– I think it’s absolutely horrible. They want us to live healthier, so why is the difference so big?, says Janne Holm. She is standing in the shop with two versions of a liter of chocolate milk in her hands. One costs NOK 27.70, while the one without sugar costs NOK 34.80. – Why does the one without sugar cost seven kroner more than the one with sugar, when sugar is more expensive? Holm is not alone in reacting to the large price differences. Nicolay Mortvedt-Knutsen: – I think it’s very stupid, because I care a lot that what I buy is healthy. Ingrid Lyngvi-Østerhus: – It’s really crazy. You automatically choose the cheap products, and then you quickly become much more unhealthy. Nihad Ouf: – I think it’s stupid, because then more people buy the things that are unhealthy. And it’s a bit worse for the body. Sarah Elisabeth Skauen: – I always choose the cheapest. I think about the money rather than what is most healthy. So it should ideally be the case that the healthiest was the cheapest. Want the sugar tax back – This is very negative for our health, says Mina Gerhardsen, secretary general of the National Association for Public Health. – We know that price is one of the most important factors in getting people to make healthy choices. So we want the healthy to be cheaper than the unhealthy. Gerhardsen says that Norwegians on average drank 49 liters of soft drinks with sugar in 2020. 30 per cent of our total intake of sugar comes from juice and soft drinks. On top of this, dairy products with sugar make up between 5-10 per cent of the intake. Mina Gerhardsen of the National Association for Public Health wants the sugar tax returned. Photo: André Bendixen / news She therefore believes that choosing sugar-free or sugar-reduced products will have a great effect. – This is a political responsibility. We have a major public health problem in Norway. 70 percent of us are overweight and obese, so we need to start doing things that work. Gerhardsen wants the sugar tax back, and hopes the government will include this in the new report to the Storting on public health that will be tabled this spring. – It will be a concrete measure that can make a positive difference. See the price differences At Rema 1000, Biola without added sugar costs NOK 3 more than the one with sugar. At Kiwi, the chocolate milk without added sugar from the Q dairies costs five kroner more than the equivalent with sugar. If you buy Go morning yoghurt, you generally have to pay three kroner more if you choose it without added sugar. More expensive to produce So why is it that the healthier version is more expensive? – The chocolate milk without added sugar is more expensive to produce, says Kristine Aasheim, who is the manager of Q-Meieriene. Aasheim explains that this is due to both more expensive ingredients and because much less of the variant without added sugar is made. – We produce five times as much chocolate milk with sugar, which makes it more efficient. TINE also explains that it is more expensive to make products without sugar. – For example, it could be about choosing to add more fruit, says Unn Grønvold Nikolaisen, who is director of marketing. She adds that over many years they have reduced the amount of added sugar in their products. – Over the past few years, for example, we have halved the amount of sugar in several of our products. Both manufacturers specify that it is the food chains that determine the final price in stores. Unn Grønvold Nikolaisen in Tine says it is the food chains that control the price of the goods. Photo: Tine The large food chains Norgesgruppen is Norway’s largest trading house, and operates grocery chains such as Kiwi, Meny, Joker and Spar. Communications manager Kine Søyland says there are several reasons for the big differences in price. The main reason is that the healthier variants are more expensive to purchase from the supplier. Another important reason is that the original products with sugar are more often exposed to price pressure. – They are often involved in tests that push the price down even more. Thus the difference becomes greater than it should actually be. Kine Søyland in the Norgesgruppen says they are working to get a better price for products with and without sugar. Photo: Norgesgruppen Søyland says they aim for the sugar-free and original products to be as similar in price as possible. – This is something we work closely with the manufacturers to get closer. Previous experiments have shown that by lowering the price of sugar-free soft drinks, sales increased considerably. And since then it has mostly been cheaper. But Søyland cannot promise that this will happen with dairy products. – We now have a close dialogue with manufacturers and suppliers that when we run offers, we want both the sugary and lighter variants to be part of the campaign. – This is something you are very concerned about. Contributing to better public health is something we have a shared responsibility for. Get an answer in March The World Health Organization recommends a tax on drinks with sugar. They believe it is an effective and cheap means of reducing intake, and preventing obesity and lifestyle diseases. FHI has also recently advocated introducing a tax on sugar. State Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Care, Ole Henrik Krat Bjørkholt (Ap), cannot make any promises that the sugar tax will return. – It is one of the things we are looking at, but I cannot say at the moment what the final result will be. We will present the public health report in March, and then you will get a clue. State Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Care, Ole Henrik Krat Bjørkholt (Ap), cannot say whether the government will introduce a new sugar tax. Photo: Esten Borgos / Borgos Foto AS
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Seven kroner more expensive to choose healthy – news Sørlandet – Local news, TV and radio
