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. 2020 Apr 7;12(4):1016.
doi: 10.3390/nu12041016.

Sales of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages in Australia: A Trend Analysis from 1997 to 2018

Affiliations

Sales of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages in Australia: A Trend Analysis from 1997 to 2018

William S Shrapnel et al. Nutrients. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Lowering intake of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) is being advocated as an obesity prevention strategy in Australia. The purpose of this study was to extend on previous reports of trends in national volume sales of SSBs. Data were extracted from commercially available datasets of beverage sales (AC Nielsen (1997-2011) and IRI Australia (2009-2018)). Linear regression was used to examine trends for the period 1997 to 2018. Per capita attribution of volume sales and sugar contribution was estimated by dividing by the Australian resident population for the relevant year. Per capita volume sales of SSBs fell 27%, from 83L/person to 61L/person, largely driven by declining sales of sugar-sweetened carbonated soft drinks (76 to 45L/person). Volume sales of non-SSB increased, from 48 to 88L/person, the largest contributor being pure unflavoured still waters (6 to 48L/person). Volume sales of non-SSBs have exceeded those of SSBs since 2015. The yearly contribution of SSBs to the sugar content of the national diet declined from 9.0 to 6.4kg/person. Major, long-term shifts are occurring in the market for non-alcoholic, water-based beverages in Australia, notably a fall in per capita volume sales of SSBs and an increase in volume sales of water. Both trends are consistent with obesity prevention strategies.

Keywords: Keywords: sugar-sweetened beverages; added sugar; sales; soft drinks; trends.

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Conflict of interest statement

This analysis was funded by an unrestricted grant from The Australian Beverages Council Ltd. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a) Per capita volume sales: Sugar-sweetened water-based beverages and non-sugar water-based beverages; (b) Per capita volume sales: Sugar-sweetened carbonated soft drinks and non-sugar carbonated soft drinks.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) Per capita volume sales: Sugar-sweetened sports, energy and iced-tea drinks; (b) Per capita volume sales: Pure still water (bottled water).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Per capita volume sales: Juice/juice drinks and flavoured milk drinks 2009–2018.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Per capita sugar contribution: Sugar-sweetened water-based beverages and sugar-sweetened carbonated soft drinks. Note: excludes fruit juices and milk.

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