The Taiwan Health Alliance yesterday urged the government to impose a sugar tax on drinks, after a survey it commissioned showed the vast majority of respondents would change their consumption habits, provided they are given proper warnings and incentives.
The food safety policies and reduced sugar intake poll conducted by the alliance via SurveyCake showed that 92.3 percent of respondents considered drinks with high sugar content to be unhealthy.
Despite this, more than 40 percent continue to consume sugary drinks more than three times per week, alliance director Wu Yu-chin (吳玉琴) said, suggesting that the government institute policies to increase prices for sugary drinks and lower prices for drinks without sugar.
Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times
Health Promotion Administration Deputy Director-General Chia Shu-li (賈淑麗) said that WHO recommends that the average sugar intake for adults be lower than 10 percent of total caloric intake, at 1,800 to 2,000 calories daily, or about 50g of sugar.
The amount is about equivalent to 1.5 bottles of Coca-Cola or two glasses of orange juice, she said.
However, the average sugar intake among Taiwanese is 17.3 percent of their total caloric intake, which, on top of candy and hand-shaken drinks such as bubble tea, means that the average sugar intake of Taiwanese far exceeds the WHO recommendation, she said.
About 50.8 percent of the population is overweight and the government should base policy decisions on poll results, Chia said.
About 73.8 percent of respondents to the survey supported levying sugar taxes, Wu said.
National Taiwan University Hospital Department of Dietetics director Chen Pei-hung (陳珮蓉) said that excessive sugar intake was closely linked to obesity, metabolic syndromes, cardiovascular disease and possibly cancer.
Half of the world’s population lives in areas that levy sugar taxes, and Taiwan should take note of this, Chen said.
The report also showed that 43.4 percent of respondents were unhappy with the government’s handling of food safety over the past year, with 34.5 percent stating that food safety should focus on the source, while 23.3 percent said that more inspections should be conducted.
The alliance urged the government to improve its implementation of food safety policies, step up inspection of food sources, step up labeling for high-sugar, high-sodium and high-calorie products, implement incentives for people to choose low-to-zero-sugar drinks, and to mull sugar taxes, Wu said.
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