Ministry to impose ban on sugary drinks in schools

The Ministry of Education has agreed to amend the School Health Act (學校衛生法) to impose a ban on the sale of sugar-sweetened drinks at elementary, junior high and senior high schools, Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) said on Thursday.

Current regulations allow only seven types of drinks to be sold at elementary and junior-high schools — vegetable and fruit juices, fresh milk, yogurt, soy milk, ultra-high temperature processing milk, bottled drinking water and mineral water.

The law is less restrictive for senior high schools, where the only sugary drinks that cannot be sold are carbonated beverages.

Pan made the comment at a legislative hearing, at which Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiang Nai-hsin (蔣乃辛) proposed an amendment to the act to expand the ban to the sale of foods high in salt, fat and sugar, in addition to prohibiting the sale of sugary beverages at senior high schools.

The ban is needed because children’s consumption of junk food is responsible for increasing weight problems among students, he said.

About 29 percent of students at elementary and junior high schools are considered overweight or obese, Chiang said, citing student health check data provided by the ministry.

The ministry agreed with the direction of the proposed amendment, which it would put into practice as soon as it is enacted by the Legislative Yuan, Pan said.

In March, Changhua County became the first local government to ban sugar-sweetened beverages at preschool to senior high school campuses and other educational institutions.

The amended Changhua County Self-Governance Ordinances for Food Safety Management (彰化縣食品安全管理自治條例) stipulate that companies and people are forbidden from providing sugar-sweetened drinks to students in the county’s approximately 1,000 educational institutions, regardless of whether they are selling, gifting, rewarding or delivering.

Drinks provided by parents to their children should have sugar content labeling and cannot exceed 25g of sugar per serving, it says.