Health and Indigenous Medicine Ministry will introduce a special red label on excessive sugar content for all bottled drinks from 1 August this year under 32 article of the Food Act number 26 of 1980.
The manufacturers/importers should display the red label if the sugar content of the drink is over 11 grams per 100 millilitres, Health Services Director General, Dr. Palitha Mahipala said.
According to Dr. Mahipala, all locally produced and imported bottled drinks such as soft drinks, fruit drinks etc in cans, bottles, packets, except milk should display the red label in all three languages when the sugar content exceed 11 grams in 100 millilitres.
A green label should be displayed for drinks which contain two grams or less. Middle level sugar content (between 2 and 4 grams per 100 ml) should be indicated by a yellow label. Dr. Mahipala pointed out that at the moment the implementation is done voluntarily and the Health Ministry made the request from all manufacturers and traders six months ago.
It is discovered that the sugar content in bottled drinks available in the market at the moment is extremely high. Dr. Mahipala stressed that excessive sugar in bottled drinks cause diabetes and many other Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs). The consumption of sugar, salt and flour is extremely high in Sri Lanka.
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