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Healthy Beverage Initiative

Organizations are eliminating the sale of sugar sweetened beverages

A how-to guide for you and your organization -

Americans consume an average of 17 teaspoons of added sugar per day1 and the main source is sodas, sports drinks and energy drinks.

Behavioral economics research has shown that people tend to make beverage choices based on convenience and accessibility. By making it easy to purchase healthy beverages while opting out of promoting sugar-sweetened ones, organizations can use their procurement powers to promote health.

More and more workplaces, schools and health systems are choosing to stop selling sugar-sweetened beverages while promoting healthier options. This can be done without limiting individual choice: individuals can always bring in their own sugary drinks even if they aren't sold by the organization.

Your organization can be a part of the effort to reduce sugar consumption while promoting health.
Download our resource kit for a how-to on launching your own Healthy Beverage Initiative. The Introductory Guide to the Health Beverage Initiative can be downloaded here.

HBI Partners:
• Denver Health
Contact Kristin Milardo at kristin.milardo@dhha.org
• University of British Columbia
For general information about the Healthy Beverage Initiative at UBC,
please contact one of the co-leads of the Wellbeing Food and Nutrition Working Group:
Melissa Baker melissa.baker@ubc.ca or Matt Dolf matt.dolf@ubc.ca

Webinar: UCSF talk on healthy beverage initiative (Length: 37 minutes)

Webinar: Health, Health Care and Sugar Sweetened Beverages (Length: 48 minutes)
Segments:

• Sugar and Health (01:00-22:51) Dr. Laura Schmidt discusses the health harms of excess sugar consumption and the advantages of removing sugary foods and beverages from our environments.

• SSBs and Community Engagement (22:16-36:00) Roberto Vargas describes community engagement around SSBs and the translation of sugar science into San Francisco public health policies.

• UCSF HBI Implementation (36:17-46.05) Leeane Jensen discusses the planning and implementation of the Healthy Beverage Initiative at UCSF.

Sugary drinks

Means the same as sugar-sweetened beverages or liquid sugars.

SugarScience Glossary

Sugar-sweetened beverages

(SSB) Means the same as liquid sugar, or sugary drinks.

SugarScience Glossary

Added sugar

Any sugar added in preparation of foods, either at the table, in the kitchen or in the processing plant. This may include sucrose, high fructose corn syrup and others.

SugarScience Glossary

SugarScience Facts

Growing scientific evidence shows that too much added sugar, over time, is linked to diabetes, heart disease and liver disease.

SugarScience Facts

There are at least 61 names for added sugar on food labels.

SugarScience Facts

Consuming too many added sugars can make you overweight, which strains the heart.

SugarScience Facts

Americans consume an average of 57 pounds of added sugar each year.

SugarScience Facts

To make foods "low fat," many food companies replaced the fat with added sugar.

SugarScience Facts

Every day, the average American consumes almost three times more added sugar than is recommended.

SugarScience Research

SugarScience
Resource Kit

Download posters, flyers, videos and more to help you share the facts with your community.

Select Your Resources