Instead of following a World Health Organisation push for members to introduce levies on added sugar, the territory’s administration will seek to introduce a new food and beverage labelling system, while ramping up healthy food promotion in schools and introducing a pilot scheme to display calorie contents in canteens.
One in five Hongkongers is said to be overweight, prompting authorities to find a response to high sugar consumption.
Yet according to the Standard, a local daily, the Food and Health Bureau has not been swayed by the results of fiscal measures introduced in some countries that have led to “divergent views locally and internationally” over their success.
Hong Kong been taking a pro-business approach to the sugar debate, with the Secretary for Food and Health openly advocating persuading beverage companies to reduce their sugar content through dialogue.