School food policies

• Greece: Artificial sweeteners are not allowed in junior high school and high school canteens for some beverages (chamomile, tea, sage).
• Hungary: no artificial sweetened soft drinks for school children <6 yrs.
• Latvia: Soft drinks with food additives (incl. sweeteners) not allowed, except for lunch.
• Malta: sweeteners are not allowed in schools, as part of the 'School Food and Beverage Standards'.
• Spain: Foods should be free from artificial sweeteners.
• Wales: fizzy soft drinks including diet or sugar free versions in primary and secondary schools are not allowed.
• Northern Ireland: artificial sweeteners permitted for combination drinks (combining water, milk, unsweetened fruit or veggie juice, yoghurt or milk drinks).

• The EU fruit and vegetable and milk scheme, financed through the EU's Common Agricultural Policy, provides fruit, vegetables and milk to children in schools, in order to increase increase their consumption. Among the criteria established, the products to be distributed to schools must not contain sweeteners or artificial flavour enhancers ( DG AGRI , EU 2016 ).

• Australia, Brazil: beverages with sweeteners are excluded from schools (due to minimal nutritional value).

Soft drink tax

• From 01/01/2018, non-alcoholic beverages e.g. soft drinks, sweetened milks and juices (including 100%) will be taxed on content of sugar and sweeteners. The multi-stage levy will be as follows: Products with artificial sweeteners - 0.10 €/L, products with sweeteners and sugar content of 5-8  g/100 ml -  20 € cents/L, and finally products with sweeteners and sugar content exceeding 8  g/100 ml – 0.30 €/L.

• Excise duty of approx. 0.11€/L for drinks with added sugar and artificial sweeteners, including sodas and fruit drinks. 

• Tax applying on various rates on salt, sugar, caffeine content of various ready to eat food categories, including soft drinks (both with sugar or sweeteners). The soft drink tax amounts to 0.02 €/L for products with more than 8 g/100ml of added sugars, excepting drinks with more than 25% fruit or vegetable content or at least 50% of milk.

• Excise tax of 0.22€/L on beverages with more than 0.5% of sugar, 0.11€/L on sweetener-based soft drinks and waters. Producers with an annual production volume of less than 50,000 L are exempted.

Labelling legislation

• EU Regulation 1169/2011 on food information to consumers includes mandatory labelling rules related to intense sweeteners and polyols. See 4.2 for details

Voluntary labelling

• Sweeteners are not allowed in Keyhole products. The Keyhole health logo labelling system by the Swedish National Food Agency is used in Scandinavian countries. It is based on a nutrient profile model and aims to identify healthier packaged food choices within a food category, and to stimulate food manufacturers to reformulate and develop healthier products.

Public health campaign

• The UK Eatwell guide is a policy tool from Public Health England to define government recommendations on healthy eating. Concerning sugar reduction the guide states that 'If you add sugar to your food or drinks, gradually reduce the amount you add until your taste buds adapt and you can cut it out altogether. Alternatively try using a calorie free sweetener instead.'