Concerns about soda misleading, group says

JAKARTA. A claim recently made by the government that carbonated drinks pose risks to human health is baseless and has misled the public, the Association of Soft Drink Manufacturers (Asrim) says.

“Our conclusion is that carbonated beverages, unlike cigarettes and alcoholic drinks, do not pose negative risks to human health and therefore should not be taxed,” Asrim secretary-general Suroso Natakusuma said at a press briefing in Jakarta on Monday.

The Finance Ministry revealed in a meeting with the House of Representatives last week that it was considering imposing a levy of between Rp 1,000 (11 US cents) and Rp 5,000 on sweetened, carbonated beverages.

A report compiled by the National Drug and Food Monitoring Agency (BPOM) showed that excessive consumption of such drinks poses risks to human health, causing damage to the kidneys, intestines and liver, as well as increasing the risk of diabetes and causing obesity, said the Finance Ministry’s fiscal agency interim head, Bambang Brodjonegoro.

“That’s misleading,” said Suroso, claiming that the report was “nonsense” made public to justify the government’s intention to earn more tax revenue.

Asrim also lashed out at the government’s claims that the consumption of carbonated drinks in the country had become excessive.

According to Asrim data, consumption of carbonated drinks per capita in Indonesia was only 2.4 liters per person per year. The figure was among the lowest in the region, lagging behind China (10 liters), Malaysia (19 liters), Singapore (31 liters), Thailand (32 liters) and the Philippines (34 liters), according to Asrim data.

Asrim urged the government to reconsider taxing the products. He said imposing a Rp 3,000 levy, for example, would decrease demand by about 25 percent.

Asrim noted that sweetened, carbonated drinks accounted for only 3.8 percent of the country’s beverage market in 2011, far below bottled water with an 84 percent share.
Total sales of sweetened, carbonated drinks topped Rp 10 trillion ($1.03 billion) last year.

Speaking at the press briefing, Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) health expert Made Astawan said the level of caffeine, glucose and caffeine contained in carbonated beverages were still within safe and tolerable limits.

The glucose level in carbonated drink stands at 27 milligrams, not much different to packaged milk (17 milligrams), he said. (The Jakarta Post)