§ Mr. FaberTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when the Government intend to abolish the minimum sugar requirement; and whether they intend to introduce a maximum caffeine limit in soft drinks.
§ Mr. SoamesThe Government have today laid before Parliament regulations revoking the requirement in the Soft Drinks Regulations 1964 and the parallel regulations in Scotland, for a minimum amount of sugar to be added during the manufacture of soft drinks. Given current dietary advice on reducing sugar intake, it is clearly sensible to remove this statutory limit. It is also a step in the direction of deregulation, in that it would leave manufacturers free to decide themselves whether or not sugar should be added during the manufacture of soft drinks. We are looking at the remainder of the regulations as part of the Government's deregulation exercise.
We have decided, at this stage, not to introduce a maximum caffeine limit for soft drinks. I have asked the Food Advisory Committee to review its 1988 recommendation about the need for such a limit, as there appears to have been no reported adverse affects on young children following the introduction of high-caffeine soft drinks. Also, any restriction would have only a limited effect as it could not apply to soft drinks manufactured and imported from other EC member states. I want to be sure that there is a real need for any limit before proceeding in this direction.