Fizzy-Drink Drive Concerns Thai Health Advocates

[webfact]

HEALTH

Fizzy-drink drive concerns health advocates

Duangkamon Sajirawattanakul,

Suriyan Panyawai,

Supinda Na Mahachai

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Intense competition in the carbonated-drink market has raised concerns among health experts that excessive consumption of sugary beverages will result in increased incidence of obesity and lifestyle-related diseases, especially among children.

They have urged the government to increase the tax on sugary beverages and to introduce measures to limit their consumption in schools.

The move follows the launch of massive campaigns by giant manufacturers of carbonated drinks in which more than a million cans of the stuff have been handed out for free to consumers across the country.

Health Department director-general Dr Jetsada Chokedamrongsuk said the campaigns would result in increased consumption of soft drinks, boosting the public's sugar intake - especially among children - and having an impact on public health.

"They give these carbonated soft drinks away free of charge to people, but the taste of this kind of beverage is addictive," he said.

Soft drinks cause obesity because of their high sugar content, which also leads to dental problems, the doctor said.

He acknowledged that the marketing blitzes had affected the activities of the department, which is trying to raise awareness among the public of the need to limit their daily sugar intake.

The Education Ministry is concerned that the give-aways will neutralise the effects of its campaign urging students not to drink carbonated soft drinks at school.

"Many schools across the country no longer allow students to drink carbonated beverages … because of the impact on their health, but the distribution of more than a million cans of [free] carbonated drinks will cause students to relapse into addiction," said a ministry source who asked not be named.

According to the Thai Health Promotion Foundation, some 12-15 per cent of Thai primary-school students are obese.

Piyathida Prasertsom, a manager of the foundation's Sweet Enough Network, said it had urged soft-drink manufacturers many times to reduce the scale of their campaigns, which boost sugar intake, but to no avail.

"Instead of reducing their campaigns, they told us to tell consumers to get more exercise," she said.

The network has expressed concern not only about the massive marketing campaigns of soft drinks, but also of non-carbonated beverages, as they too contain a lot of sugar.

Piyathida said the best way to prevent children from consuming a lot of sugar was to tax sugary beverages more heavily, with the amount of tax corresponding to the sugar content.

Some countries, including Australia, have adopted tax measures to control consumption of sugary beverages. But in Thailand, such a plan has not moved beyond the study phase, she said.

-- The Nation 2012-10-27

[Thai at Heart]

Uh? Maybe the government should stop subsidizing sugar.

[asiawatcher]

Some (just some) of the reasons not to drink any form of soft drink or soda's as some name them...

Phosphoric Acid: Interferes with the body's ability to use calcium, which leads to osteoporosis, softening of the teeth and bones. Phosphoric acid also neutralizes hydrochloric acid in your stomach, which interferes with digestion, making it difficult to utilize nutrients.

Sugar: It is a proven fact sugar increases insulin levels, resulting in high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, weight gain, premature aging and more negative side effects. One can of drink puts you over 100 percent of the RDA of sugar.

Aspartame: This lethal chemical is used as a sugar substitute in diet drinks. There are over 92 different health side effects including brain tumors, birth defects, diabetes, emotional disorders and epilepsy/seizures. Further, when aspartame is stored for long periods of time or kept in warm areas it changes to methanol, an alcohol that converts to formaldehyde and formic acid, which are known carcinogens.

Caffeine: Caffeinated drinks can cause jitters, insomnia, high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, elevated blood cholesterol levels, vitamin and mineral depletion, breast lumps, birth defects, and perhaps some forms of cancer.

Soda (carbonating) drinks is one of the main reasons, nutritionally speaking, why many people suffer health problems. Aside from the negative effects of the soda itself, drinking a lot of soda is likely to leave you with little appetite for vegetables, protein and other food that your body needs.

Seems to me any carbonated or sweet drinks laced with sugars and caffeine including sports drinks like Gatorade and Red Bull should also be scrutinised but demand and craving of these drinks will outweigh the sensibility of health. Taxing them will do nothing other than giving the Govt more revenue. Educating the public is far more intelligent and therein lies the exact reason Thailand won't.

[fareastguy]

As a pro-active health measure I'm sure the government can ban the sale of all the offending items.. but will loose out heavily on the revenue.

Promote healthy drinks at a sensible price that consumers will pay.

But I can't see that happening any time soon.

Off topic slightly.. but to prove my point..

I watched a program the other day about sales of Pepsi in mexico, the president of the country is a major shareholder in the company & vigorously promotes the sale of it, even babies are taken off breast milk & given carbonated drinks from their baby bottles as a milk substitute starting from as young as a few months !

