School food policies

• Various EU countries' school food policies include voluntary or mandatory standards that limit or forbid provision of foods or beverages high in sugars in school restaurants, canteens. Some school food policies specify upper limits for total daily energy from sugars (commonly ≤10 E%).
• The EU fruit, vegetable and milk scheme, financed through the EU's Common Agricultural Policy provides fruit, vegetables and milk to children in schools to increase their consumption. Among the criteria established for the products to be distributed to schools is that these should have no added sugars. Products containing limited quantities of sugars may be allowed if authorised by the relevant national health/nutrition authorities (DG AGRI).

• The Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act set standards for the national school lunch and breakfast programmes, which included limits on added sugars in foods and beverages. For example, Smart Snack standards limited sugar content of snacks or of main course meals to maximum of 35% by weight.

Hungary (EU 2022)

• The Hungarian Aqua Promoting Programme in the Young (HAPPY) programme aims to promote water consumption and decrease the consumption of sugary soft drinks among pre-school and primary school students. The approach used is the provision of free drinking water (water coolers or bottled water), education, awareness raising, and in few cases also changes in the built environment by installing water fountains. 

Workplace policies

• Vending machines dispensing sugary drinks are prohibited in NHS hospitals in Wales
• Scottish government guidelines for NHS hospital settings include removal of all soft drinks with >0.5g/100 ml of sugar, excluding pure fruit juice, and require that at least 30% of snacks and confectionaries and 70% of refrigerated food, meet nutrition criteria based on, among others, sugar content.

• All food and beverages in vending machines on government premises meet nutrition criteria based on, among others, content of sugar. Criteria not applied to 100% fruit juices.

Public food procurement policies

EU (JRC 2022)

• All EU Member States limiting added sugars, promoting unsweetened or low-sugar options, and encouraging healthier alternatives like fresh fruits, vegetables, and dairy products.
• Some countries provide specific thresholds on maximum sugar intake per meal or per day (<10% energy intake), or maximum of 11g to 65 grams/day depending on age.
• Some countries emphasise that fruit juices without added sugar, which still contain high amounts of free sugars, can be offered occasionally, but water should be the primary choice for hydration
• Most Member States mandate or provide guidance on the consumption of soft drinks and beverages, to convey that drinks with added sugar, sweeteners or other stimulants should not be served or made available. 

Bans

Germany ( BMEL 2024 )

• In 2020, the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) banned adding sugar and sweeteners to herbal infusions for infants and young children, as early sugar consumption is linked to dental caries, obesity, and long-term high sugar intake. Water and unsweetened infusions are recommended instead. 

Social support programmes

• San Bernardino County (CA) Healthy Food Banking Wellness policy has procurement guidelines which include unsweetened dairy products, unsweetened milk or milk substitutes, as well as canned fruits with no added sugars.

Sweet/soft drink tax

• Excise duty of 0.068 €/L for soft drinks, including non-alcoholic beverages & flavoured waters with added sugars

France (  Entreprendre 2025 )

• Excise duty based on sugar content for drinks with added sugars, starting from €3.50 per hectolitre for drinks with up to 1 kg of added sugars per hectolitre, and increasing for every additional kg of added sugars per hectolitre.
• Since January 2017, prohibition of unlimited supply, for free or for a fixed price, of drinks with added sugars or synthetic sweeteners in all catering establishments open to the public, including hotels, holiday clubs, reception establishments, establishments training and housing minors (e.g. schools). 

Norway ( The Norwegian Tax Administration webpage )

• Sugar imported into Norway or produced in Norway is taxed at 9.46 Kr  (≈0.80€) /Kg (2025 rate). Sugar that forms part of another product is exempt from the tax.
• Tax rate of €0.14/L on non-alcoholic beverages (including SSBs and artificially sweetened beverages) 

Chile  

• Ad valorem tax of 18% on beverages with sugar content > 6.25 g/100 mL. Includes all non-alcoholic drinks, energy drinks and waters. Drinks with sugar content below the threshold value are taxed at 10% 

Mexico  

• Excise duty of 1 peso (≈0.05 €) per litre to all beverages with added sugars, excluding milks or yoghurt drinks. 

UK ( UK HMRC 2024 )

• Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) applicable to the production and importation of soft drinks containing added sugars, to create strong incentives for soft-drink reformulation (reducing the sugar content). The SDIL consist of a three-tiered tax structure based on sugar content (i.e., grams of sugar per unit of volume): no tax on beverage with <5 grams of sugar per 100 mL; a £0.18 (≈0.20 €)-per-litre tax on beverages with 5 to 8 grams of sugar per 100 mL; and a £0.24 (≈0.30 €)-per-litre tax on beverages with >8 grams of sugar per 100 mL. Milk is exempted as considered a nutritious food for children. 

Public health tax

Hungary ( 2011. évi CIII. törvény [Act CTII (2011)]  )

• Tax applying variable rates on salt, sugar, caffeine content of various ready to eat food categories, including soft drinks. For example, tax amounts to 8 / 23 forints (≈0.02 / 0.06 €) per lire for soft drinks with less / more than 8 g/100ml of added sugars, and to 65 / 210 forints (≈0.15 / 0.50 €) for pre-packaged confectionary with less / more than 25 g/100g of added sugars. Specific exemptions apply. 

