Is sugar the new tobacco? Yes!....unless we do more

Ian Quinn's article in The Grocer, "FDF head calls out NHS boss over sugar claims" [subscription may be required] covers the Food and Drink Federation's response to a comment NHS head Simon Stevens' made in a BBC interview over the weekend in which he suggested the obesity crisis was the "new smoking".

Soft Drink and Tobacco parallels

As someone who’s worked in both the soft drink and tobacco industries, I empathise with Simon Stevens linking obesity with smoking. After sitting through thousands of interviews with smokers up and down the country talking about obstacles to quitting tobacco etc. – and observing numerous food & drink consumer research before and since then – it’s clear that there are huge parallels between triggers of the emerging obesity crisis and smoking e.g.

pitched initially as “ cool” and a “ lifestyle/generational choice” (especially soft drinks) but later becoming hard to shake off owing to physical addiction, habitual consumption linked to ocassion advertising (mealtime, sports), and the lack of real alternatives.

Whether you like them or not, smoking prevalence only moved off the stubborn 20% level when electronic cigarettes became available in local stores. They are certainly not perfect devices but present a real alternative for folks looking for a safer daily boost and/or to help them quit. (They've even won the "endorsement" of ASH and other anti-tobacco industry advocates). 

Old soft drink habits die hard 

Ian Wright, new FDF DG, has no choice but defend his constituents’ position. Its fair to say that members have been trying to do their bit through "Responsibility Deal" pledges. Just recently, Tesco further committed to reducing the amount of added sugar in its own-label soft drinks by 5% incrementally every year and Coca-Cola Enterprise announced a 10% calorie cut by 2020.

But is it enough to placate lobby groups and consumers' concerns? Given the reality that Tesco stores account for ~ 30% of all soft drink sales ("branded" or otherwise) and Coke's headline number is actually set against a 2010 baseline, some would say there is room still for manufacturers to reformulate to bring down sugar levels etc.  

Regardless of industry efforts to develop more natural, healthier soft drinks, there is another - as important - issue that is not being dealt with through the "Responsibility Deal" process. To many, the industry appears to be dragging its feet on fixing the "in-store" shelf so that better for you and reasonably priced soft drinks are more readily available and in prominent positions. Ian needs only to step outside of WC2 and visit a few local shops to see what’s actually on shelf today to realise there is still alot to be done. 

I counted ~200 facings for soft drinks in my local shop’s chiller this morning (West London) but only 10% of them were regular bottled waters or low calorie / low sugar drinks. 10%, Ian! 10%  

How can habits change when the industry does not ensure healthier, reasonably priced alternatives are readily available on the shelf? 

More must be done to avoid sugar taxes and display bans!

Retailers both big and small need to stop hiding behind "sorry I can't list X healthier drink because I need to ensure availability of Coke" and fix their shelves so that consumers have a real choice! Otherwise, the food & drink industry will sleep walk their way into sugar taxes and display bans (we all agree that's not a good outcome for consumers or employees).

Whether the "Responsibility Deal" stays or goes.....a visit to any local store shows that the job is far from done! Isn't it time that stakeholders put aside vested interests and show true leadership in helping to solve the obesity crisis? Remember, it is the consumer we ultimately serve.They deserve better.

Photo credit: The Vancover Sun, Sept 2014, file photo.