Even schools are given free Pepsi by the company to hand out to children & adults, especially at events such as competitions & sports day !!

Needles to say now after a few years the country has an obesity level of well over 50% all with health related illnesses, hospitals now cannot cope with the surge in patients & is about to crash.

[Payboy]

About time the fizzy drinks industry was regulated and licenses were auctioned only to good corporate citizens.

[salavan]

Some (just some) of the reasons not to drink any form of soft drink or soda's as some name them...

Phosphoric Acid: Interferes with the body's ability to use calcium, which leads to osteoporosis, softening of the teeth and bones. Phosphoric acid also neutralizes hydrochloric acid in your stomach, which interferes with digestion, making it difficult to utilize nutrients.

Sugar: It is a proven fact sugar increases insulin levels, resulting in high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, weight gain, premature aging and more negative side effects. One can of drink puts you over 100 percent of the RDA of sugar.

Aspartame: This lethal chemical is used as a sugar substitute in diet drinks. There are over 92 different health side effects including brain tumors, birth defects, diabetes, emotional disorders and epilepsy/seizures. Further, when aspartame is stored for long periods of time or kept in warm areas it changes to methanol, an alcohol that converts to formaldehyde and formic acid, which are known carcinogens.

Caffeine: Caffeinated drinks can cause jitters, insomnia, high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, elevated blood cholesterol levels, vitamin and mineral depletion, breast lumps, birth defects, and perhaps some forms of cancer.

Soda (carbonating) drinks is one of the main reasons, nutritionally speaking, why many people suffer health problems. Aside from the negative effects of the soda itself, drinking a lot of soda is likely to leave you with little appetite for vegetables, protein and other food that your body needs.

Seems to me any carbonated or sweet drinks laced with sugars and caffeine including sports drinks like Gatorade and Red Bull should also be scrutinised but demand and craving of these drinks will outweigh the sensibility of health. Taxing them will do nothing other than giving the Govt more revenue. Educating the public is far more intelligent and therein lies the exact reason Thailand won't.

just a quick word on aspartame and sacharine, i used to suffer from violent headache since i stoped consumming these two substances the headaches have gone and not returned

[therealmrbrightside]

At least they are making an effort...

[Yunla]

Sugar overload has been linked to cancer too.

[MEL1]

Anybody know how many Thai kids there are between the ages of 1 and 4?

-mel.

[jaltsc]

Perhaps the first step is for TV shows and commercials to stop glorifying obese children as a sign of prosperity. Then, parents might not think that corpulence is a desired physical state for their children. I see an increase in grossly overweight children every day riding their motor bikes to school, to 7-11 and to the market stand where highly sugar laden drinks are sold. Of course, non sugared beverages probably taste bland to children who pour small mountains of sugar on their phad thai. A habit which they seem to have inherited from their parents. As for aspartame, numerous scientific studies have concluded that they actually increase weight gain while causing other health problems.

It can be argued that education is the most effective way to curb this trend, However when a large segment of the population receives its education from word of mouth, TV and advertising, the soft drink and sugar industries, with their large advertising and lobbying budgets, will win this battle easily.

If you are looking for a good investment for the future, it might be wise to buy stock in pharmaceutical companies which manufacture insulin. I can guarantee, that when type 2 diabetes becomes the largest preventable disease in Thailand, it's going to get real ugly.

Edited October 27, 2012 by jaltsc

[RamblingSam]

One alternative would be to impose a maximum on the amount of natural and synthetic sugars allowed per 100g/100ml, and gradually reduce these figures over a period of years. You can get 'Diet' versions of drinks, so such a marketing strategy isn't impossible.

[laislica]

It's all about money!

The big companies do everything to get people addicted by the clever use of additives and sugars etc.

Governments world wide like it because of the revenue they generate and as has been mentioined, many high ranking people are major share holders.

Sugar and sweeteners have been used so much that the Thai's even add it to natural juices such as coconut water.

Our generation of UK geriatrics are probably the healthiest ever because of sugar rationing in WW2 and also being given cod liver oil and malt as children.

What can we do to wind the clock back?

[Jingthing]

Tax them to the max and loosen up the tax on wine ... which is HEALTHY!

[tominbkk]

I just thank Buddha since Chang put the soda water with essence of lime on the market. It's good stuff, if you water it down a bit with some water, or maybe some vodka!!!

