Sugary drinks designed for children’s school lunchboxes are to be withdrawn from sale at Tesco amid concern over childhood obesity.
From September, Tesco will stop selling pouches and cartons of high-sugar Ribena, Capri-Sun and Rubicon drinks that have been popular with parents, often marketed as “fun”, “perfect for on the go” and “your daily dose of Vitamin C”.
One 330ml pouch of Capri-Sun orange juice drink (priced at 89p) contains 33g of sugar, nearly double the daily amount recommended by the NHS for four- to six-year-olds (19g a day) and far above the 24g limit for seven- to 10-year-olds.
Tesco will continue to sell the “no added sugar” versions of the drinks as well as the larger bottles of the high-sugar drinks aimed at adults.
Supermarkets have come under intense pressure from campaign groups such as Action on Sugar, amid reports that one in four children in Britain are overweight or obese, the second highest level in the world.
Kawther Hashem, nutritionist and researcher for the Action on Sugar group, said: “Our advice is to eat the fruit, don’t drink the juice. Juice should be an occasional treat, not an ‘everyday’ drink. These processed drinks are laden with sugar and calories and do not have the nutritional benefits of fresh fruit and vegetables.
“This is great news from Tesco; it shows they are taking the issue of sugar in soft drinks seriously.
“We would very much like to see other sugary food and drink categories in Tesco do something similar and, more importantly, for all the other retailers to also take on this challenge right away.”
But Tesco’s move has provoked a backlash from some customers determined to keep buying sugary drinks – with the hashtag #saveourribena soon appearing on Twitter, and some accusing the supermarket of corporate hypocrisy.
The major supermarkets say they have already taken action on their own-brand high-sugar drinks. Tesco said it is reducing the sugar content of its own-brand soft drinks by 5% a year, claiming to have cut 4.5bn calories from its range of drinks. Sainsbury’s says it has removed 2,388 tonnes of sugar per year from its own-brand drinks.
But Tesco’s decision to remove some Capri-Sun and Ribena products is the first time action has been taken against branded suppliers of high-sugar drinks. Capri-Sun is distributed in the UK by Coca Cola Enterprises, while Ribena was sold by GlaxoSmithKline to Suntory of Japan in 2013.
A Tesco spokesperson said: “We want to help our customers make healthier choices and that’s why we have pledged to continue to cut sugar from the food and drink on our shelves. From September all the children’s juice drinks we sell will have no added sugar in them because we know it’ll make a positive difference to children’s health.”
