France has approved legislation that will restrict consumers’ access to self-service soft drinks dispensers, as the country struggles to deal with its obesity crisis.
The new rules will apply to any public dispensers in foodservice or retail locations that vend drinks containing added sugars or artificial sweeteners, regardless of whether refills are free or paid for. By removing consumers’ ability to help themselves to drinks, France’s National Assembly is hoping that it will be able to lower consumption and reduce the prevalence of obesity in the general population.
40% of French adults are overweight, while one in eight is classified as obese, according to figures from the International Association for the Study of Obesity reported by The Independent newspaper.
The exhaustive list of drinks to be covered by the legislation will be published at a later date, but water will be the only drink to remain “readily available at dispensers,” the British newspaper added. The bill must be approved by France’s upper house, the Senate, before it can be adopted as law.
The amendment stated: “Whether they are paid for or not, self-service fountains dispensing drinks with added sugars or artificial sweeteners are banned in all public places or those which are open to the public.”
A spokesperson for France’s National Health and Nutrition Programme added: “It is the role of the law to establish a framework to protect the population against a trade-upmanship that tends to make the ‘free’ surplus of food supply… an argument to attract consumers and encourage them to excessive consumption which can be harmful to health.”
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