April 7th News - Recently, the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning initiated the "First Batch of Nutritional Health Guidance Pilot Projects," offering guidance to residents on selecting healthy food items, including the implementation of a beverage grading system.
According to reports, beverages will be classified into four grades: A, B, C, and D, which comprehensively reflect the content of sugar, fat, and other nutrients, with recommended levels gradually decreasing.
Enterprises participating in the pilot program clearly mark the grading symbols on packaging, menus, etc.
According to feedback from businesses, after adding the labels, the sales proportion of grade A and B products has significantly increased.
According to regulations, beverages containing between 5 grams and 10 grams of sugar per 100 milliliters, and saturated fat between 1.2 grams and 2.8 grams, are classified as Grade C. Those with over 10 grams of sugar and saturated fat content exceeding 2.8 grams fall into Grade D.
The Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention once conducted a nutritional analysis of a total of 122 products from 13 brands, including the top three best-selling bubble tea brands in the city.
The results showed that, based on the latest A, B, C, D grading system, more than 93% of bubble tea products labeled as "unsweetened" may potentially be classified as Grade B or higher, solely based on their sugar content.
Nearly half of the "three-sugar" labeled milk teas may be rated as Grade C or higher.
Meanwhile, it has been discovered that the saturated fat content in a cup of milk cap tea is one-third of the daily intake for the human body.
While the grading system isn't intended as a standard for checking beverage compliance, it does provide consumers with a very intuitive reference point for choosing products that suit them.