Import duties

• Import duties on soft drinks or sugar, ad valorem or per litre of product.

Food reformulation

EU ( RIVM webpage )

• Stakeholders ranging from industry to consumer protection and NGOs voluntarily committed to tackle current trends in unhealthy diets and lack of physical activity. Various private food sector commitments are aimed to reformulate packaged foods and improve their nutritional profile by reducing, among others, sugars.
• In the Netherlands, the National Approach to Product Improvement (NAPV) started in 2022 to reformulate products with added salt or sugar or for which the amount of saturated fat could be reduced. Ceiling limits were set for each nutrient (low, medium, high). The aim set for 2030 is for half of the products in each product group to be in the best category, and for a maximum of 10% of them to be in the worst category, in terms of salt, sugar, or saturated fat. 

Germany ( BMEL 2024 )

• German National Reduction and Innovation Strategy for Sugar, Fats and Salt in Processed Foods: the food sector aims to cut sugar, salt, and fat in key products by 2025, focusing on products targeted at children and adolescents. Aims include a 20% sugar reduction in children's cereals and 15% in soft drinks and sweetened dairy products. 

Food marketing restrictions

• Various mandatory (via legislation) or voluntary (via industry self-regulation) policies are in place in the EU to restrict food marketing of foods that are high in sugar, salt and fats to children; a major industry self-regulation effort is the EU Pledge.  See the Food and non-alcoholic Beverage Marketing to children and adolescents in this series.

• In the US, the Children's Food and Beverage advertising initiative is a major industry self-regulatory effort to restrict marketing of foods that are high in sugar, salt and fats to children.  See the Food and non-alcoholic Beverage Marketing to children and adolescents in this series.

Retail initiatives

• In New York, department of health staff collaborate with shop owners in areas with high rates of obesity, to make foods such as, canned products, dried fruits and nuts with no added sugar available in food stores.

UK ( UK DHSC 2023 )

• Regulation to restrict products of less healthy food and drink (also known as foods high in fat, salt or sugar) by location (store entrances, aisle ends and checkouts) for retail stores over a certain size and equivalent key locations online.

Labelling legislation

• EU Regulation 1169/2011 on food information to consumers  requires mandatory nutrition declaration for amounts of sugars, under carbohydrates (stating amount of g per 100 g of product), in prepacked foods
• EU Regulation 1924/2006 includes rules for nutrition claims made on foods. For sugars, nutrition claims comprise of 'sugars-free', 'no added sugars' and 'low sugars'. See 3.4.1

• Health claims not permitted on foods that don't meet a specific nutrient profile criteria system, e.g. foods high in sugar.

• All chain restaurants with 100 or more establishments are required to display nutrient information on menus including, among others, total sugars.

• The 2016 Nutrition Facts Label US regulation revision introduces the requirement for declaration of amount of total sugars; in addition added sugars should also be declared, in grams in a serving of a product, establishing a DRV and requiring the percent of daily value declaration.

Voluntary labelling

• 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. Sugar content is one of the nutrient criteria, and thresholds depend on the product category.

France ( Santé Publique France 2024 , JRC 2020, JRC 2022)

• Nutri-Score, a nutrition logo reflecting the nutritional quality of a product, using an easy-to-understand scale of five colours, from dark green (healthiest) to dark orange (least healthy), that companies can place at the front of pre-packaged foods. First introduced in France on a voluntary basis, Nutri-Score has been transferred to other countries (Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Luxembourg). 

• 'Healthy Living' is a voluntary labelling scheme with nutrient profiles for different food categories. The scheme is used as a benchmark for public health campaigns but also as a scientific basis for a national initiative on food marketing restraints. Sugar is one of the nutrients to limit in this scheme.

• The Traffic Light front of pack voluntary labelling scheme, proposed by the UK Food Standards Agency, aims to assist consumers in identifying healthier food choices. It uses colour coding related to low, medium or high content of selected nutrients in foods and drinks. For total sugar in foods, the thresholds are (per 100g): green/low: ≤5 g, medium/amber: 5 to ≤22.5 g, high/red: >22.5 g. For total sugar in drinks, the thresholds are (per 100ml): green/low: ≤2.5 g, medium/amber: 2.5 to ≤ 11.25 g, high/red: >11.25g.

• The Health Star Rating (HSR) is a front-of-pack voluntary labelling scheme. The system is based on an algorithm that awards a star rating, based on the quantity of specific food components, such as total sugars.

• Various other voluntary systems include sugars  in their labelling criteria e.g. traffic light/ colour coding systems in Ecuador  and South Korea for total sugars, Heart Check in Nigeria for added sugars.

• The Change4Life campaign aims to improve diets and physical activity in the UK; Smart Swaps and Sugar Smart are major components aimed at reducing sugar consumption and provide examples of how this can be achieved 

Recommendation & guidelines

• Nutrition recommendations and food based dietary guidelines in all EU MS states recommend limiting sugar intake. See Paragraph 3.5.