“Make your life sweeter.” Czechs take literally words about how to make life more pleasant. On average, they consume twenty sugar cubes a day, which is twice the amount recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). writes Weekly Economy. At the same time, excessive consumption of “white poison” is not good for health – it causes heart, kidney and diabetes.
The government’s National Economic Council, concerned about the negative health effects, proposed introducing a consumption tax of 2.5 kroner for every liter of lemonade. “Taxation of sweetened beverages exists in ten European countries, in 54 countries of the world and in some American cities,” the experts argued. Recommendations to Govt. Although the proposal ultimately did not pass, the Petr Fiala (ODS) cabinet moved the austerity package from a 15 percent value-added tax rate on beverages, including sweets, to 21 percent.
Lemonade has the highest amount of added sugar. For example, a pint bottle of Coke contains eleven sugar cubes. That is, more than the daily limit recommended by the health system.
A bottle of chocolate contains the same amount of sugar as a bottle of cola. For example, 100 grams of milk milk contains approximately eleven cubes. However, foods not classified as sweets also contain high amounts of sugar. For example, one hundred grams of ketchup contains four and a half cubes. There’s more to a bottle of delicious yogurt drink.
In total, in recent years, Czechs have consumed about 36 kilograms of sugar per person per year. z dat Czech Statistical Office. Although this is a very high number, it is still worse. For example, in 1990 it was 44 kilograms.
Czechs have been drinking less sugary soda in recent years than they managed an average of 110 liters in 2010. In 2021, the last available data, the average Czech consumed almost 88 liters of lemonade. However, even this is a large number, about a quarter of a liter per person per day during transition, including children.
According to the World Health Organization, sugar should provide the human body with one-tenth of its energy. However, among the sugars people should reduce their consumption of, the company’s experts did not include sugars found naturally in fruits, vegetables and milk. They have not shown any negative effect on human health.
