Food and beverage manufacturers continued to promote healthier choices, and achieved sales success, during the indulgent Chinese New Year festive season, according to international grocery research Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD) Asia.
China’s National Health Commission (NHC) has ordered primary, secondary schools, and childcare centres to limit the sales of food and beverage loaded with sugar.
Fraser and Neave Holdings Bhd (F&N) is hoping to speed up its healthy product innovations instead of resorting to increasing its product prices in order to alleviate the impact of Malaysia’s upcoming sugar tax, said its chief executive.
As the debate surrounding the possibility of a sugar tax in New Zealand intensifies, industry groups stand firmly against it, whereas some academics and consumers are gunning for it. Here we provide the lowdown on the current state of the debate.
As governments across the world grapple with the problem of expanding waistlines, a tax on drinks containing sugar continues to be thrust into public discourse and promoted as a key strategy to tackle the complex and costly problem of obesity, writes...
Celebrity UK chef Jamie Oliver has filmed a video directed at New Zealand Health Minister David Clark, imploring him to ‘listen to the people’ and get a sugar tax passed in the country.
By Rachel Arthur, Elaine Watson, Stephen Daniells, Gary Scattergood, Niamh Michail
Sugar taxes continue to hit the headlines, but the introduction of new legislation is never straight-forward. We take a look at 20 countries around the globe where sugar taxes have been in the news.
Leaders of the Philippines sugar industry are requesting that the government completely suspend the second phase implementation of the controversial Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law in view of the country’s high inflation rate.
Malaysia will impose an excise sugar tax on sugar-sweetened beverages starting April 1 2019, in an effort to combat rising overweight and obesity levels in the country - but experts are less than optimistic about its efficacy.
Fiscal incentives like a sugar tax and lower-sugar subsidies to reduce sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption are unlikely to be effective, a new Singapore study reveals.
Coca-Cola Australia has emphasised that its latest release, the coffee-cola combination Batch Blends, is designed for the 'adult palate', and is fully in line with its sugar reduction health targets.
A 'graded sugar tax model' has been suggested by an expert analyst as an alternative to just soda or sugar taxes in Malaysia's battle against sugar over-consumption.
Academics in Australia have called into question the lack of regulation for soft drink firms which market to youngsters via social media, arguing that "many young people aged below 13 years are being exposed to a large amount of unhealthy food and...
The Australian sugar industry's push for greater sustainability and traceability has received a shot in the arm, with its Coalition Government providing an A$2.25m grant to fund the Sustainable Sugar Project.
Following the Australian beverage industry's recent commitment to a 20% sugar reduction across its portfolio by 2025, New Zealand's drinks sector says it is open to similar measures.
Singapore’s Health Promotion Board (HPB) said it is drawing up guidelines for food manufacturers and restaurants to reduce the amount of sugar in their food products.
China is set to be home to 200 'sugar reduction' retail stores and an industry park, after ingredient firm Bayn signed a joint venture agreement with real estate outfit Huahe International.
Edible insects, halal rules, sugar taxes and the ever-controversial issue of GM foods shared the spoils in our top five most-read policy stories of 2017.
Bottled water volume sales are seeing continued strong growth, driven by consumers' search for alternatives to sugary drinks. And these trends are benefiting the flavored water category, according to Comax Flavors.
Singapore’s biggest beverage brand has begun reformulating its drinks to reduce their sugar content, and has called on the government to take wider action against lifestyle diseases.
Major drinks companies in Singapore - including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Nestlé - have agreed to limit the sugar content of their drinks, committing to a maximum sugar content of 12% in all their drinks by 2020.
Thailand will phase in a sugar tax over six years in a bid to help drinks manufacturers to lower their sugar content and take advantage of a simultaneous lowering of tax on sugar-free beverages.
Thailand’s biggest sugar manufacturer has filed a legal application with financial regulators to raise money for the expansion of its core sugar business, with proceeds to be used to build the company’s first new sugar refining factory.
The body’s natural eating rhythms compensate for the calories reduced by using natural or artificial non-nutritive sweeteners, researchers have found after comparing the habits of people taking four different types of sweetener, including sugar.
Ingredion is introducing its range of Sweetis sweeteners, which has been designed to create sucrose-like taste profiles and the mouthfeel of sugar, across Asia-Pacific.
One of the leading fruit companies in the Far East has set out to expand in Southeast Asia by opening new offices in Thailand and India and signing an exclusive supply deal.
Chinese sucralose prices have been rising sharply this year due to supply restrictions. According to Mintec, the commodities analyst, they increased 47% month on month in June, and 56% from April to May.
Shanghai authorities have shut down four food-delivery platforms that sell home made food after finding their unlicensed home kitchens to be potentially unsafe.
The Diabetes Association of Thailand has taken a shocking approach in its latest awareness campaign by using images of confectionery to create a frightful picture of infections and festering wounds on limbs.
Japanese researchers have devised a method to make one of the sweetest natural sweeteners even sweeter in a development that will be seen as a breakthrough at a time when consumers are moving away from sugar.
By Katherine Rich, chief executive of the New Zealand Food and Grocery Council
In January, the much respected British Medical Journal published a paper which aimed to test the success of the Mexican sugar excise tax, which had been levied on sugar-sweetened drinks.
While sugar-sweetened beverages have seen a decrease in popularity in regions such as North America and Western Europe, they are on the rise in most low- and middle-income countries. But will the backlash against sugar eventually shape the market in these...
A consumer watchdog has called on the foodservice industry to do more to tackle sugar consumption after a study found that one-third of the drinks served in Hong Kong outlets were high in sugar.
“Artificial sweeteners may boost diabetes risk” ran the headline in the New York Times last month – but experts have said to take recent research with a pinch of salt.
A joint project between researchers in Queensland and China to derive sugars from sorghum could result in extraordinary social, economic and environmental benefits for future generations.
The natural sweetness and antioxidant properties of dates could add value to dairy, pastry and meat products, and would reduce waste of a fruit that was not being eaten fresh, Spanish researchers say.
Egypt's Al Nouran Sugar has secured US$357m in financing for a new sugar facility which will create 3,000 new jobs and produce 588,000 tonnes of sugar a year when operational.
Health groups in Australia have hit out at fast food chains that they say are “cashing in” by promoting seductively cheap frozen drinks that in many cases contain what they call “surprisingly large” amounts of added sugar.
Rising demand in Asia and Africa will drive significant growth in global sugar consumption, according to a new Rabobank report. The report, Global Sugar to 2021, projects global sugar consumption to grow from 166 million tons to 203 million tons in raw...
Now some time has passed since the Rangarajan Committee revealed its recommendations to remove restrictions on the sugar sector, industry groups have begun to put pressure on the government to accept or reject its findings.
