In the latest and most significant development in Zeo’s campaign to help Brits become more ‘Sweet Wise’, this week the soft drink brand becomes the first in the world to be certified by Sugarwise for containing total sugars less than 2.5g per 100ml, in line with the Sugarwise ratings and WHO and EU regulations.
Zeo sought the Sugarwise certification as part of an educational campaign to help consumers better understand, and reduce, their sugar consumption. Zeo’s range of natural low calorie soft drinks, which contain only half a teaspoon of sugar per 100ml, has already categorised the brand as a Food Standards Agency green traffic light. More recently, the range was independently assessed by scientists from Cambridge University, in order to obtain the Sugarwise rating.
Mark Young, Managing Director of Zeo comments: “We are proud to lead the charge and announce our status as the first soft drink brand worldwide to be certified by Sugarwise for our natural, low calorie and low sugar range. Zeo has just reported a phenomenally successful year, with figures showing a +48% YOY growth across the business, which is a testament to the increased demand for healthier, natural, low sugar alternatives.”
The concept of the Sugarwise kitemark, created by mother-of-one Rend Platings, was created to immediately highlight food and drink products which are guaranteed to be low in free sugars, making purchasing decisions easier and quicker for health-conscious consumers.
Since its launch in March this year, the Sugarwise portfolio of certified products has grown dramatically as the demand for honest labelling and healthy products increases. Now over 200 products across the sector carry the Sugarwise kitemark, fast becoming equivalent to the Fairtrade mark for low sugar food and drink.
Chief scientist who carried out the testing, Vinicius Ferreira, adds: “Free sugars are the real culprit in our diabetes and obesity epidemic, as they are the ones that are associated with, simultaneously: decreased insulin sensitivity, nutritional deficiency, and overconsumption. Many drinks, especially healthy sounding juice based drinks, contain too many free sugars to allow an individual to have a healthy diet complying with WHO guidelines since, unlike foods, typically all sugars in drinks are free.
“However, we tested Zeo’s free sugar levels, and can confirm that it has earned its place in a Sugarwise diet. Ultimately, we hope that other soft drinks will follow the example that Zeo is setting, thereby growing the number of healthy drink choices for consumers.”
In association with the NHS and research partners FoodMaestro, Sugarwise will this week be launching their AXA PPP award winning app at the Allergy and Free-From Show at London Olympia where – for the first time ever – there will be a new No Added Zone in partnership with Sugarwise and Action on Sugar. Last week, post the Brexit referendum, Sugarwise also announced they will be moving their headquarters to the US in order to increase business opportunities for British & European food manufacturers.