Edited October 27, 2012 by tominbkk

[swlondonmum]

Having come from the uk 6 months ago I was horrified at how much sugar people consume here, especially kids. I thought the uk was bad, and the results of many (often poor and/or uneducated ) families eating too much sugar amongst other things are pretty clear when you see the levels of diabetes and obesity. But Thailand is catching up fast, if it hasn't already.

I'm amazed when I see kids here who will only drink chocolate milk, not plain, or who drink the yoghurt drinks - people here seem oblivious to the fact that they are unhealthy and keep saying how they have lots of calcium and vitamins. And people keep trying to give my 4 year old fizzy drinks just before dinner, at the same time as complaining their kid doesn't eat properly - duh, that's the can of coke you have him and the sweet snacks he's had since lunchtime. The poor kids here are generally still skinny but it's the ones whose income has got better (but who are still not aware of the risks of junk food) who are getting fatter and unhealthy (and like in the uk, the poor kids will follow soon)

It's sad to see it happen and to imagine some of the health issues that will explode over the next 10-20 years

[asiawatcher]

Some (just some) of the reasons not to drink any form of soft drink or soda's as some name them...

Phosphoric Acid: Interferes with the body's ability to use calcium, which leads to osteoporosis, softening of the teeth and bones. Phosphoric acid also neutralizes hydrochloric acid in your stomach, which interferes with digestion, making it difficult to utilize nutrients.

Sugar: It is a proven fact sugar increases insulin levels, resulting in high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, weight gain, premature aging and more negative side effects. One can of drink puts you over 100 percent of the RDA of sugar.

Aspartame: This lethal chemical is used as a sugar substitute in diet drinks. There are over 92 different health side effects including brain tumors, birth defects, diabetes, emotional disorders and epilepsy/seizures. Further, when aspartame is stored for long periods of time or kept in warm areas it changes to methanol, an alcohol that converts to formaldehyde and formic acid, which are known carcinogens.

Caffeine: Caffeinated drinks can cause jitters, insomnia, high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, elevated blood cholesterol levels, vitamin and mineral depletion, breast lumps, birth defects, and perhaps some forms of cancer.

Soda (carbonating) drinks is one of the main reasons, nutritionally speaking, why many people suffer health problems. Aside from the negative effects of the soda itself, drinking a lot of soda is likely to leave you with little appetite for vegetables, protein and other food that your body needs.

Seems to me any carbonated or sweet drinks laced with sugars and caffeine including sports drinks like Gatorade and Red Bull should also be scrutinised but demand and craving of these drinks will outweigh the sensibility of health. Taxing them will do nothing other than giving the Govt more revenue. Educating the public is far more intelligent and therein lies the exact reason Thailand won't.

just a quick word on aspartame and sacharine, i used to suffer from violent headache since i stoped consumming these two substances the headaches have gone and not returned

There is a very good reason for that - ask the doctors who have banned pilots from using Nutra Sweet, Equal (a.k.a. Aspartame). There have been more than 50,000 cases recorded of severe injury including nervous system seizures including loss of life with pilots attributed directly to aspartame. My mother suffered Parkinsons and also died of a brain aneurysm which the doctors contributed solely to her use (dependence) on Equal. In her later years there is no doubt in any of our family's minds, the aspartame was the increasing cause of the shakes and finally her death. With what we know now, I want to scream it from the roof tops.. Take a look at this. http://www.genhealth.com/info/articles/aspartame.htm

Great to hear you stopped. But the FDA knows all this, just simply refuses to expound to the public the risk. Cheers

Edited October 27, 2012 by asiawatcher

[smedly]

there is only one reason this government is talking about this - as with the tax hike on booze and cigs a few weeks ago - they are in trouble and the debt mountain is out of control, all these price hikes do is hurt the pockets of the poor and fuel inflation - this country is in deep do do

[EnhancePlus]

Live and let live.

[Thai at Heart]

Perhaps the first step is for TV shows and commercials to stop glorifying obese children as a sign of prosperity. Then, parents might not think that corpulence is a desired physical state for their children. I see an increase in grossly overweight children every day riding their motor bikes to school, to 7-11 and to the market stand where highly sugar laden drinks are sold. Of course, non sugared beverages probably taste bland to children who pour small mountains of sugar on their phad thai. A habit which they seem to have inherited from their parents. As for aspartame, numerous scientific studies have concluded that they actually increase weight gain while causing other health problems.

It can be argued that education is the most effective way to curb this trend, However when a large segment of the population receives its education from word of mouth, TV and advertising, the soft drink and sugar industries, with their large advertising and lobbying budgets, will win this battle easily.

