Reading passage
Soft drinks, energy drinks and sweetened fruit juices are now consumed in almost every country in the world. Global sales of sugary drinks have doubled since the 1990s, and in some regions a typical bottle contains more sugar than an adult should consume in an entire day. Health experts increasingly regard these products as one of the most serious threats to public health, particularly for children and young adults who drink them daily. What was once an occasional treat has become, for millions of people, a daily habit.
The main problem is that liquid sugar behaves differently inside the body from sugar in solid food. When people eat a piece of fruit or a biscuit, the body also receives fibre and other substances that slow digestion and create a feeling of fullness. A sweet drink, by contrast, delivers sugar to the bloodstream within minutes and provides no sense of satisfaction at all. As a result, people who drink one can of cola rarely eat less food at their next meal; the calories in the drink are simply added on top of everything else they consume.
The numbers behind this habit are striking. A standard 330-millilitre can of cola contains about 35 grams of sugar, which is roughly seven teaspoons. The World Health Organization recommends that free sugars should provide less than ten percent of daily energy, which for an average adult equals about 50 grams. A single can therefore uses up most of this daily allowance, and larger bottles of 500 millilitres exceed it completely before the drinker has eaten anything at all.
Long-term studies have connected regular consumption of sugary drinks with a range of serious diseases. People who drink one or two cans a day have been shown to have a twenty-six percent higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those who rarely consume such drinks. Sugary drinks also contribute to tooth decay, heart disease and weight gain, especially around the waist. In Mexico, where consumption per person is among the highest in the world, diabetes has become the leading cause of death.
Governments have responded to this evidence in different ways. More than forty countries have introduced a tax on sugary drinks, following early examples such as Mexico in 2014 and the United Kingdom in 2018. Evidence suggests that these taxes work. After the British tax was announced, many manufacturers reduced the sugar in their products to avoid the charge, and purchases of the highest-sugar drinks fell by about thirty percent within two years of the policy being introduced.
The drinks industry, however, argues that such taxes punish the poor and restrict personal choice. Companies point out that sugar consumption from soft drinks in some countries has already been falling for a decade without any government intervention. They also promote their own solutions, such as smaller bottles, clearer labels and a wider range of low-sugar or sugar-free products, which they claim allow consumers to make informed decisions about what they drink. They warn that jobs in factories and shops could be lost if sales fall sharply.
Public health researchers reply that education and voluntary action alone have failed to reduce consumption fast enough. They note that children are a particular concern because advertising for sweet drinks is often directed at them, and habits formed in childhood tend to continue into adult life. Several countries have therefore banned the sale of sugary drinks in schools or restricted advertisements during children's television programmes, though the industry continues to oppose such measures.
For individuals who wish to cut down, specialists recommend a series of simple steps. Replacing sweet drinks with water is the most effective change, while plain tea or coffee without sugar is an acceptable alternative for adults. Even switching to smaller containers can help, because people tend to finish whatever size they buy. Over time, the taste for very sweet drinks weakens, and many former consumers report with surprise that they no longer enjoy the drinks they once loved.