Fanta cut sugar, then quietly added it back

A “healthier” version of Fanta was touted by Coca-Cola as proof of change but one of Australia’s top doctors says it has been a fizzer.

Coca-Cola has quietly increased Fanta’s sugar content by 60 per cent just a few years after reducing it during the fierce sugar tax debate.

One of Australia’s top doctors has slammed the company, while health bodies are again calling on the government to tax sugary drinks.

The beverage giant pointed to their 25 recently “reformulated” products – including Fanta – as proof of the industry’s sugar reduction efforts in a 2021 report.

But the Herald Sun can reveal some of the sugar that was cut from Fanta just a few years ago, was added back in 2023.

The nutritional information on a 1.25 litre bottle of Fanta. Picture: Sarah Booth

A standard 600ml bottle was given an extra 16 grams – equivalent to four teaspoons.

Every 100ml of Fanta now has 7.2 grams of sugar, up from 4.5 grams under the “healthier” version introduced three years prior.

Australian Medical Association president Steve Robson said the industry had sold consumers a “fantasy” about reformulation.

Coca-Cola ran a campaign in 2018 advertising sugar cuts in drinks “including some of our biggest brands like Fanta”.

Coca-Cola's 2018 advertising campaign promoted their efforts to cut sugar in brands including Fanta. Picture: Coca-Cola via Mumbrella

It committed to the Australian Beverages Council pledge – announced with then health minister Greg Hunt – to cut sugar by 20 per cent across the industry by 2025.

A Coca-Cola Australia spokeswoman said Fanta still had less sugar than 2015’s 11.2 grams per 100mL version.

Professor Robson said the Fanta increase – just a few years after a cut – was “further evidence of the need for a sugar tax” to encourage manufacturers to give priority to new recipes and healthier options.

“The industry’s sugar ­reduction pledge isn’t working,” he said.

“That’s because it’s voluntary, and its impact is severely limited with only four manufacturers signing up.”

He said sugary drinks were ­associated with dental issues and obesity, and “a major risk factor for chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer”.

The public may be unaware of the increase, with supermarkets’ websites – carrying a disclaimer that information may be outdated – displaying the ­inaccurate, lower sugar count.

Rethink Sugary Drink alliance – representing 21 bodies including the AMA and Cancer Council – spokeswoman Jane Martin said most Australians supported a tax if it funded obesity prevention work.

She said the sugar tax in Britain – where Fanta contained less sugar – was successful.

A Coca-Cola Australia spokeswoman said 26 products – including Fanta – contained less sugar than in 2015 and it wanted to “offer consumers a choice of great-tasting products while reducing sugar” through recipe changes, zero sugar and smaller sizes.

“We made a number of changes to the (Fanta) formulation over that time to achieve that,” she said.

An Australian Beverage Council spokesman said a sugar tax’s effect on obesity lacked “real world evidence”.

Health Minister Mark Butler said a feasibility study on options to limit “unhealthy food marketing” was under way.