In 2018, Australia’s leading non-alcoholic drink companies came together and pledged to reduce sugar across their portfolio of drinks sold by 25% by 2025 to help support a healthier Australia. This is the first time an industry has self-regulated in this way and they are on track to reach this goal. Find out more about the pledge and what it means for you.
Managing your sugar intake is important for everyone. While you don’t need to avoid sugar altogether, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends adults and children limit their daily intake of free sugars to less than 10% of total daily kilojoule consumption. That’s around 50 grams a day for an adult with a healthy body mass index.¹
Free sugars come from different sources including core foods such as 100% juice and in products like drinks, bread, baked goods, sauces, confectionary and other foods that have been sweetened by sugar.
Meanwhile, drinks companies in Australia are innovating to provide a wider range of choices for people who want to limit their sugar intake, boost their immunity or enhance their gut health. On the no-sugar side these choices now include soft drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks and kombuchas. There are more low- and- no sugar drinks available now than ever before, which has resulted in the sale of these drinks increasing by 23% over a 20 year period compared to sugar-sweetened drinks.²
In 2018 the Australian Beverages Council announced its Sugar Reduction Pledge, which saw Australia’s leading non-alcoholic drinks producers come together to commit to reduce sugar across their portfolios of drinks sold by 20% by 2025. Latest figures show that it’s already well on track with a more than 16% sugar reduction already seen from 2015 to the end of 2021.³
In 2022, the positive progress made by these companies prompted them to come together again and commit to raising the sugar reduction target to 25% by 2025.⁴
The pledge demonstrates the industry’s commitment to encouraging Australians to make healthier choices. We’re proudly leading sugar reduction across drinks portfolio and our industry’s products are the only category in your shopping trolley which has its own sugar reduction pledge aimed at providing Australians with more low- and no- sugar choices.
Reducing the sugar in drinks is not always as simple as it sounds. As well as reformulating existing drink recipes to remove sugar, drink manufacturers are taking additional measures to ensure there is a wide variety of low- and no- sugar drinks for Australians to choose from. These measures include:
The pledge to reduce sugar content applies to the following drink types manufactured by the pledgees:
The four largest drinks companies in Australia are members of the Australian Beverages Council and have all signed the Sugar Reduction Pledge. In addition, three other drinks manufacturers have signed on to support the four pledge members by further promoting their low-sugar and no-sugar drinks. Their commitment is to provide Australians with a wider range of low- and no-sugar drink choices, increase the range of smaller pack sizes and invest in the marketing of these products.
For more information on those companies supporting the pledge click here.
