There's more to weaning people off sugar than charging soda tax

The report of government mulling tax on soda is timely. The proposal which was mooted by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir
Mohamad is timely as diabetes is a major public health concern in Malaysia, and the prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) has escalated to 20.8 percent in adults above the age of 30, affecting 2.8 million
individuals.

The burden of managing diabetes falls on primary and tertiary health care providers operating in various settings. Many countries, notably Latvia, has totally banned sweetened cordials like Sunquick, Ribena and etc two years ago in supermarkets, or anywhere else for that matter.

Fruit juices sold in tetrapacks are either unsweetened or contain only regulated amount of permitted sugar.

As proposed by Mahathir, soda tax would be an excellent way to control consumer behaviour.

But it’s not just about calories, ADHD, obesity, diabetes and dental caries. It’s also about weaning the public away from their sweet tooth (sugar addiction), which also means controlling the amount of artificial sweeteners in food and drinks so that the public gets used to tasting less sweetness.

Hence, there is also a psychological dimension to sugar that needs to be articulated and addressed.

Another concern is sweetened condensed milk, a mainstay of warungs and restaurants who use condensed milk as their shelf life is longer than unsweetened evaporated milk or creamer - without refrigeration.

Due to our hot climate, fresh milk and evaporated milk will spoil quickly without refrigeration. However, the sugar in sweetened condensed milk and creamers act as a preservative
and affords a longer shelf life.

This needs to be addressed in a holistic manner as we can’t afford to have half-baked public policies.

Step 1

Ban the importing and sale of sweetened cordials as in some countries like Latvia.

Step 2

Simultaneous with the ban, educate the public on the dangers of sugar. This is the carrot. Announce that in one year’s time the government will limit the quantity of sugar allowed in packaged and bottled drinks and beverages including powdered drink mixes such as Milo, Ovaltine and Horlicks.

Drinks that do not comply with this limit will be subject to the soda tax, and announce what the tax quantum is.

We need to give a year’s grace period for manufacturers to reformulate their recipes.

Step 3 (a year later)

Implement the soda tax and announce that it will be doubled in a year’s time for drinks that do exceed the mandated amount of sugar.

Step 4

Simultaneous to Step 2, launch another public awareness campaign on the healthier options, giving consumers a choice - lead a healthier lifestyle or pay more.

Should the steps stated above are to be implemented in stages, I am very optimistic that there will be a drastic reduction in the prevalence of diabetes mellitus and dental caries among the population at large. Only through awareness and self realisation that we can achieve the goal.

A panel of scientific medical, dental and other experts should be consulted to decide on the amount or to save the trouble of re-inventing the whole, follow standards set by world-class best practices.

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DR NEDUNCHELIAN VENGU is a dental surgeon and managing director of My Dental International Sdn Bhd. - Mkini

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