Beverages sold at tea shops should be labeled to display their sugar and calorie content, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kao Chia-yu (高嘉瑜) said yesterday.
Tea-based drinks are popular in Taiwan, but have led to many “chubby kids” and place a severe burden on the national health system amid an increasing number of people with diabetes, cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome, she said.
“It is surprising to find out that teenagers in Taiwan on average drink one sweetened beverage per day, but they are not aware that drinking just one serving exceeds the daily recommended level for added sugars,” Kao told a news conference in Taipei.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
One 700ml cup of pearl milk tea with a full serving of sugar has a sugar content of 62g, which is equivalent to 248 calories, she said.
This exceeds the one-10th level recommended by health authorities, meaning that if a person requires a daily intake of 2,000 calories, the calories obtained from sugar should not exceed 200 calories, Kao said.
“Excessive intake of added sugars has been shown to result in obesity, as well as increased rates of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome and cancer,” she said.
In 2015, 1.4 million people in Taiwan were treated for diabetes, Kao said, adding that the number rose to 1.65 million last year.
Teenagers aged 13 to 15 on average consume 6.7 servings of sweetened beverages per week, with half of them having more than seven servings a week and 12.8 percent having one to two servings, while only 6.1 percent said they do not consume any sweetened beverages, she said, citing Health Promotion Administration data.
They were followed by teenagers aged 16 to 18, who on average consumed 6.6 servings of sweetened beverages per week, with 52.8 percent having more than seven servings a week and 10.3 percent having one to two servings, while 11.1 percent said they do not consume any sweetened beverages, she said.
The lowest consumption rate was among people aged 65 or over, who on average consumed 2.1 servings of sweetened beverages per week, Kao said.
Although 41.7 percent had more than seven servings per week, 60 percent of said they do not consume any sweetened beverage, she added.
Hsieh Rong-hong (謝榮鴻), a professor at Taipei Medical University’s School of Nutrition and Health Sciences, said the data were collected through surveys from 2013 to 2016, adding that his studies suggest that consumption rates have increased since then.
Some people have the habit of drinking cold beverages, such as milk tea or smoothies, in summer, but it would be better to drink water or eat fresh fruits, Hsieh said.
Kao said the law requires tea shops to inform their customers on sugar and calorie content of the drinks, but most businesses skirt the requirement by printing the figures on small posters in their stores.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS