Consumption of Sugary Beverages Has Decreased in Oz: Report

Australian beverages industry body, the Beverages Council, will be publishing a new study in the journal Nutrition and Dietetics through which it hopes to reveal that the per capita consumption of sugary beverages has fallen over the last few years despite rise in sweetened beverage sales. The study reveals that while the overall sales of sweetened beverages has risen by five percent in the last 14 years leading up to 2011, the rise in population means that the average consumption of sugar per person has fallen during the same period.

The study adds that the sales of sugar sweetened beverages has fallen by 11 percent while soft drink sales has fallen by 20 percent, though this has been compensated by sugar-sweetened energy drinks, mineral waters, iced teas and sport drinks.

Experts though have questioned the study, pointing out various inconsistencies such as exclusion of cordial, fruit drinks or milk based drinks which contain high levels of sugar. Says Kieron Rooney, nutritionist at the University of Sydney, “It asks readers to focus on a steeply declining line which is for sugar from carbonated beverages only. Great. So we are just getting less sugar from them. But we have made up for that by choosing other sugar drinks, which the graph does not plot.”

Source-Medindia