{"id":115094,"date":"2016-03-02T13:56:28","date_gmt":"2016-03-02T11:56:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=115094"},"modified":"2016-03-02T14:00:28","modified_gmt":"2016-03-02T12:00:28","slug":"the-sugary-drinks-that-will-be-taxed-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/115094\/the-sugary-drinks-that-will-be-taxed-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"The sugary drinks that will be taxed in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"section body_p_tags\">\n<p>A tax on sugary drinks is a step towards making South Africans healthier, according to wellbeing experts.<\/p>\n<p>Sugar is blamed for obesity and an increased risk for lifestyle diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke. These conditions are a heavy burden on the country&#8217;s health system.<\/p>\n<p>The sugar industry will engage closely with government on plans to introduce a sugar tax on sugary drinks, the South African Sugar Association told Health24.<\/p>\n<p>The proposed tax, to be introduced from 1 April 2017, will be levied on sugar-sweetened beverages such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Soft drinks;<\/li>\n<li>Fruit juices;<\/li>\n<li>Sports\/energy drinks;<\/li>\n<li>Vitamin waters;<\/li>\n<li>Sweetened ice tea;<\/li>\n<li>Lemonade;<\/li>\n<li>Cordials; and<\/li>\n<li>Squashes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8220;The South African sugar industry promotes a healthy balanced lifestyle and supports the fight against obesity,&#8221; said South African Sugar Association Executive Director Trix Trikam.<\/p>\n<p>A recent study by the University of Washington\u2019s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation found that 70% of South African women and 40% of South African men were overweight or obese.<\/p>\n<p>The Hospital Association of South Africa (HASA) also welcomed the introduction on the sugar tax.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Inspiring health consciousness<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We believe that apart from adding much-needed revenue to the National Treasury, these initiatives will greatly assist in ensuring that South Africans reassess their lifestyle and become more health conscious. They deserve all our support,&#8221; said the body.<\/p>\n<p>Sharing these sentiments, the Principal Officer of Resolution Health Medical Scheme, Mark Arnold, stated that a tax on sugary drinks is a step towards making South Africa a healthier nation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith concerns growing over the obesity rate in South Africa, and many associated non-communicable lifestyle diseases on the rise, the notion of a tax on sugary drinks is a welcome development.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Arnold noted that sugary beverages are calorie-laden and should be enjoyed in moderation and as part of a balanced and healthy lifestyle. &#8220;Their frequent use only exacerbates the problem of obesity.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Dr Jacques Snyman, director of product development at Agility Global Health Systems for Africa, explained why regular consumption of sugary drinks is unhealthy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is very easy to gulp down a lot of sugar in a drink very quickly, almost without realising that this accounts for a large proportion of your recommended daily calorie intake.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He said it is important for the general public to be more aware of what they are drinking and make informed decisions based on this information.<\/p>\n<p>Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi&#8217;s spokesperson, Joe Maila, told Health24 that a sugar tax is one of the measures that can assist the department in its bid to help reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases on the country.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.health24.com\/Medical\/Diabetes\/News\/will-a-sugar-tax-trim-the-fat-off-south-africans-20160302\" target=\"_blank\">News24<\/a><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\">More on tax in SA<\/h3>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/finance\/114112\/south-africa-sugar-tax-confirmed-for-2017\/\" target=\"_blank\">Sugar tax confirmed for South Africa in 2017<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/114022\/why-gordhan-should-announce-a-sugar-tax-for-south-africa\/\" target=\"_blank\">Why Gordhan should announce a sugar tax for South Africa<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a title=\"Permalink to Why South Africa needs a sugar tax\" href=\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/columns\/95763\/why-south-africa-needs-a-sugar-tax\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Why South Africa needs a sugar tax<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a title=\"Permalink to South Africa\u2019s sugary drinks shock\" href=\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/102895\/south-africa-is-one-of-the-unhealthiest-countries-in-the-world\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">South Africa\u2019s sugary drinks shock<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A tax on sugary drinks is a step towards making South Africans healthier, according to wellbeing experts. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":115102,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[25,10973],"class_list":["post-115094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-active","tag-sugar-tax"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115094"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115094\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115100,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115094\/revisions\/115100"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}