Sugar-sweetened drink sales fall in Australia as non-sugar drinks rise
What it found
In Australia, purchases of sugar-sweetened drinks fell while non-sugar drinks rose over 15 years.
The paper argues this shows consumers, not taxes, are driving the change.
What they found
Studies in people
Replacing drinks and weight
Two randomised controlled trials in children and adolescents found that replacing sugar-sweetened drinks with drinks containing non-nutritive sweeteners was an effective weight control measure.
Other findings
Sugar drink sales fell
Sugar-sweetened drink purchases dropped by almost 11 litres per person over the 15 years. Sugar-sweetened carbonated soft drinks fell from 75.8 to 56.1 litres per person.
Non-sugar drink sales rose
Non-sugar drink purchases increased by almost 16 litres per person. Non-sugar carbonated soft drinks rose from 22.8 to 28.2 litres per person, and still water sales increased by 12.4 litres per person.
Sugar from drinks fell
The sugar contributed by water-based drinks to the food supply fell from 9.2 kg to 7.6 kg per person. Most of this fall came from carbonated soft drinks, which went from 8.4 kg to 6.2 kg per person.
Health-conscious consumers
The authors say the trends happened without significant taxes or government rules on sugar-sweetened drinks. They argue this suggests health-conscious consumers are driving the shift, not regulation.
Safety of sweeteners
The authors note that a European Food Safety Authority re-evaluation of aspartame found no issues of concern for the general population and no changes to the maximum Acceptable Daily Intake. People with phenylketonuria are advised to avoid aspartame.
What the authors conclude
“Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption in Australia is in long-term decline, presumably driven by consumer concern about overweight, perceived links between sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and body weight and the availability of suitable alternative drinks that fulfill consumers’ expectations, such as bottled water and drinks containing non-nutritive sweeteners.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say sugar-sweetened beverage consumption in Australia is in long-term decline, driven by consumer concern about weight and the availability of suitable alternatives.
- They argue that facilitating the small change from sugar-sweetened drinks to similar sugar-free drinks may be a more productive public health strategy than advocating for taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages.
- They suggest that reassuring the public about the safety of non-nutritive sweeteners may be part of public health efforts to continue the current trend.
How it was done
The authors say public health often frames sugar-sweetened drinks as a market failure that needs government intervention, usually taxes. They wanted to look at whether market forces and health-conscious consumers are already reducing sales without such regulation.
They reviewed a study of national sales data for non-alcoholic, water-based, ready-to-drink beverages in Australia from 1997 to 2011. The data covered carbonated soft drinks, sports drinks, energy drinks, iced tea, mineral water, mixers and still water, split into sugar-sweetened and non-sugar categories.
What it can’t tell you
- This paper looks at sales trends, not individual health outcomes, so it cannot show what effect these drink swaps had on people's weight or health.
- The sales data cannot prove that health consciousness caused the drop in sugar-sweetened drink purchases.
- The paper did not assess whether taxes on sugar-sweetened drinks would lower sugar consumption or improve public health in the long term.
The paper
- Title
- Trends in Sugar-Sweetened Beverages: Are Public Health and the Market Aligned or in Conflict?
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Shrapnel W (2015). Trends in Sugar-Sweetened Beverages: Are Public Health and the Market Aligned or in Conflict?. Nutrients. doi:10.3390/nu7095390Free full textPubMed 26404369DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error