Opinion
Curbing fat, salt and sugar – the PepsiCo Health Report
PepsiCo’s 2010 UK Health Report keeps coming up in discussions about improving our diet. It’s easy to see why, because we’re given well-presented facts and evidence of sound action.
Despite having been involved in the debate about nutrition and health for more then 25 years, I was taken aback by some information quoted from the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey using 2008/09 data for adults aged 19–64.
- Cereal and cereal products including cakes and bread are responsible for 30% of sodium, 20% of added sugar and 18% of saturated fat intake.
- Meat and meat products account for 28% of sodium and 26% of saturated fat.
- Milk and milk products contribute 22% of saturated fat, 8% of sodium and 6% of added sugar.
- Carbonated and still soft drinks make up 17% of added sugar, alcoholic beverages 13% of added sugar and fruit juice 8% of added sugar.
I had thought milk would be higher and cereals lower. Alcohol and fruit juice are above what I imagine most people would expect, too.
What also impressed me about PepsiCo’s 2010 UK Health Report was how much the company has already done and when it started.
- 61% of its carbonated soft drink can and bottle sales were ‘no sugar’ in 2008.
- Tropicana and Copella fruit juice retail sales of £304m substantially outsold all Pepsi soft drinks at £257m in 2008.
- Low-calorie Pepsi Max and Diet Pepsi retail sales of £163m massively outsold regular Pepsi at £94m in 2008.
- All Pepsi advertising has been devoted to ‘no sugar’ variants since 2005.
- Advertising of carbonated soft drinks to children stopped in 2004.
- Vending of regular Pepsi in schools also ceased in 2004.
The full document records many more actions on snacks as well as targets for the future.
Richard Hall is chairman of Zenith International. You can also read his blog at BevBlog.
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Richard Hall is chairman of Zenith International.
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