Sweet nothings: heavily promoted frozen drinks contain up to 49 teaspoons of sugar

4 February 2022

The 19 leading public health bodies behind Rethink Sugary Drink are urging Australians to be aware of alluring marketing for frozen drinks this summer, with a new review showing some of these beverages contain more than a week’s worth of recommended sugar intake, with up to 49 teaspoons of sugar per serve.

7-Eleven’s Slurpee Sour Orange Mega topped the table with 49 teaspoons of sugar, more than eight times the daily added sugar intake recommended by the World Health Organization.¹ Hungry Jack’s Frozen Fanta Sour Watermelon Spider Large contains 18 teaspoons of sugar, whilst KFC’s Mountain Dew Freeze contains 13 teaspoons.²

The review also looked at the tactics used to promote these products, finding that brands are using incentives like add-ons and cheap deals, as well as sneaky marketing tactics aimed at young people to entice them to buy these sugar-laden drinks.

7-Eleven’s Slurpee Mystery Flavour challenge is one such insidious promotion targeting young Australians, with their Mystery Flavour competition. Hungry Jacks have also turned to gimmicks with their “Survive the Sour” challenge, encouraging participants to upload taste-reaction videos to their social media under a branded hashtag.

Craig Sinclair, Director of Prevention at Cancer Council Victoria, says that brands use these sophisticated promotional techniques to entice young people and distract them from the amount of sugar hiding in them.

“During summer, young people are being bombarded with these incredibly cheap deals, creative new flavours, competitions and social media challenges and of course it makes it hard to resist. But all of this is just spin to make these drinks seem like a fun summer treat, whilst distracting from the eye-watering amount of sugar they contain.”

Mr Sinclair says although these drinks are cheap and readily accessible, the impact this has on our health is significant.

“The World Health Organization recommends no more than six teaspoons of added sugar a day for optimal health for adults, some of these mega drinks have eight times that. It's easy to slurp down one of these drinks in a couple of minutes without realising you’ve just consumed over a weeks’ worth of recommended sugar intake, particularly for children.

"Consuming too much sugar is bad for us and regularly drinking these drinks can lead to unhealthy weight gain, increasing the risk of serious health problems such as type 2 diabetes, heart and kidney disease, stroke and some cancers.”

Dr. Mikaela Chinotti, Oral Health Promoter at the Australian Dental Association, a Rethink Sugary Drink partner says the high sugar in these drinks is also bad for our teeth, contributing to tooth decay and erosion.

“The excessive sugar content in frozen drinks can harm your oral health, leading to tooth decay. They also contain high levels of acid, which can dissolve the outer surface of tooth enamel and lead to further tooth erosion and cavities.

“Half of Australian children and one in three young men have experienced tooth decay, something that is becoming far too common. If we could get young Australians to cut back on these extremely sugary drinks or stop drinking them entirely, we’d start to see much healthier teeth.”

Mr Sinclair urged Australians not to get sucked in by the marketing ploys used by these companies that deflect from the high sugar content of these products.

“At the end of the day, these companies are looking out for one thing, their profits, and this will always be put before our health and wellbeing.

“It’s important that people look beyond the promotions and the gimmicks and really think about the health impacts of consuming these drinks. We encourage anyone drinking sugary drinks regularly to switch to water instead, for your health now and well into the future.”

-ENDS-

About the survey

The survey, conducted by a dietitian at Cancer Council Victoria, examined frozen drinks sold in chain stores in Australia. The largest size of each flavour was surveyed for sugar content and the number of teaspoons were rounded to the nearest whole teaspoons. Findings are based on nutrition information found on relevant food outlets’ websites on 24 January 2022.

About Rethink Sugary Drink 

Rethink Sugary Drink is a partnership between the Apunipima Cape York Health Council, Australian Dental Association, Australian Dental and Oral Health Therapists’ Association, Cancer Council Australia, Dental Health Services Victoria, Dental Hygienists Association of Australia, Diabetes Australia, Healthier Workplace WA, Kidney Health Australia, LiveLighter, Nutrition Australia, Obesity Policy Coalition, Parents’ Voice, The Public Health Association Australia,  The Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons, Stroke Foundation, Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO) and the YMCA to raise awareness of the amount of sugar in sugar-sweetened beverages and encourage Australians to reduce their consumption. Visit www.rethinksugarydrink.org.au for more information.

1. Sugars intake for adults and children Guideline, 2015 http://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/guidelines/sugars_intake/en/

2. Data was sourced from information publicly available on the company websites.