The Australian Beverages Council has urged Brimbank council to abandon any future plans to ban soft drinks, slamming a campaign by the YMCA as “misguided and ill informed”.
After a recent ‘Sugary Drink Summit’ run by the YMCA, Star Weekly revealed Brimbank council may consider banning sugary drinks from facilities it owns and manages, as well as events it sponsors.
Beverages council chief executive Geoff Parker said blanket bans “simply don’t work”.
“The ban is misguided and ill- informed,” he said. “People want choice. To impose a ban on a small and declining part of the average adult diet is a lightweight approach to a more complex problem facing our society.
“I think people don’t really want any government telling them what they can eat and drink.”
A Dental Health Services Victoria study released last year found 12 per cent of Brimbank residents reported drinking soft drink daily, which is in line with the national average according to the YMCA.
Brimbank is also above the state average for obesity and diabetes, Melbourne Primary Care Network figures show. Both conditions have been linked by medical science to high sugar consumption.
Mr Parker said if the council was “really serious” about improving dietary habits it would also ban chocolate, confectionary and junk food.