If you are looking for a good investment for the future, it might be wise to buy stock in pharmaceutical companies which manufacture insulin. I can guarantee, that when type 2 diabetes becomes the largest preventable disease in Thailand, it's going to get real ugly.

As i wrote earlier, the domestic price of sugar is mandated lower than the global price, hence the periodic shortages as producers make more money exporting than supplying the domestic market.

Basically, every fizzy drink, every cake, every single spoon of sugar is cheaper than it should be domestically. Not that it might change much, but the least they could do is let the price float. It might add a couple odd baht to your coke, but it might also make the food stalls add a spoon less.

Food scientists worked out years ago, three sweeter it is, the more you sell.

Edited October 27, 2012 by Thai at Heart

[tinfoilhat]

how about parents taking responsibility for what their children eat and drink, just like my parents did.

[starkey_rich]

Live and let live.

Live and let the Fatties Die.

Up to them if they think fat show's they are rich.

Sad race

[laislica]

how about parents taking responsibility for what their children eat and drink, just like my parents did.

A great idea and of course it worked "in our day".

However, with advertising like there is now, it creates peer pressure as well as the fact that sugar is as addictive as cocaine - it causes pleasure chemicals to be released in the brain.....

I fear that there is no "one size fits all" solution.

This is a world wide problem.

The scariest thing is that in 1970 I read a Sci Fi book called "The Space Merchants". It was written in the 50's and it is Sci Fact today. It suggested that food manufacturers would introduce additives to addict people to their products.

A daughter of mine decided to give up soft drinks and she had a really hard job, needing lots of "Won't Power".

I have read that as little as 1 can per day is enough to ruin your health.

[Tanaka]

Some (just some) of the reasons not to drink any form of soft drink or soda's as some name them...

Phosphoric Acid: Interferes with the body's ability to use calcium, which leads to osteoporosis, softening of the teeth and bones. Phosphoric acid also neutralizes hydrochloric acid in your stomach, which interferes with digestion, making it difficult to utilize nutrients.

Sugar: It is a proven fact sugar increases insulin levels, resulting in high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, weight gain, premature aging and more negative side effects. One can of drink puts you over 100 percent of the RDA of sugar.

Aspartame: This lethal chemical is used as a sugar substitute in diet drinks. There are over 92 different health side effects including brain tumors, birth defects, diabetes, emotional disorders and epilepsy/seizures. Further, when aspartame is stored for long periods of time or kept in warm areas it changes to methanol, an alcohol that converts to formaldehyde and formic acid, which are known carcinogens.

Caffeine: Caffeinated drinks can cause jitters, insomnia, high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, elevated blood cholesterol levels, vitamin and mineral depletion, breast lumps, birth defects, and perhaps some forms of cancer.

Soda (carbonating) drinks is one of the main reasons, nutritionally speaking, why many people suffer health problems. Aside from the negative effects of the soda itself, drinking a lot of soda is likely to leave you with little appetite for vegetables, protein and other food that your body needs.

Seems to me any carbonated or sweet drinks laced with sugars and caffeine including sports drinks like Gatorade and Red Bull should also be scrutinised but demand and craving of these drinks will outweigh the sensibility of health. Taxing them will do nothing other than giving the Govt more revenue. Educating the public is far more intelligent and therein lies the exact reason Thailand won't.

Most of what you claim to be facts here are just unsubstantiated <deleted>! Quote: When Aspartam is stored in warm areas it changes to methanol!!!

[CHRISTIANa9]

Carbonated drinks are also bad for the liver. Best to drink purified water.

[JimShortz]

Carbonated drinks are also bad for the liver. Best to drink purified water.

But perhaps a little limiting. How about purified water combined with hops, malted barley, etc.... ?

[tinfoilhat]

how about parents taking responsibility for what their children eat and drink, just like my parents did.

A great idea and of course it worked "in our day".

However, with advertising like there is now, it creates peer pressure as well as the fact that sugar is as addictive as cocaine - it causes pleasure chemicals to be released in the brain.....

I fear that there is no "one size fits all" solution.

This is a world wide problem.

The scariest thing is that in 1970 I read a Sci Fi book called "The Space Merchants". It was written in the 50's and it is Sci Fact today. It suggested that food manufacturers would introduce additives to addict people to their products.

A daughter of mine decided to give up soft drinks and she had a really hard job, needing lots of "Won't Power".

I have read that as little as 1 can per day is enough to ruin your health.

