Over half of South African beverages will require warning labels for high sugar and/or artificial sweeteners

Abstract

Objective: To determine the proportion of commercially available beverages that may require warning labels for high sugar content and the presence of artificial sweeteners in South Africa.
Methods: This cross-sectional study analysed 603 non-alcoholic beverages (juices, soft drinks and energy drinks), identified from the top South African supermarkets (based on market share) with shopping websites. Data were collected from May to July 2024, and included ingredient lists and nutritional information per 100 ml. Products requiring warning labels for high sugar content and artificial sweeteners were identified based on the recently proposed labelling regulations (R. 3337).
Results: 21.4% of all beverages required a warning label for high sugar content, 49.8% for artificial sweeteners, and 58.7% for at least one of these criteria. Juices, despite having the highest energy (160 kJ/100 ml), glycaemic carbohydrates (9%) and sugar content (8.4%) compared with soft and energy drinks, were least likely to need warning labels for high sugar or artificial sweeteners (30% vs. 94.1% for soft drinks and 96.9% for energy drinks).
Conclusions: More than half of South African beverages are expected to require warning labels due to high sugar content and/or artificial sweeteners. The proposed regulations are likely to favour juices, which, despite their high sugar content, are less likely to require warning labels because the sugar is naturally occurring rather than added.
Recommendations: The South African government should include beverages with high natural sugar levels, like juices, in warning label criteria. This would ensure that consumers are adequately informed about the sugar content in all types of beverages.
Keywords: artificial sweeteners, energy drinks, front-of-pack labelling, juices, soft drinks, South Africa, sugar-sweetened beverages, sugar, warning labels