Action on Sugar.

Tesco is the first major retailer to commit to a major sugar reduction programme, after the supermarket chain announced a 5% year on year, open ended reduction in sugar across its entire sugary soft drinks range. 

The supermarket chain has committed to an incremental, unobtrusive, reformulation strategy on soft drinks to include:

  1. The removal of all added sugar from the “Kids” category in, including branded and own label products.
  2. The reformulation of Tesco own label full sugar products by 5% every year on-going
  3. Start to move towards removing all added sugar from mainstream squash (added sugar has already been removed from own label and Robinsons)
  4. A focus on water, squash and flavoured water to promote healthier lives

“Incremental, unobtrusive reformulation is the key way of reducing calories across all sweetened drinks – merely having the option of ‘diet’ or ‘no sugar’ products does not work, particularly for the most socially deprived.  We are delighted that Tesco has agreed that this is exactly the sort of action that we need, and all other retailers must follow suit,” ​commented Professor Graham MacGregor, Chairman of Action on Sugar, Queen Mary University of London.

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