The Pepsi challenge began in 1975 and that certainly wasn't the beginning of Advertising. I was 8, three years older than my daughter is now. Dont delude yourself advertising may even be less insidious in this day and age because nobody actually believes it

[spirit47]

Carbonated drinks are also bad for the liver. Best to drink purified water.

Sparkling water should be bad for the liver? Never hear about this, can you send me a link about the reason for that?

[jbrain]

Uh? Maybe the government should stop subsidizing sugar.

Maybe the government should stop talking porkies as there is nowhere near 12 teaspoons of sweetner in a can 0.33 lliter of softdrink.

When I make my own icetea from Tea powder I add 4 teaspoons of sweetner to 2 liter of lquid and it almost tastes too sweet already.

[jbrain]

Some (just some) of the reasons not to drink any form of soft drink or soda's as some name them...

Phosphoric Acid: Interferes with the body's ability to use calcium, which leads to osteoporosis, softening of the teeth and bones. Phosphoric acid also neutralizes hydrochloric acid in your stomach, which interferes with digestion, making it difficult to utilize nutrients.

Sugar: It is a proven fact sugar increases insulin levels, resulting in high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, weight gain, premature aging and more negative side effects. One can of drink puts you over 100 percent of the RDA of sugar.

Aspartame: This lethal chemical is used as a sugar substitute in diet drinks. There are over 92 different health side effects including brain tumors, birth defects, diabetes, emotional disorders and epilepsy/seizures. Further, when aspartame is stored for long periods of time or kept in warm areas it changes to methanol, an alcohol that converts to formaldehyde and formic acid, which are known carcinogens.

Caffeine: Caffeinated drinks can cause jitters, insomnia, high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, elevated blood cholesterol levels, vitamin and mineral depletion, breast lumps, birth defects, and perhaps some forms of cancer.

Soda (carbonating) drinks is one of the main reasons, nutritionally speaking, why many people suffer health problems. Aside from the negative effects of the soda itself, drinking a lot of soda is likely to leave you with little appetite for vegetables, protein and other food that your body needs.

Seems to me any carbonated or sweet drinks laced with sugars and caffeine including sports drinks like Gatorade and Red Bull should also be scrutinised but demand and craving of these drinks will outweigh the sensibility of health. Taxing them will do nothing other than giving the Govt more revenue. Educating the public is far more intelligent and therein lies the exact reason Thailand won't.

The other day I received an email that went like this : Do you suggest I should go in seclusion right away before I infect other people ?

Subject: FW: Health information on ASPARTAME

WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE

and the MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS FOUNDATION

F.D.A. ISSUING FOR COLLUSION WITH MONSANTO

Article written by Nancy Markle (1120197)

I have spent several days lecturing at the WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL ............

http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blasp.htm

[spirit47]

Some (just some) of the reasons not to drink any form of soft drink or soda's as some name them...

Caffeine: Caffeinated drinks can cause jitters, insomnia, high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, elevated blood cholesterol levels, vitamin and mineral depletion, breast lumps, birth defects, and perhaps some forms of cancer.

Must make a different between one or two cup of Arabica coffee in the morning, and these drinks. Scientist mostly wrong, think about that coffee make you store water in the tissue...If you drink coffee, normaly you often go, to take a leak. Now they found out, it is helpful for "Alzheimer". Robusta have much more caffeine then Arabica.

Soda (carbonating) drinks is one of the main reasons, nutritionally speaking, why many people suffer health problems. Aside from the negative effects of the soda itself, drinking a lot of soda is likely to leave you with little appetite for vegetables, protein and other food that your body needs.

The amount is the problem I think, I drink a few lemon-soda every day, and I have a few kg to much...I mean, we make the Lemon-soda only from sparkling water and fresh lemon juice. About the "Taurin", that is the most important ingredient in "Red Bull", I don;t hear anything bad, you can buy the powder very cheap in some ebay stores. Maybe a good business, the Thais are mad about these drinks.

Seems to me any carbonated or sweet drinks laced with sugars and caffeine including sports drinks like Gatorade and Red Bull should also be scrutinised but demand and craving of these drinks will outweigh the sensibility of health. Taxing them will do nothing other than giving the Govt more revenue. Educating the public is far more intelligent and therein lies the exact reason Thailand won't.

The other day I received an email that went like this : Do you suggest I should go in seclusion right away before I infect other people ?

Subject: FW: Health information on ASPARTAME

WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE

and the MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS FOUNDATION

F.D.A. ISSUING FOR COLLUSION WITH MONSANTO

Article written by Nancy Markle (1120197)

I have spent several days lecturing at the WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL ............

http://urbanlegends....brary/blasp.htm