A poll conducted by the Taipei Department of Health showed a difference in preferences for hand-shaken drinks between the north and south due to variations in weather and temperature.
The poll, conducted by the department and chain drink store Chingshin, questioned more than 300 stores across Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung.
Food and Drug Division director Wang Ming-li (王明理) on Wednesday said that 59.5 percent of those polled in the north favored less-sweet options, compared with 55.3 percent in the south, while about 79 percent of southerners preferred iced drinks compared with 54.4 percent in the north.
Photo: Chang Yi-chen, Taipei Times
Green tea is commonly accepted across both regions, Wang said.
Following Taipei’s efforts to introduce calorie information for drinks, the poll found that the popularity of unsweetened drinks has risen from 28.7 percent in 2014 to 35.8 percent last year, Wang said.
In comparison, the number of people who choose fully sweetened drinks have dropped from 7.6 percent to 3.8 percent during the same period, Wang said.
Department Director Huang Shih-chieh (黃世傑) said the city government has been making an effort to label drinks’ caloric content since 2011.
So far, a total of 3,006 stores have participated, labeling calories for 3,544 items and 2,399 source materials, Huang said.
In addition, after inspecting 398 products last year, the department found that 5 percent of ice cube manufacturers in Taipei failed to meet health standards, and the city recommends ordering drinks without ice for safety reasons, Wang said.
According to the department, the nation’s hand-shaken drinks market is estimated to be worth NT$80 billion (US$2.6 billion) annually, with about 1.2 billion cups sold per year.
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