Pepsi to buy only ‘clean’ sugar

Soft-drinks giant PepsiCo has pledged to take a “zero-tolerance” approach to land grabs by its sugar suppliers.

In a statement posted on the company’s website on Tuesday, it said the move came in response to a campaign by Oxfam, which targeted Coca-Cola and PepsiCo.

“The pledge follows a similar commitment by Coca-Cola last year and comes in response to a campaign by development group Oxfam that is pushing top food and drink companies to improve ethical standards among suppliers in poor countries,” the statement reads.

Eang Vuthy, executive director of Equitable Cambodia, said yesterday the announcement was a first step, adding that he hoped Pepsi would follow Coca-Cola in making country visits to assess the situation.

“I think it’s really important that big companies like Coca-Cola and Pepsi show their commitment to ending land grabbing because of sugar … they need to carry out assessments to ensure they’re not involved in [environmental] and human rights abuses,” he said.

PepsiCo did not respond to an emailed request from a Post reporter for comment yesterday.

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