Earlier this month, the Nation reported that nine major industry players, in collaboration with the Department of Health in Thailand, have agreed to introduce a new standard for sweetness in the drinks they serve.
Under the initiative, drinks served to customers at restaurants or cafés will now contain only 50% of sugar compared with the original recipe.
The obective is to reduce the consumption of sugar to lower the risks of non-communicable diseases and obesity.
Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy CEO Azrul Khalib said the government currently has a “number of tools” to help it reduce sugar consumption, including taxes, subsidies, incentives, penalties and bans.
“(However, the impact of) bans and penalties by themselves are limited and it is almost impossible to tell people to stop taking sugar. Getting industries to reduce the sugar content used in their products would have a stronger and more sustainable impact,” he told FMT.
In 2019 Malaysia introduced an excise duty of 40 sen per litre on all ready-to-drink packaged beverages containing more than 5g of sugar per 100ml. The tax was raised to 50 sen per litre on Jan 1, 2024, and then to 90 sen per litre on Jan 1, 2025.
However, Azrul said, the sugar sweetened beverages (SSB) tax does not have an impact on made-to-order servings at cafes, restaurants, or food stalls that serve “teh tarik”, “ais kacang”, and “sirap bandung”.
And while the tax has an impact on the consumption habits of younger people who have lower purchasing power, it does not have such an effect on older consumers.
“The SSB tax has limited impact or ability to change consumption habits. The key is to levy a tax on sugar itself or to remove its subsidy,” he added.
Health activist Chan Li Jin described Thailand’s initiative as a “bold and necessary step” to tackle non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
She noted that Malaysians have been “taste-trained” to favour high-sugar, high-calorie food and beverage options.
Such drinks, she said, are especially popular among young consumers.
“Sweetness is an acquired taste. By cutting sugar levels by 50%, particularly in drinks favoured by youngsters, Thailand is attempting to retrain the palate of the population to prefer options that are not as sweet,” she told FMT.
Chan said with one in five Malaysians living with diabetes and nearly half undiagnosed, the government must act decisively.
“When people cannot make the right choices for their health, the government must step in,” she said, adding that while it might take a generation to see full results, it was a positive start.