Sugary drinks would be banned and a tax slapped on all sugar-sweetened drinks under a proposal by Auckland University researcher Gerhard Sundborn, to be presented at the Public Health Association conference today.
In a first step to combat the obesity epidemic, Dr Sundborn said the prolific consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks should be tackled by the Government in a sugar-free strategy, with drinks regulated in the same way tobacco had been.
"These beverages are harmful and very addictive, and these companies look at getting our children hooked. They don't have any nutritional value in them at all, and a huge amount of sugar, caffeine and flavourings."
An end-game strategy could see the advertising and sale of sugar-free drinks regulated and replaced by healthier artificially sweetened drinks, or water and milk.
Keep yapping, 'health experts'. Let it all out. Only by hearing what you really think will the public realise that everything we've said about your endless, obsessive, puritanical crusade for lifestyle regulation is true.
