SPAR Austria has launched a no added sugar, organic food range of 200 products, developed to meet children’s nutritional needs. The launch is part of SPAR Austria’s sugar reduction strategy that began in 2017. This strategy has resulted in SPAR Austria removing over 2,000 tonnes of sugar from its Own Brand products and setting up an industry-wide sugar reduction alliance – Zucker Raus – supported by health professionals and researchers.

Sugar Summit 2021

Presented during the Sugar Summit 2021, SPAR Austria’s 200 new organic products offer children and parents a large selection of food products that have been scientifically tested and do not contain added sugar.

At the event, health experts discussed the Zucker Raus initiative’s milestones and the importance of a healthy, low-sugar diet for children. The speakers agreed that a good and affordable range of food is key to support families in leading a healthy lifestyle.

“Austrians continue to consume too much sugar with 33.1 kg per year or about 91 g of sugar per day. This is still above the daily dose of 25 g or a maximum of 50 g of sugar recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO)”, said SPAR Austria Board Member Markus Kaser.

“We have to teach our children how to eat properly. SPAR has taken an important step by introducing a range of 200 organic food products with no added sugar for children”, he added.

2,000 tonnes of sugar reduced

According to the WHO, many food products targeted towards children contain added sugar or sweetening ingredients such as fruit juice concentrate. Although sometimes more appealing to children, this added sugar can harm their nutritional status.

“Since the beginning of 2017, SPAR Austria alone has reduced over 2,000 tonnes of sugar in own brand products. We achieved our target, which was set for the end of 2021, early on”, said Markus Kaser.

“We did not replace the reduced amount of sugar with artificial sweeteners and were able to let customers experience the natural, full taste which is often covered by too much sweetness. The next step is an increased focus on children’s nutrition.”

New ‘no sugar added’ logo

In cooperation with SIPCAN (Special Institute for Preventive Cardiology and Nutrition), SPAR Austria has created a new label for the new products.

“We will gradually identify these 200 products and all new products in this range with the ‘SIPCAN CHECKED – Initiative for a balanced way of life’ logo. In addition, the products carry the ‘no added sugar’ symbol. These two labels will help consumers and, above all, parents when choosing a product”, said Markus Kaser, presenting the new SIPCAN logo.

Medical Association welcomes the sugar reduction initiative

“As a representative of the medical profession, I am happy about every initiative tackling unhealthy nutrition, overweight, and obesity. Every effort makes sense and will in the future be beneficial for all of us personally and for our health system”, said the President of the Austrian Medical Association, University Professor Dr Thomas Szekeres.

Further information on SPAR Austria’s sugar reduction initiative can be found here: www.zucker-raus-initiative.at

Source: SPAR Austria

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About SPAR Austria

The origins of SPAR in Austria date back to 1954, but the current SPAR AG was created in 1970 when the original founding families joined with other regional wholesalers to form SPAR Austria AG – a 100% privately owned Austrian company.

With licences granted by SPAR International, ASPIAG (Austria SPAR International AG) has developed SPAR in Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia, and Northern Italy. With sales of €8.3 billion and impressive growth of 16%, SPAR Austria became the market leader in the Austrian grocery trade during 2020, after being a market growth leader for over a decade.