Introduction Sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) are a leading risk factor for many non-communicable diseases (NCDs) especially obesity, type II diabetes and tooth decay. Over the past decade, the consumption of sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) has dramatically increased both globally and in New Zealand and the Pacifi c. Besides having no nutritional value, SSBs displace healthier beverage options...

Acid beverage floc (ABF), a flocculated turbid material that can form in sugar-sweetened, acidified, carbonated beverages after several days standing, is a customer problem to bever­ age bottlers and their suppliers of sugar. ABF from beet sugar has been reported to be caused by a saponin from the beet plant, and recent work has shown the presence of several sa­ ponins in sugarbeet. ABF from ca...

OBJECTIVES To investigate whether sweetened beverage consumption is associated with risk of heart failure (HF) in a large prospective population-based study of men. METHODS AND RESULTS A population-based cohort comprising 42,400 men, 45-79 years of age, was followed from 1998 through 2010. Sweetened beverage consumption was assessed by utilising a food frequency questionnaire. Incident events...

The growing evidence on the association between consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, obesity and other chronic diseases has highlighted the need to implement policy actions that go beyond programs exclusively focused on individual responsibility. In order to protect their commercial goals in Latin America, the sugar-sweetened beverage industry practices intense lobbying at high government ...

OBJECTIVE A systematic literature review was conducted to determine whether sweetened beverage intake increases the risk for obesity, and the extent to which it has contributed to recent increases in energy intake and adiposity in the USA. DESIGN The search included studies published between 1970 and 2010 that examined secular trends, mechanisms, observational associations and intervention ou...

BACKGROUND Taxes on alcohol and tobacco have long been an important means of raising revenues for public spending in many countries but there is increasing interest in using taxes on these, and other unhealthy products, to achieve public health goals. We present a systematic review of the research on health taxes, and aim to generate insights into how such taxes can: (i) reduce consumption of t...

In light of research linking sugar-sweetened beverage consumption to obesity, theUSDepartment of Agriculture, theAmericanAcademyofPediatrics, andotherorganizations have formulated recommendations on healthy beverages. These guidelines consistently recommend limiting consumption of all calorie-containing liquids, except reduced-fatmilk,ofwhichpeople inmost agegroupsareencouragedtoconsume3cupsdai...